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Unlike traditional burials, cremation doesn’t involve embalming with toxic chemicals, and it uses fewer resources (no metal or hardwood caskets, cement vaults, or land to house the dead). While cremation isn't without its eco-impacts, on the plus side it simply reduces the body to its basic elements, allowing family members to scatter the ashes, bury them in a biodegradable urn, or place them in an eco-friendly keepsake urn.

How to reduce the eco-impact of cremation

If you choose cremation, you can minimize the environmental effect of using natural gas—a non-renewable fossil fuel that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution—with these suggestions:

• Buy carbon offsets. If you’ll be handling the cremation for a loved one, or for your future self, arrange to purchase carbon offsets, which support eco-friendly projects that remove greenhouse gases from the air. Or, you can simply plant a tree, which will sequester carbon dioxide, in the deceased's honor.
• Choose a simple cardboard casket made of recycled cardboard, or other easily combustible casket. You can purchase these independently, if your crematory does not offer one. There is no law that says a body must be cremated in a casket, but most crematories require at least a cardboard one for easy handling of the body.
• Remove all unnecessary items from the casket before cremation to minimize cremation time and harmful fumes.
• Choose a crematory with newer, high-efficiency equipment and ask if emissions are monitored to ensure they don’t exceed allowed limits. According to the Green Burial Council, older crematories can use twice as much energy as newer ones.
• Choose low-impact handling of cremated remains. Placing the urn in a columbarium (memorial shelter) requires resources to build the structure, as well as for maintenance. Low-impact options include scattering (on land or at sea), placement in a decorative urn, or burying.
• Bury the ashes in a biodegradable urn that will harmlessly become part of the earth. Avoid plastic, ceramic, and glass or other non-porous containers that don't break down easily, if ever.
• Don’t bury the urn inside a solid burial container. Find a cemetery that doesn't require the urn to be placed in a concrete or metal container. These containers, designed to withstand the weight of the earth and foot traffic so the ground won’t cave in, are a waste of resources.
• Find a cemetery that buries urns in smaller plots, rather than in casket-sized plots, to conserve land.
• Choose low-energy methods to scatter the remains. For example, scattering in a local state park (after obtaining appropriate permits) has a lower eco-impact than, say, shooting the remains into space.
• Choose a crematory that has been approved by the Green Burial Council. The organization is currently finalizing standards for cremation facilities and disposition sites. Check the council's website for updates.

Find it! Eco-friendly cremation urns

In addition to the products listed here, you can find cremation caskets and shrouds, as well as eco-friendly urns at the Green Burial Council and The Funeral Site.com.

Choosing cremation helps you go green because…

• Traditional burials are resource-intensive, burying more than 90,000 tons of steel, 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete, and 830,000 gallons of embalming fluid each year.[1]
• Less land is devoted to housing human remains. It takes an average of 32 square feet to bury a single coffin, requiring the addition of two square miles for new grave space each year.[2]

Cremation reduces a body to its elements and eliminates the need for a resource-intensive burial—no metal or hardwood casket, cement burial vault, or land for a cemetery (if the ashes are scattered). In addition, embalming (preserving the body with a formaldehyde solution) is not required if cremation is scheduled soon after death. In Britain, cremations account for 70 percent of funerals, largely because land is at a premium.[3] In the US, cremation is chosen by approximately 33 percent of the population and is expected to increase to 57 percent by 2025.[4] Cremated remains can be simply strewn in scattering gardens or other suitable locations. They may also be buried in cemeteries, but with far fewer resources.

Drawbacks

Energy use

The natural gas or propane energy needed to accomplish the cremation process is significant. Cremation chambers are heated to between 1,400 and 1,800°F for approximately two-and-a-half hours.[5] The average cremation produces about 50 kg of carbon dioxide, which is the same as driving a car about 136 miles.[6][7][8] Each year, enough natural gas is burned at crematories in North America for a car to make 84 trips to the moon and back.[9]

Air pollution

Cremation chambers emit particulates, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, dioxin, furans, mercury, cadmium, and lead. Mercury emissions from a body’s dental amalgam fillings are the biggest concern. How much mercury is emitted during the cremation is debated. In the UK, cremation is responsible for 16 percent of mercury pollution.[10]

Mercury in the air eventually settles into water where it can build up in fish, shellfish, and animals that eat fish. Wildlife that eat the contaminated fish may die, or suffer slower growth and development, and abnormal behavior. High mercury exposure in humans can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system.

According to the American Dental Association, the use of mercury in dental amalgams is declining and is currently at 30 percent, down from 45 percent in 1999. Therefore, mercury emissions from crematories are expected to eventually decrease.[11]

Newer cremation chambers often have water scrubbers installed in the exhaust ducts to clean the combustion gases and remove air pollutants. Yet, their effectiveness is in question. A study released by the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) showed that these devices had little effect on emissions and pollutants.The Green Burial Council is formulating cremation standards and notes that technologies to reduce or eliminate mercury and other pollutants should be available by 2010.

Glossary

• formaldehyde: A flammable reactive gas belonging to the VOC (volatile organic compound) family of chemicals. Ingestion of the chemical can cause severe physical reactions, including coma, internal bleeding, and death.

External Links

• The US Environmental Protection Agency - Mercury: State Legislation and Regulations Check to see how your state deals with mercury emissions from crematories.
• The US Environmental Protection Agency - Burial of Human Remains at Sea: The EPA allows cremated and uncremated remains to be buried at sea. See this site for specific information.
• Cremation Association of North America - Mercury and Cremation Issues Revisited: The trade association’s response to concerns about mercury emissions.