Narrated binder for Sustainable funeral home

Towards a More Sustainable Afterlife: Integrating Green Death-Care Alternatives into the Traditional Funeral Home Framework Prepared for: Apollo Funeral Home and Cremation

photo of woodvales conventional cemetery conversion in brighton-hove, UK

Research By: Jenna Bower, Scott Crotzer, Kanika Golani, John Storey Submitted to: SCAD SUST 713 Interdisciplinary Studio: Design Leadership Winter 2017 Professor Scott Boylston

contents

Contents Page Contents Page Death-Care Industry Overview

1

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The Green Burial Movement

3-10

The Competitive Landscape

11- 14

Apollo Funeral Home & Cremation

15-16

Analysis

17-30

Opportunities

31-32

Resources

33

Next Steps

34

References

35

death-care industry overview Did you know that each year 22,500 cemeteries across the United States bury approximately:

827,060 90,272 2,700 30 million+ 1.636 14,000

gallons of embalming fluid (+ formaldehyde) tons of steel tons of copper and bronze board feet of precious hardwoods tons of reinforced concrete in vaults tons of steel in vaults

what about cremation?

So cremation is the more environmentally sensitive option, right? Not exactly...

540 pounds of CO2 are released during each cremation, which uses approximately 28 gallons of fuel—the same amount found in a standard SUV tank. 5,000 pounds of mercury released yearly into the atmosphere from dental fillings during cremation.

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green burial movement Where did it this new model begin, and what is its significance in the marketplace?

What is green burial? ➽ Natural or green burial is defined as a burial alternative that allows the body to be returned to the earth and naturally recycled into new life usually without the use of embalming fluids, metal caskets or concrete vaults.

It is an opportunity to honor the life of a loved one while respecting and conserving natural resources and the environment.

The Green Burial Movement Joe Sehee, 46, a former Jesuit lay minister who had been doing strategic communications work for the cemetery and funeral industries was the initiator of the Green Burial Movement. He had served as a chaplain at the University of San Francisco, where he directed the peace and social justice program and served as a pastoral minister.

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In 2002, Joe with his wife Juliette moved to the fringes of Joshua Tree National Park in California and they planned to build an ecological retreat named “The Pilgrimage,” where people could find solace in the fierce landscape. One of the groups the couple wished to serve were those suffering from loss, which led them to explore end-of-life rituals along with protecting thousands of empty acres at the edge of their retreat. Such influences led to the green burial movement.

This new model was envisioned to demonstrate how burial could facilitate ecological restoration and landscape conservation. It was to be the first cemetery in the world that would involve a conservation organization as steward. However, the movement didn’t flourish entirely as it lacked a credible entity that provided third-party supervision and encouraged the sharing of information to evolve the science behind green burial.

traditional vs. natural burial practices

In 2005, the Sehees sold their retreat and used the funds to found the organization today known as the Green Burial Council.

The council then launched an extensive outreach campaign to create awareness and demand for deathcare that serves people and the planet. Joe quotes - “In a way, the death of the retreat center gave rise to the birth of the council.�

The intention of the green burial council is to engage both conservationists and the death-care industry along with consumers.

Looking ahead Sehee and the G.B.C are trying to leverage all their resources to do whatever it takes to get more green cemeteries off the ground by partnering with land trusts, private landowners, funeral companies and conservationists. â–

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the green burial council Green Burial Council âž˝ The Green Burial Council defines green, or natural burial as a way of caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat. greenburialcouncil.org Offering environmental certification for funeral homes, cemeteries, and product manufacturing, the Green Burial Council today is the only organization setting standards for green burials in North America.

A full list of certified funeral home and burial providers with interactive map is available on their website, as is a list of certified product manufacturers including burial containers and body preparation supplies.

Certification includes a 1, 2 or 3-leaf rating with three being the most sustainable. â–

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The world’s first set of sustainability standards and the first ecocertification program for funeral homes, burial grounds, and burial products.

Certified Products

All GBC approved caskets, urns and shrouds must be constructed from plant-derived, recycled plant-derived, natural, animal, or unfired earthen materials, including shell, liner, and adornments.

Caskets Aldergrove Caskets 919-323-6860 www.aldergrovecaskets.com (3 leaf) Apollo Casket LLC 612-237-6022 www.apollocasket.com Concept Caskets, Inc. 800-463-9515 www.conceptcaskets.com (2 leaf) Eco Care Funerals LLC 613-669-8513 www.ecocarefunerals.com (2 leaf) Final Footprint 650-726-5255 www.finalfootprint.com (1 leaf) Florence Casket Company 800-543-6929 www.florencecasket.com (3 leaf) The Green Man Casket Co. 704-763-9206 www.thegreenmancasketco.com (3 leaf) Hainsworth USA LTD 866-763-0485 www.naturallegacy.com (1 leaf) Jose’ Dumont / Collection Esencia 418-8991706 www.collection-esencia.com (3 leaf) Kent Casket Co. 888-534-7239 www.kentcasket.com (2 leaf) LifeArt International 714-316-8554 www.lifeart.com (2 leaf) Nature’s Casket 720-373-7613 www.naturescasket.com (3 leaf) New England Casket Company 617-569-1510 www.newenglandcasket.com (1 leaf) Passages International, Inc. 888-480-6400 www.passagesinternational.com (3 leaf) Piedmont Pine Coffins 919-704-6392 www.piedmontpinecoffins.com (3 leaf) Victoriaville Funeral Supplies 819-752-3388 www.victoriavillegroup.com (2 leaf) Victory Coffin Company 217-370-6448 www.victorycoffin.com (2 leaf)

courtesy of The Green Man Casket Co.

Shrouds KINKARACO® 415-874-9698 www.kinkaraco.com (2 leaf)

Preparation Products The Champion Company/Eco-Embalming 800-328-0115 www.thechampioncompany.com

Urns Bamboo Caskets 514-240-7115 www.bamboocaskets.com (3 leaf) Bios Urn 323-284-6702 www.urnabios.com (3 leaf) Collection Esencia 418-899-1706 www.collection-esencia.com (3 leaf) Final Footprint 650-726-5255 www.finalfootprint.com (1 leaf) In The Light Urns 800-757-3488 www.inthelighturns.com (3 leaf) Eko-Urn 305-424-8907 www.eko-urn.com (2 leaf) Nordmark Jacobsen 888-899-9845 www.natureurn.com (2 leaf) Passages International, Inc. 888-480-6400 www.passagesinternational.com (3 leaf) Piedmont Pine Coffins 919-704-6392 www.piedmontpinecoffins.com (3 leaf) The Green Burial Council also provides interested consumers a Green Burial Planning Guide that helps them identify their environmental, economic, and spiritual aims as they select a funeral home provider, body preparation, burial container, funeral service, burial, and grave marker. ■

courtesy of The bios urn

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the greenGBC burial council Funeral Home Standards

funeral home standards

A GBC approved funeral home must define in their general price list, and make reference to on any published website, their “green” offerings, which include the sanitation and temporary preservation of a decedent using approved GBC methods, including the option of a private visitation.

As a provider, the GBC certificate given once certified must be displayed in a conspicuous manner at the certified site. In addition, the GBC logo provided must be present on the general price list and website. All references to green burial on the general price list and website should in no way disparage green burial.

Each GBC approved funeral home is awarded a distinguishing GBC “Leaf Rating,” in recognition of the funeral home’s verification that their practices meet or exceed one or more of the four specific additional criteria defined adjacent the check boxes located on the form below.

The GBC Leaf Rating level is determined by the total number of requirements checked, with levels defined according to the following guidelines: 1 Criterion met earns the GBC One-­‐Leaf Rating 2 -­‐ 3 Criteria met earns the GBC Two-­‐Leaf Rating 4 Criteria met earns the GBC Three-­‐Leaf Rating*

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Please check all that apply and return completed form to: providerinfo@greenburialcouncil.org Check marks in each box below verify that your funeral home meets or exceeds that criteria * The last criterion is required for the GBC’s Three-Leaf rating ____ We offer the decedent’s family the option of a public viewing without embalming, or use only ………GBC approved post-mortem fluids. ____ We carry at least three GBC approved or rated burial containers. ____ We accommodate home vigils without embalming, or use only GBC approved post-mortem fluids. ____ We offer sanitation and temporary preservation of a decedent using only noninvasive techniques ……….and materials i.e. refrigeration/dry ice (required for the GBC Three-Leaf Rating).

Funeral Home: Completed by:

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Date

Green Burial Council Cemetery Certification Standards Adopted March 6, 2015 cemetery certification standards

New Standard Criteria #

1.

2..

CUSTOMER RELATIONS CRITERIA Accurately represent earned level of GBC certification in marketing materials, websites, and conversations with the public, clients, and the media.

Hybrid

Natural Burial Grounds

Conservation Burial Grounds

Obtain GBC certification for any funeral homes that operate on the premises.

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BURIAL PRACTICES CRITERIA Provide clients and families with the opportunity to participate in the burial and ritual process in keeping with state law and with these standards.

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Accept for burial only decedents that have not been embalmed or those embalmed only with GBC-­‐approved, nontoxic chemicals.

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Prohibit the use of a vault (partial, inverted, or otherwise), a vault lid, concrete box, slab or partitioned liner in the burial plot.

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Limit burial containers, shrouds, and all associated materials to those made from biodegradable, natural materials.

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SITE PLANNING

Operate only outside sensitive areas as identified in the ecological assessment.

Conduct an ecological assessment that includes baseline information on existing geology, hydrology, soils, topography, cultural resources, and existing and potential native animals and plants.

Preserve, enhance, or restore a historic native or natural community of the region.

Conserve or restore minimum of 10 acres, or 5 acres if contiguous to other protected lands.

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funeral ethics organization Funeralethics.org mission statement ➽ “FEO’s mission is to promote ethical dealings in all death-related transactions by working for better understanding of ethical issues among funeral, cemetery, memorial industry practitioners, law enforcement, organ procurement organizations, and state agencies, as well as better understanding between these and the general public.”

While FEO does not certify any green burial certifications, it does serve as an active industry watchdog. It recommends a 15-point checklist of green standards that consumers should ask of their local funeral homes.

15 Point Checklist: 1. Does the funeral home offer the option of body preparation without embalming as an option to be selected by the family, NOT as a requirement?

2. Does the funeral home offer the opportunity for viewing without embalming, private family viewing at a minimum?

3. Does the funeral home offer some sort of viewing for a larger group after refrigeration perhaps or within a state’s mandated time-line?

4. Does the funeral home have biodegradable caskets included on the casket price list?

5. Among the biodegradable caskets, are there low-cost options (to serve all income levels)?

6. Is at least one of the biodegradable caskets locally made?

7. Does the funeral home offer burial shrouds made of natural material?

8. Does the funeral home offer an economical van for body transport rather than requiring the use of a hearse?

9. Does the funeral home provide information on local cemeteries that permit green burials?

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10. Is the price for a green option a lot more expensive than the price for an Immediate Burial?

11. If so, what additional goods and services are included? Are those goods and services the family is likely to want?

12. Are package prices being offered for “green” options that do not allow a family to reduce costs by declining certain services or merchandise they might not want?

13. How are the prices at this funeral home compared to the prices at other funeral homes in a 35-mile radius if cost is a concern to the choices a family will make?

14. If the family needs a service that requires embalming such as out-of-the-country shipping, is the funeral home staff trained in using and have on hand non-formaldehyde, non-toxic chemicals?

15. Does the funeral home have a website that includes itemized pricing—both the general price list (GPL) and casket price list (CPL) so the family doesn’t have to drive to get the needed information, saving printed paper as well?

“A funeral home doesn’t need to pay some organization $250 to be an ‘approved’ green funeral home. In fact, a lot of the funeral homes sporting a green logo on their websites mention nothing about green funeral options in the website text. Consumers should be suspicious of such empty PR hype or green-washing.” ■

National Home Funeral Alliance

homefuneralalliance.org ➽ The NHFA “recommends standards of practice that inform [its] members’ personal conduct and provide clear direction in correct and ethical behavior for home funeral guides in service to those choosing family-directed funerals”.

“The mission of the NHFA is to preserve the innate rights of families and communities to care for their own dead in a personal, respectful and an environmentally sound manner. We do so by creating and sustaining a network of ethical, responsible and knowledgeable home funeral guides, whose primary focus is to educate and empower family members to shape and direct the after death care of their loved one, as supported by state law”.

NHFA publishes a fact-filled info card entitled “Home Funerals Are Safe & Legal” as well as a wide range of books for both consumers and home funeral guides. NHFA also has a comprehensive list of hybrid cemeteries that offer green burial as well as natural burial grounds and conversation burial grounds.

US total: 144* Conservation: 6 Natural: 60 Hybrid: 78 *57 are certified by the Green Burial Council

Conservation grounds in co:

Crestone Cemetery natural burial ground in Crestone certified by the Green Burial Council Roselawn Cemetery in Fort Collins Seven Stones Botanical Garden Natural Cemetery in Littleton ■

courtesy of The roselawn cemetery in fort collins

Funeral Consumer Society of Colorado funeralconsumercolorado.org

➽ “Founded in 1963, the Society is a nonprofit consumer organization whose main goal is to enable its members to plan for funeral or memorial services at fair prices. The Society is open to all, regardless of age or ethnic background, and is nonsectarian. It is particularly appropriate for individuals who accept responsibility and prefer to make their own decisions concerning end-of-life choices.

We provide funeral information to help you, or your survivors, make these choices. We are a force promoting consumer choice and fair dealing with the funeral industry. We are a member of the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), a leading national organization advocating consumer rights regarding funerals”.

Offers a list of contract providers and discounted prices for FCSC members as well as links to public and private organizations and associations supporting consumer awareness and education.

Over 25 printable pamphlets are available through the FCA main website (funerals.org).

must-reads: Greening Death: Reclaiming Burial Practices and restoring Our Tie to the Earth by Suzanne Kelly Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial by Mark Harris

courtesy of The seven stones botanical garden

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j. henry stuhr funeral home an integrated funeral home experience Established in 1865, J. Henry Stuhr Funeral Chapels and Crematories is the oldest continually familyowned and operated business in South Carolina. The Charlestonbased company In January 2012 became the first funeral service provider in state to be certified by the Green Burial Council, a nonprofit organization that encourages eco-friendly alternatives to modern interment practices. jhenrystuhr.com â–

Primary market Competitors

located in Charleston, sc, this family owned & operated funeral home was the first in the state to be certified by the green burial council.

Hybrid funeral operators in the Charleston area including Simplicity Lowcountry Cremation & Burial (with their very competitive pricing) and McAlister-Smith Funeral Home and Cremation. Local cemetery partners including Charleston Cremation Center & Funeral Home and W.M. Smith-McNeal Funeral Home. natural burial showroom courtesy of j. henry stuhr

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Company’s Consumer Facing Strategies ➤ Returning the deceased back to nature and naturally recycle into a new life. ➤ Burial activity happens without the use traditional embalming fluids and nonbiodegradable materials. ➤ Encourages the use of burial grounds as means of restoration of natural areas through their partnership with Greenhaven Preserve, a natural burial cemetery located in Eastover, SC. ➤ Certified by the Green Burial Council, a non-profit organization that sets standards for green burial in the U.S.

Sustainability Goals ➤ Simple: Increasingly popular natural burial methods are considered neotraditional by most, it’s actually the world’s preferred end-of-life ritual.

The uncomplicated and unpretentious process often offers more value than a conventional burial. ➤ Meaningful: Natural burial offers authentically natural, deeply personal and uniquely uplifting memorials in which Greenhaven Preserve specializes. ➤ Sustainable: Their customers and their families appreciate the intent to preserve acre after acre of nature’s pure brilliance.

They take comfort in the fact that green burials are chemical free, use less energy and create less waste than modern burials.

Personas Elizabeth Rhodes 20-year-old studying Psychology with a minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies at the College of Charleston. Grew up in a conservative, rural town, and attending university has exposed her to environmental issues and practices in sustainability. She is already planning a green burial as she is very conscious of lowering her impact on the planet. She’s been vegan for five months now, and spends a lot of her time hiking and exploring around Charleston with her dogs.

Steven Morganson 64-year-old retired Tactical Aircraft Maintenance worker for the U.S. Air Force. Seeking a less expensive alternative to traditional burial practices.

Pragmatic about death after the passing of his wife Mary Ellen in 2013 and wants to limit the burden of burial responsibilities and cost for his two children, Sara and Paul. Joined the local chapter of the Sierra Club in Charleston to give back to the community and stay active in his retirement.

List of challenges for becoming sustainable: ➤ Lack of awareness about the science behind the green burial. ➤ Region-specific soil, water, plant, animal habitat. ➤ Recording the location of burial of the loved one due to lack of permanent monument. ➤ Addressing cultural and religious norms and practices infinity burial shroud

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natural grace funerals a purpose-driven company experience Natural Grace is a full-service funeral home offering exclusively environmentally sensitive death care options to the greater Los Angeles area. Founded in 2010

by Shari Wolf (who served as Operations Officer and Board Officer of the Green Burial Council), Natural Grace advocates highly personalized green funerals and burials that are simple, affordable and respectful—of the deceased and the living as well as future generations and the planet. naturalgracefunerals.com â–

located in los angeles, california, natural grace was built on the pillars of sustainability.

Primary market Competitors Hybrid funeral operators in the LA area including InvoCare, which specializes in unique, inhome planning of funerals and memorials and offers some green burial options like woven wicker caskets. Local cemetery partners including Hillside Memorial Park & Mortuary and Woodlawn Cemetery, Mausoleum & Mortuary that are now offering their own green burial options alongside conventional services.

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natural burial showroom courtesy of j. henry stuhr

Company’s Consumer Facing Strategies ➤ Advocates non-toxic and non-invasive body preparation and offers eco-friendly products for rare cases when embalming is unavoidable. ➤ Offers a wide range of eco-friendly caskets and shrouds, including the Infinity Burial Suit that cleanses and purifies the body of toxins that would otherwise seep into the soil. ➤ Supports NGO TerraPass by purchasing carbon offsets to counter the 540 lbs of CO2 emitted from each typical cremation process, which uses 28 gallons of fuel (roughly the same as a full SUV tank). ➤ Dispels the idea that cost is connected to the amount of love for the deceased ➤ Partners with several local cemeteries offering hybrid and natural green burial sections including Joshua Tree Memorial Park. Also arranges out-of-state burial in conversation grounds. ➤ Established the Bigtree Child Fund to support families with limited financial resources who have lost a child.

Sustainability Goals ➤ Care for dead with minimal env. impact ➤ Conserve natural resources ➤ Reduce carbon emissions ➤ Protect worker health ➤ Restore and preserve habitats

Personas Jean Wesley 67-year-old widow living in Santa Monica.

Avid surfer and once-upon a time ‘beach bunny’ who recalls dancing in the rain at Woodstock. Has been an active environmentalist since the first Earth Day in 1970. Recently diagnosed with breast cancer, she wants to plan her funeral now so neither she nor family or friends will need to worry about it later. Decided to have a completely natural burial after befriending Shari Wolf, owner of Natural Grace, at a meeting of the California South Bay Surfrider Foundation, where they both serve on the executive committee.

Keith Yamamoto 32-year-old film producer living in Hollywood. He and his 39-year-old scriptwriter wife Jane just lost their 5-year old son Adrian in a freak car accident. The boy adored regular family hikes in Runyon Canyon and had become obsessed with the majestic Redwood Forest on a recent vacation they took after buying their first Tesla. Keith and Jane are vegan, rely almost completely on solar power at home, and are known in their neighborhood and professions as staunch sustainability advocates. They want a green funeral for their son and then to lay him to rest in a permanently protected and preserved conservation burial ground.

List of challenges for becoming sustainable: ➤ Expanding customer awareness of green funeral and burial options ➤ Convincing customers to avoid cremation and opt for natural burials ➤ Establishing more natural and conservation burial grounds in California wicker casket

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apollo funeral home company profile Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services is locally owned and operated business serving the Littleton and greater Denver, Colorado area. Their stated mission is to assist every family with compassion, professionalism, and care. Apollo has two chapels and offers a full range of services from a simple cremation to a memorial service and a full traditional funeral with cemetery burial. Experienced at honoring many faiths and traditions along with honoring those who have served in the military, their staff is also trained to recommend the services that are needed at a cost that its customers can afford— as spending more on a loved one does not constitute the level of love and compassion felt for the deceased. apollofunerals.com ■Primary market Competitors Hybrid funeral operators certified by the Green Burial Council in Colorado including Goes Funeral Care, Resthaven Funeral Home and Memory Gardens, and Bohlender Funeral Chapel. Cemetery partners Crestone Cemetery, Colorado’s longest-operating natural burial ground, and Seven Stones Botanical Garden Cemetery, located in Littleton, both offer green burial options.

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located in littleton, co, this family owned funeral home is trying to break into the green burial industry.

Company’s Consumer Facing Strategies ➤ Recommends cremations as an alternative for clients who are worried about using valuable land space in urban environments or concerned with burying metal caskets and vaults that will never break down over time. ➤ Encourages cremation for environmentally friendly families or those want the remains to return to the natural earth quickly and cleanly. ➤ Suggests clients to consider cremation and deposit the remains in a family’s flower bed, promoting the extenuation of new life and the ability to remember a family member every time a flower blooms there.

It also warns that families need to consider their thoughts if they decide to move and leave the flower bed behind. ➤ Decided to start offering green funeral and burial options based on recent customer interest.

Sustainability Goals ➤ Care for dead with minimal env. impact ➤ Conserve natural resources ➤ Reduce carbon emissions ➤ Protect worker health

List of challenges for becoming sustainable: ➤ Expanding customer awareness and acceptance of green funeral and burial options ➤ Convincing customers to avoid cremation and opt for natural burials instead ➤ Establishing more natural and conservation burial grounds in Colorado Intercompany awareness of green burial practices, certifications and products

Personas Rosa Perez 72-year-old grandmother living in Littleton, CO. A devout Catholic, she has volunteered at a local hospital since her youngest child left for college. She likes to garden and often exhibits flowers she has grown in regional and state shows. Rosa has driven the same Mercedes Benz sedan for over 20 years. She attends all of her fellow church members’ funerals and wants her own to be traditional and spiritual before being buried in her family plot beside her husband and sister.

James Morrison 45-year-old retired Marine veteran who was wounded on his last tour of duty in the Middle East. Divorced, he has three children who all want to go to university. He drives a Ford pickup truck and works part-time as building security officer. In his free time, he hunts and fishes and enjoys camping in the great outdoors. He wants to plan and pay for his funeral now and is very cost-conscious, often joking that “they should just put me in a body bag”. He is leaning toward cremation as he feels that is least expensive option.

Astrid Beane 28-year-old founder of a women-led health tech startup. She embraced the Colorado lifestyle when she moved there for university and spends almost every weekend mountain biking in summer and snowboarding in winter. She is fastidious about recycling and sustainability at work and home. After the unexpected death of her mother earlier this year when she had to make last-minute arrangements, she now wants to ensure her funeral will be green and that she will be buried in a conversation burial ground with a tree planted as a grave marker.

traditional burial products

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analysis audio analysis

challenge

upstream

Emissions from energy use, during cremation and transportation of remains and caskets, carbon emissions from cremation

Supplier and vendor emissions from manufacture, distribution, and delivery of products and services

Increasing energy consumption and volatile cost

Energy source use of suppliers, vendors and manufacturers

Contamination from funeral home, body prep and cremation services

Contamination from production and manufacture services

Land use and facility footprints

Material sourcing (ie. caskets), cemetery land use and supplier facility footprints

Chemicals used during embalming, body prep and cremation process

Chemicals used in manufacturing

Air Pollution

Emissions from energy use during cremation and transportation of remains and caskets

Emissions from production and manufacture facilities

Waste Mgmt.

Single-use products, food and floral waste from funeral services, fluids & water waste during body prep.

Production processes, packaging and supplier efficiency

Ozone Layer

Use of CFC refrigerants and air conditioning in preserving body before burial

CFC Refrigerant or air conditioning used in production facilities or transportation services

Contributes to ocean acidification in carbon emissions during cremation, fluid wastes during body prep.

Manufacturing pollution into water ways, risk of oil spills + other runoff from reliance on fossil fuels

Clear cutting land for funeral home facilities

Clear cutting land for cemeteries and manufacturing plants, wood harvested for caskets

Climate Change Energy Water Biodiversity Chemicals + Toxins

Oceans Deforestation

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aspects

➤ Simply stated, AUDIO is an issue-spotting tool. The grid formation helps the prospect company “listen” to the business and understand the concerns that must be managed both up and down the value chain for issues and opportunities to improve practices to be more eco-friendly. The audio analysis is a tool for spotting downside risks and upside opportunities. Driving environ-

downstream

mental thinking deep into business strategy, the grid has 10 major environmental issues on the vertical axis (climate change, energy, water, biodiversity, chemicals and toxins, oceans, air pollution, waste management, ozone, and deforestation) and five dimensions to explore on the horizontal including Aspects, Upstream, Downstream, Issues and Opportunities (A.U.D.I.O.). ■

issues

opportunities

Emissions from customer (family and friends) traveling to attend services, visit cemeteries and scatter ashes

Carbon tax and regulations on emissions (toxins emitted in cremation)

Partner with carbon offset NGO’s, discourage cremation, carbon capture, carbon sequestration and scrubbing, end reliance on fossil fuels

Energy use from customers and maintenance of the cemeteries

Energy prices and access to renewable energy sources

Require renewable energy use upstream and downstream, energy efficiency database and collaborate competitively with other funeral companies

Contaminated runoff from cemeteries Water quality, reduced access and (burials and pesticides and fertilizers increased prices used for maintenance)

Grey water recycling,water efficiency database and collaborate competitively with other funeral companies, natural water capture for lawn care (irrigation), eliminate body bathing

Use of concrete and other nonbiodegradable materials for burial, cemetery maintenance

Access to land, emotional attachment to tradition burials and upkeep, negative affects to local ecosystems

Establish more natural burial grounds, goat mowers, encourage bees and other wildlife, composting on facilities upstream & downstream, ban the use of artificial flowers

Release of chemicals and toxins (mercury from teeth fillings, plastic from plastic surgeries) during cremation, break down of caskets, pesticides and fertilizers used for maintenance

Toxicity to humans and ecosystems, increased regulations, cultural norms of embalming

Refrigerated tables, dry ice (takes CO2 out of the air) + fans, natural embalming or no embalming, no cremation

Emissions from customer (family and friends) traveling transportation to attend services, visit cemeteries and scatter ashes; CO2 and mercury emissions from cremation

Carbon tax and regulations on emissions (toxins emissions in cremation), negative health impacts, growing consumer concern

Home funeral or just graveside services to reduce transportation emissions, no cremation

Food and other solid waste from funeral services, bodily waste from preparation for burial

Reduction in access to landfills, regulations in bodily waste removal

Eliminate artificial flowers and reduce cut flowers, have potted flowers to buy at cemetery site, composting on site, rental casket

Air conditioning used during funeral services or transportation

Increased regulations on CFCs

Creation of dry ice for refrigeration, reduction in transportation and air conditioning use

Pollution runoff from transportation to and from funeral services from customers reliance on fossil fuels

Increased carbon regulations and carbon taxes

Use of toxic remediation strategies, shared economy with rental casket for funeral services

Continued risk of deforestation due to perpetuation of cultural norms

Increased regulations and fines for tree removal, risk of worsening soil erosion

Sustainably harvest wood and eco-friendly caskets, memorial tree planting, encourage natural burial grounds instead of traditional cemeteries and expand conservation burial

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Rule makers & watchdogs Idea generators & opinion leaders

stakeholder engagement map

Business Partners & Competitors Consumers & Community Investors & Risk Assessors

Potential for Cooperation

Issue Intensity

Connect

collaborate

monitor

defend

- Green Haven Preserve - Roselawn Cemetery - Natural Grace Funeral - Roselawn Cemetery - The Champion Company Embalming Chemicals - Coeio (Infinity Burial Suit) - Crestone Cemetery - Passages International (Caskets) - Trapest Monk Cakset - Kinkara Shrouds - Natural Burial Company - Undertaking L.A. - INELDA Death Midwife Association - Urban Death Project

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Resthaven Bohlender Funeral Chapel J. Henry Stuhr Suzanne Kelly (Author, Greening Death) - Mark Harris (Author, Grave Matters) - Funeral Consumer Society of CO - CO Dept. of Health and Environment Bureau of Vital Statistics - Funeral Home Directors Association - Office of Funeral Home & Cemetery (DORA) - CO Funeral Directors Association

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Seven Stones Botanical Gardens Colorado Carbon Fund TerraPass Local Florists Tree Tracker Local Churches & Religious Groups Alternative Death Community Green Burial Council National Home Funeral Alliance Employees Consumers Family Business Owners

- Goes Funeral Care - Funeral Ethics Organization - Clean Air Coalition

âž˝ A stakeholder engagement map is a tool that businesses can use to help determine which organizations are worth connecting and collaborating with, as well as which ones should be monitored and defended against. After compiling a list of organizations, this two-by-two grid is used to organize each entity along a spectrum comparing potential for cooperation versus issue intensity.

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rule makers & watchdogs Green Burial Council

“The Green Burial Council is the environmental certification organization setting the standard for green burial in North America. We offer environmental certificates for funeral homes, cemeteries and product manufacturers.

We believe that the deathcare industry needs to embrace a new ethic for a new era. Our education and advocacy is helping organizations and individuals within this industry understand the environmental, societal and economic benefits of green burial. We hope to make ‘green’ or ‘natural’ burial the new standard within industry.” greenburialcouncil.org

Natural Funeral Home Alliance

“The NHFA empowers families to care for their own dead by providing educational opportunities and connections to resources that promote environmentally sound and culturally nurturing death practices. This is the place to find information about home funerals, including directories for where to find home funeral guides, home funeral education programs, home-funeral-friendly funeral directors, celebrants and clergy, and groups who will help families when needed. Our goal is to educate the public to their choices and provide clear information.” homefuneralalliance.org

Funeral Home Director’s Association

“The National Funeral Directors Association is the worldwide source of expertise and professional resources for all facets of funeral service.

Through education, information and advocacy, NFDA is dedicated to supporting members in their mission to provide families with meaningful end-of-life services at the highest levels of excellence and integrity.” nfda.org

Funeral Consumer Society of Colorado

to enable its members to plan for funeral or memorial services at fair prices. The Society is open to all, regardless of age or ethnic background, and is nonsectarian. It is particularly appropriate for individuals who accept responsibility and prefer to make their own decisions concerning end-of-life choices.

We provide funeral information to help you, or your survivors, make these choices. We are a force promoting consumer choice and fair dealing with the funeral industry. We are a member of the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), a leading national organization advocating consumer rights regarding funerals.” funeralconsumercolorado.org

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

The state department in charge of death certificates, records and vital statistics.

Also provides updated information on state requirements for burial and cremation. “Burial or spreading of ashes, outside established cemeteries, might be permitted by whoever manages or governs the land. This may be a city, county, national park service, federal bureau of land management, etc. It is important to check with the managing or governing entity before disposing of remains. Embalming is not required if disposal is within 24 hours. A dead human body or fetus kept more than 24 hours before burial or cremation must be embalmed or properly refrigerated. Transport of remains may be in a container that is tightly sealed to prevent the leakage of fluids or odor.” colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/deathrecords

Office of Funeral Home and Cremation Services (DORA)

As the state’s regulatory department, Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies is committed to ensuring that businesses thrive in an environment that protects consumers.

Our nearly 600 employees are dedicated to preserving the integrity of the marketplace and promoting a fair and competitive business environment throughout Colorado. The Office of Funeral Home and Cremation Services provides updated information on the rules and regulations around death care, burial and cremation. colorado.gov/pacific/dora/Funeral_Crematory

“Founded in 1963, the Society is a nonprofit consumer organization whose main goal is

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watchdogs, cont.

Colorado Funeral Directors Association

“It is the mission of the Colorado Funeral Directors Association to advance the economic and professional interests of Colorado’s funeral directors and the service they represent.

In the fulfillment of its mission, the CFDA will continue as a centralized information source, technologically advanced, focused and financially responsible. It will elect and maintain a diverse leadership representative in experience, geography and employment environment.

Membership: It will promote colleagueship and friendship. It will provide value to its members and to the citizens they serve and will continuously promote the benefits of belonging. It will reach out and be attractive to all entities and individuals involved in funeral service.

Communications: It will communicate with its members and allied associations and serve as a link to the world outside of funeral service. It will provide information, maintain a statewide communications system for emergency messaging, and will maintain a professional and educational network.

Education: It will create continuing and concentrated education opportunities and promote professional development. It will be the funeral service resource center for Colorado.

Political and Public Awareness & Social Interaction: It will speak on behalf of funeral service and seek unity among members and all elements of the profession and provide information to the public on the importance and role of funeral service in society. It will promote harmony among those in funeral service through the utilization and development of social opportunities and by encouraging working relationships.

Standards and Ethics: It will maintain its commitment to high professional standards and continue its support of the Colorado Funeral Service Board. Through cooperation and voluntary action, it will monitor itself and

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Bohlender Funeral Chapel, Inc., member of colorado funeral directors organization

be accountable to the public it serves. It will demonstrate the highest level of service.

The CFDA exists to serve its members through education, collaboration, resources and representation. The association is supported primarily through annual membership dues paid by funeral establishment firms and allied member suppliers. Membership in the CFDA is critical to maintain the strength, credibility and resources needed to represent and serve the funeral profession throughout the next year and in the future.” cofda.org/aboutus

Funeral Ethics Association

“Ethical dealings respect the feelings and emotions of the bereaved, provide respect to the deceased’s body, and refrain from taking economic advantage of consumers making funeral or memorial purchases. FEO’s mission is to promote ethical dealings in all death-related transactions by working for better understanding of ethical issues among funeral, cemetery, memorial industry practitioners, law enforcement, organ procurement organizations, and state agencies, as well as better understanding between these and the general public.” funeralethics.org ■

idea generators & opinion leaders

Suzanne Kelly, author of Greening Death

“Undertaking LA is a progressive funeral home in Los Angeles, CA. We are not your typical funeral parlor. Our funeral directors empower families to have a closer relationship with death and the dying process. Facing a death can be a traumatic, confusing time, and we want you to feel fully involved in your deathcare decisions.

Whether you’re looking for the chance to help prepare your loved one’s body, be present at the cremation, or bury them in a natural, green cemetery, Undertaking LA will work with you to provide these simple but deeply meaningful options.” undertakingla.com

“We once disposed of our dead in earthfriendly ways—no chemicals, biodegradable containers, dust to dust. But over the last 150 years death care has become a toxic, polluting, and alienating industry in the United States. Today, people are slowly waking up to the possibility of more sustainable and less disaffecting death care, reclaiming old practices in new ways, in a new age. Greening Death traces the philosophical and historical backstory to this awakening, captures the passionate on-the-ground work of the Green Burial Movement, and explores the obstacles and other challenges getting in the way of more robust mobilization. As the movement lays claim to greener, simpler, and more costefficient practices, something even more promising is being offered up—a tangible way of restoring our relationship to nature.” suzannemkelly.com/books.html

INELDA Death and Midwife Association

Mark Harris author of Grave Matters

Undertaking L.A.

“Bringing deeper meaning and greater comfort to the dying. Enriching hospice end of life care.” INELDA leads the way by providing information and training for death midwives who support the living and dying during endof-life transitions. inelda.org

Urban Death Project

“The Urban Death Project has created an innovative new model of death care that honors both our loved ones and the planet earth. At the heart of this model is a new system called Recomposition that transforms bodies into soil so that we can grow new life after we die.” urbandeathproject.org

Local Churches and Religious Groups

An important resource for both consumer education and development would be local churches and religious groups. Apollo is already known in the community to be respectful and compassionate of a diverse range of faiths, so it is a natural extension that advocating green funerals and burials could help the company move into new markets. Education and awareness is key, and these partnerships offer unparalleled access to interested parties who may convert to consumers at a later date.

“Grave Matters follows a dozen families who found in ‘green’ burial a more natural, more economic and ultimately more meaningful alternative to the tired and toxic send-off on offer at the local funeral parlor. Eschewing chemical embalming and fancy caskets, burial vaults and costly funerals, they have embraced a range of natural options, new and old, that are redefining a better American way of death.

Environmental journalist Mark Harris examines this new green burial underground, leading you into natural cemeteries and domestic graveyards, taking you aboard boats from which ashes and memorial “reef balls” are cast into the sea. He follows a family that conducts a home funeral and delivers a loved one to the crematory, another that hires a carpenter to build a pine coffin. In the morbidly fascinating tradition of Stiff, Grave Matters details the embalming process and the environmental aftermath of the standard funeral. Harris also traces the history of burial in America, from frontier cemeteries to the billion-dollar business it is today, reporting on real families who opted for more simple, natural return.” gravematters.us ■

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business partners & competitors Greenhaven Preserve

“Located in South Carolina, Greenhaven Preserve is a 10-acre natural burial cemetery devoted to the long-term preservation and guardianship of the sacred land upon which it rests. Their mission is to restore and protect the surrounding fields and forests, waters and wildlife, views and vistas while providing a simple, meaningful and sustainable alternative to modern burials.” greenhavenpreserve.com

Roselawn Cemetery

One of the three burial grounds in Colorado certified by the Green Burial Council, this city-owned and operated cemetery is located near Fort Collins. Unfortunately there is no reference to green or natural burials on their city services website nor do they list the Green Burial Council certification or logo. fcgov.com/ cemeteries

Natural Grace Green Funerals, Burials and Cremation

“Natural Grace Funerals and Cremations is a full-service funeral home offering funeral services to the greater Los Angeles area. Their business philosophy is to offer environmentally sensitive death care options combined with personal service and family involvement. They offer the services desired by each family while taking a natural approach to everything they do. This includes the method of body preparation, temporary body preservation, burial containers and even the purchase of carbon offsets to offset the carbon emitted from the cremation process.” naturalgracefunerals.com

The Champion Company (eco-embalming fluids)

“Preserving Innovation Since 1878, the Champion Company is the trusted supply partner for embalming and funeral service providers that demand the very best. From the nineteenth century through to the twenty-first, we’ve led the industry with innovative products

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that redefine standards for quality and value, all supported by personal service that ensures customer satisfaction. Our funeral care products are developed with the health and safety of our clients—and the environment—in mind, and always with a focus on preserving the dignity of the deceased and their families”. thechampioncompany.com

Coeio (Infinity Burial Suit)

Made of all natural, biodegradable material and with no harsh chemicals, preservatives, or processing the Infinity Burial Suit reunites the body with the earth and the ongoing cycle of life by harnessing the power of mushroom spores lined in the fabric that speed the decomposition of the body remains and cleanse the toxins that would otherwise seep into the soil. coeio.com

Crestone Cemetery

“The Crestone Cemetery has made it all the way through the 20th century without requiring embalming, caskets, concrete vaults, and/or monuments. It is 50 miles northeast of Alamosa, Colorado, in pinon-juniper open woodland with sand and native ground cover and a spectacular view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The native pinon-juniper vegetation and semi-arid mountain climate provide a beautiful and natural setting that eliminates wasteful and expensive watering and mowing.” townofcrestone.org/index.php/clerk-s-office/ town-cemetery/23-the-town-of-crestone-sgreen-cemetery

Passages Caskets

“Passages Eco-Friendly Caskets are crafted by skilled weavers as a small cottage industry, not in factories. They are created from sustainable materials such as fast-growing willow, seagrass or bamboo which don’t require heavy machinery for harvesting, giving them a small carbon footprint. Casket linings are made from unbleached natural cotton. Passages offers a free tree with every adult casket sale.” passagesinternational.com

Trappist Monk Caskets

“The unique experience of a Trappist Monk casket includes being handcrafted from premium woods from their own sustainable forests, and only the finest materials inside and

out not to mention being blessed by the monks themselves. For every tree they harvest for production, another tree is planted in its place.” trappistcaskets.com

Kinkara Shroud

“In 2005 KINKARACO ® Green Funeral Products took the most ancient funeral object—the shroud—and transformed it into an affordable easy to use modern green funeral product for funeral homes to offer people seeking green burial and cremation , replacing both clothing and caskets.” kinkaraco.com/collections/ shrouds-for-green-burial

Natural Burial Company

“The Natural Burial Company sells biodegradable* coffins, caskets, urns and natural funeral goods throughout the US and into Canada. Our crafters come from around the world, where the technique of making handwoven coffins has not yet been lost, and where direct-earth burials without vaults are still common. Your requests for and purchase of these products helps keep these handarts arts alive, and challenges the funeral profession to shift to more sustainable funeral and cemetery practices - before you need them.” naturalburialcompany.com

Seven Stones Botanical Garden

“We are not drab, dark, somber and scary.

We are not rows of headstones. We are not backhoes and neglected landscaping. We are light. And nature. We are a gathering place.

And an entertainment venue. We are family reunions. And a setting for stories told of loved ones. Of fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers. We are a chance to reacquaint yourself with friends and distant family. We are roses and poppies. Cottonwoods and creeks.

Sculptures and waterfalls. We are where people remember, and pay honor, in a place where they feel good just being. We are inviting paths and welcoming people. We are a place that makes smiles easier to come by at a time when they’re the hardest to come by. We help to heal.

And allow you to remember. We are beauty and nature. We are a slice of Colorado in the shadow of the mountains. We are the promise of a well-kept place for generations to come.

We are Seven Stones.” discoversevenstones.com/vision

Colorado Carbon Fund

The Colorado Carbon Fund began in 2007 as a “key component in the State of Colorado’s Climate Action Plan”. It started as a collaborative project between the Governor’s Energy Office (now the Colorado Energy Office) and the Climate Trust, a nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon, aimed to advance four main objectives in Colorado: ​ 1) Develop a funding source for clean energy and climate mitigation projects 2) Provide direct investment towards Coloradobased projects 3) Support the State’s Climate Action Plan in mitigating the effects of climate change 4) Provide high-quality offsets for individuals, businesses, and government agencies seeking to mitigate their carbon footprints ​ Administration of the CCF is now under the guidance of Natural Capitalism Solutions, a non-profit situated here in Colorado that has an unparalleled reputation as a leader in sustainability implementation and reshaping environmental practices. coloradocarbonfund.org

Terrapass

“We fund projects that destroy greenhouse gases and produce renewable energy. Each project is made possible by your purchase of renewable energy credits and carbon offsets.

Our projects are happening throughout the United States, supporting their local communities and offering great environmental benefits.” terrapass.com

Local Florists

Partner with local florists to encourage them to offer more informed ecological options like locally grown flowers and potted plants instead of fresh-cut flowers grown out of state and/or artificial flowers.

Tree Tracker

Tree Tracker® has been developed by professionals with over 50 years of experience in urban forestry. Their knowledge of tree inventory software is based on their experiences while working with several of the leading urban forestry consulting firms. Tree Tracker® has been designed to better meet the needs

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business partners & competitors of a community’s urban forestry program.

Tree Tracker programs can be utilized by conservation cemeteries to track trees planted over loved ones graves to act as a marker as an alternative to contemporary headstones. treetrackersoftware.com/about.html

Resthaven

One of the three funeral homes in Colorado certified by the Green Burial Council. However, from their website you would never know it. After hunting under various tabs, there is a minor mention of the following: “In some communities, there’s the option for a ‘green burial.’ If that’s what your loved one would prefer, we’ll help you select an environmentallyfriendly choice.” This could be an example of “green-washing” so should be avoided. Clear information about the green funeral and burial services offered along with prices and the Green Burial Council logo should be prominent in all communications, physical or digital. resthavencolorado.com

Bohlender Funeral Chapel

“We are a family owned and operated funeral home located in Old Town, Fort Collins.” While offering options for a green burial, they only have a small excerpt on their website which states: “For such arrangements, formaldehydebased embalming is prohibited as is the use of metal or concrete grave liners, burial vaults, or other permanent burial containers unless required by a conventional cemetery. Caskets, coffins, or alternative containers used to enclose and transport the deceased are made of biodegradable materials. Home wakes, public visitations, church funerals and graveside services are options that may be arranged within the time frame green burial allows. If green burial is of interest to you we would be happy to speak to you about your options.” No specific examples of green burial products or services performed by the business listed, just mentioned. bohlenderfuneralchapel.com

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J. Henry Stuhr Funeral Home

“Henry D. Stuhr established this company in 1865 and we remain the oldest continually family-owned and operated business in South Carolina. Our firm makes available natural burial options and is one of a select group of funeral providers certified by the Green Burial Council, a not-for-profit organization, which encourages the use of burial grounds as a means of facilitating the restoration, acquisition and stewardship of natural areas throughout the United States. Our green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of traditional embalming fluids and nonbiodegradable materials/chemicals. Caskets, coffins or alternative containers used to enclose and transport the deceased are made of bio-degradable materials and are available in a range of prices. Home wakes, public visitations, church funerals and graveside services are also options as part of a natural burial. J. Henry Stuhr is proud to partner with Greenhaven Preserve: A Natural Burial Cemetery located in Eastover, South Carolina.” jhenrystuhr.com/green-natural-burial/

Goes Funeral Care

“The planet Earth is our home and there is currently great concern for its well-being. And because of this, there is growing interest in the concept of Green Burial as an option for final disposition. As an approved Green Burial funeral care provider, we promote the Green Burial Council Standards and Methods (see below.)

Green Burial packages are on our Price List.

Goes Funeral Care & Crematory, Inc., has earned the Green Burial Council’s Three-Leaf Rating.

Goes Funeral Care & Crematory, Inc., was instrumental in the creation of a Hybrid Burial Ground here in Fort Collins. Located at Roselawn Cemetery, this green burial area within the cemetery requests that burial be without embalming, utilize a biodegradable casket or shroud and not use a vault or outer burial container.

Our hope is that the city will move forward to complete the process to certify with the Green Burial Council. Currently the only certified cemetery with the Green Burial Council is in Crestone, Colorado. One added note, the city of Wellington maintains a more natural

cemetery that does not require a vault for the residents of Wellington. This cemetery has traditional burial as well. It is not certified by the Green Burial Council. Our funeral home, therefore, reserves the right to disallow a public viewing or church funeral with an unembalmed body under certain circumstances of death.

Goes Funeral Care has always considered the environmental impact of what we do. We have always questioned if an urn purchase was needed or if a casket was necessary or if embalming was truly required.

We are currently researching more environmentally safe preserving products from England where traditional formaldehyde based products are close to being outlawed. We have been keeping an eye on the emissions of our crematory from a polluting point of view as well as what carbon footprint we are leaving behind with this method of final disposition.

To offset our carbon footprint, Goes Funeral Care buys wind credits and helps reforest the earth through the local non profit organization, Trees Water and People, Inc. Is the future Green Burial? At this point in time, it would appear to be a very viable option and one that we, as residents of Earth, might seriously consider. If you are interested in this concept, please call us to discuss what options might exist for you.

In addition, if you are interested in a home funeral and then burial or cremation, or burial on their land in Larimer County or to have more intimate involvement at one’s death, Goes Funeral Care is here is help and support this process. We feel you, the family, directs us and we assist you. We want to help you create a meaningful funeral experience and one that helps with healing.” goesfuneralcare.com ■

consumers & community Employees

Onboarding employees will be a significant factor in the success of any introduction of green bural and funeral practices. From the funeral director to the embalmer, the body preparation technicians to the maintenance

teams, all employees need to be educated and convinced of the reasoning behind such sustainable offers and how those impact the business at large and their own careers and job security. Involving employees before, during and after the process of introducing green burial and funeral options will ensure buy in, or all in even, so that they can serve as compelling ambassadors for the program during customer interactions.

Consumers

Apollo has a solid base of the traditional consumer, but as society shifts to more green standards, it has a unique opportunity to expand its customer base while becoming one of the leading providers of green funerals and burials in the state of Colorado. It will be important to engage with consumers who are prize sensitive, as they will discover that green burial is often more affordable than the traditional services.

And for the sustainably minded consumer, Apollo has the opportunity to nurture awareness and wider acceptance of more environmentally sensitive death-care options. ■

Investors & Risk Assessors Family Business Owners

As Apollo is a family owned and operated business, it will be important to engage, educate and enlighten all of the investors. This includes those on the board, as they will be champions of the program in their own social and professional circles. It also includes the financial and legal teams, who will need to be monitoring market shifts and new government regulations which may impact the development of green funeral and burial practices. Also the potential for establishing conservation burial grounds through family trusts could be well worth exploring as an important sign of investment back into the local community in support of Apollo’s more sustainable deathcare business model. ■

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sustainability swot What is sswot? ➽ The Sustainability Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat (sSWOT) is designed to help drive action and collaboration on environmental challenges in business. The sSWOT helps evaluate the company’s strategies and convert insights into opportunities. It helps in motivating colleagues with limited knowledge of environmental issues or corporate sustainability. The sSWOT is a tool to help companies explore collaboration with all stakeholders. Most importantly the tool helps identify and prioritize main issues to be presented to the senior decision makers. It challenges teams and decision makers to think about the long-term environmental challenges that will be creating significant business risks or opportunities in the future.

We used the sSWOT tool after establishing the Stakeholder Engagement Map. We identified the mega trends that could affect the burial service industry such as the urbanization leading to deforestation and the trending concept of mega cities which leaves very less space for natural grounds, traditional burial norms and lack of awareness about green burial methods, resource scarcity, increase in population and stagnant middle class wages who cannot afford expensive burials, and the biggest environmental challenge of climate change. Hence the mega trends help looking at the big picture and outside the company’s four walls.

Narrowing down the funnel, next step was to look at the threats and opportunities.

Learning from the A.U.D.I.O. analysis and Blue Ocean Strategy helped us identify threats for funeral homes. Threats such as limited burial space, new government reg-

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ulations for emissions and rising prices for energy and other resources helped identify some of the logistical issues. The lack of awareness for natural burial and consumers preference for traditional burial were some of the social issues. However the opportunities are to limit cremation to improve air quality, increase use of biodegradable products, pre competitive collaboration such as creating a catalog of eco-friendly death-care products, land conservation and restoration strategies as well as the fact that green burials are usually less expensive than traditional burials.

The next step would allow Apollo to pivot their company’s already familiar core competencies and introduce a need to apply those strengths in a new market. Identifying specific strengths such as access to green products and services, local interest in green burial in Colorado, presence of local natural burial collaborators, strong creative leadership and being the leading green funeral home in Colorado can be useful insights to work on. The weaknesses include green marketing strategies and lack of web presence, limited green resources and land, and the fact that it is still working with a traditional funeral home model.

Going through the entire process of sSWOT, we prioritized the five most important strategies for Apollo—1 to create a resource database, 2 connect with stakeholders, 3 obtain GBC certification, 4 update current business model and 5 create a public awareness campaign. These can be categorized into feasible short-term (3 months) actions 1 and 3, midterm (6 months) steps 2 and 4, and longterm (9 months) goal of 5.

Hence this tool provides a flexible framework to help business translate environmental challenges and social concerns into core business interests and strategies that can be realistically introduced and integrated into their planning and processes. ■

act S-1+3 M-2+4 L-5

prioritize 1. Create resource database 2. Connect with stakeholders 3. Obtain Green Burial Council certification 4. Update current business model to include Green Burial Practices 5. Create public awareness campaign

strengths

weaknesses

-

Limited burial space Consumer preference for traditional Lack of awareness for natural burial New government emissions reg.

Rising/volatile prices for energy and other resources

al

- Limit cremation/improve air quality - Public education + awareness - Increase biodegradable product use - Pre-Competitive collaboration - Land conservation and restoration - Create new natural burial trend - Less expensive than traditional burial

ern Ext

threats

l

opportunities

Green marketing strategy Web presence lacking Traditional FH model Limited green resources and land availability

rna

-

Inte

- Access to green products and services - Only GFH in Denver area - Solid reputation - Strong creative leadership - Local interest in green burial - Local nat. burial collaborators

environmental challenges & mega trends - Green Movement - Climate Change - Deforestation - Waste Management & Water Quality - Resource Scarcity - Decreasing Quality of Resources

-

Population Growth Globalization Urbanization & Mega-Cities Cremation Traditional Burial Norms Stagnant Middle Class Wages

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apollo funeral home (today)

blue ocean strategy canvas blueoceanstrategy.com What is blue ocean? ➽ “Blue Oceans denote all the industries not in existence today - the unknown market space, untainted by competition. In blue oceans, demand is created rather than fought over. There is ample opportunity for growth that is both profitable and rapid. In blue oceans, competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set. Blue Ocean is an analogy to describe the wider, deeper potential of market space that is not yet explored. Like the - blue ocean, it is vast, deep, powerful in terms of profitable growth and infinite.”

We used the BOS Strategic Canvas to rank the A.U.D.I.O. status of the purpose-driven company Natural Grace Funerals, the integrated company J. Stuhr and the target company Apollo. As we are not experts working inside each of the companies, some of the plot points were admittedly subjective, however the resulting canvas offers a realistic snapshot of where each of the players are today and where they might want to move tomorrow.

We took the 10 categories in the A.U.D.I.O. analysis and used those as performance attributes running along the horizontal axis of the graph. We then plotted each company’s performance on a scale of 0 to 10 in order to benchmark those and understand better what each company was doing well and what they could improve.

After that, we did another BOS Strategic Canvas to benchmark Green Burial Practices. On this one, we included the purpose-drive Natural Grace Funerals, the integrated J Stuhr, and the target Apollo, as

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Natural Grace goes funeral care bohlender j. henry stuhr well as two of the latter’s direct competitors in the state of Colorado: Goes Funeral Care and Bohlender Funeral Chapel.

The next step was to do a Four-Action Framework where the team analyzed the Apollo status in each category and determined if they should E (eliminate), R- (reduce), R+ (raise), or C (create) in order to enter the Blue Ocean opportunity space.

After that we plotted the target points for the performance attributes of green burial practices for which Apollo should strive in order to become more sustainable. The plot for As Is Today versus To Be Tomorrow demonstrates the potential of such shifts.

Four Action Framework apollo (today) apollo (target area) Eliminate (- sign) Reduce (down sign) Raise (up sign) Eco-embalming Eco-burial containers and shrouds

Home funerals and vigils

Price ranges (offer more options

from access to premium) Create (+ sign)

Non-toxic body prep Eco-cremation

Natural and conservation

burial grounds

Green marketing Eco-certification

Partnerships

N

5

4

3

2

1 7 8 9 10 11

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

emation

contain & shrouds ers

-cr

mbalming

6

Partn

6 5

es ertification

7 4

-c

vigils

e

ethics

erships

rang

eting

mark

pric

n

ee

&

ervation grounds

eral

fun

eco

8 3

eco

gr

e

hom

ep

pr

9 2

& burial cons

atural

y

bod

-e

eco

ic

-to x

10 1

-burial

eco

on

N

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

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opportunities ideation âž˝ Based on the A.U.D.I.O and other analysis of the death-care industry, we brainstormed opportunities for Apollo to improve its sustainability profile. We divided the ideas into the same categories of the A.U.D.I.O framework.

Climate Change 1. Introduce/increase use of hybrid and e-transport.

2. Introduce use of renewable energy services for facilities.

3. Begin carbon capture and scrubbing.

4. Partner with Terrapass or Colorado Carbon Fund to buy carbon offsets.

5. Discourage cremation and promote natural burial.

Energy 1. Introduce eco-friendly manufacturers of burial containers 2. Become net-positive.

Water 1. Start greywater recycling program 2. Begin natural water capture for lawn maintenance Biodiversity 1. Partner with natural burial grounds like Seven Stones.

2. Establish conservation burial grounds.

3. Use goat mowers 4. Set up beehives, bird houses to attract wildlife.

5. Initiate composting program at facilities.

6. Ban use of artificial flowers.

7. Encourage florists to offer potted plants.

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Chemicals+toxins 1. Use eco-embalming fluids for required embalming (out-of-state or cultural reasons).

2. Use dry ice and fans instead of embalming.

3. Use refrigerated tables instead of emb.

4. Introduce more eco-cremation techniques such as cardboard caskets.

5. Use natural/green de-icers.

Air pollution 1. Encourage simple graveside services.

2. Encourage home funerals/vigils.

Waste management 1. Discourage cut flowers.

Ozone layer 1. Use NEST thermostat to control air conditioners used in facilities.

2. Introduce passive cooling techniques in facilities.

Oceans 1. Eliminate pesticides and use natural fertilizers for lawn at facilities.

Deforestation 1. Encourage use of shrouds instead of caskets.

2. Use caskets made from sustainable sources.

3. Introduce wicker caskets.

4. Encourage burial at natural grounds instead of traditional cemeteries.

5. Suggest memorial tree planting.

6. Use green design strategies for future building construction.

2 x 2 Map: Impact versus Time We then plotted each idea on a 2 x 2 map with Impact (from low to high) as the vertical axis and Time (from short to long) as the horizontal to help us filter and prioritize the opportunities.

Short, Medium & Long-Term Recommendations Finally, we divided the 2 x 2 map into Short, Medium and Long-Term sections to enable Apollo to target and take actionable steps to improve its sustainability profile within the next quarter (3 months), year (12 months), and 3-year (36 months) plan.

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