Green Burials Become More Common

Charlotte Jewish News March 2022

By Lorrie Klemons, HCA Board Member

The month of March climatically comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. A transition from cold to warm. From dormancy to vibrancy. From brown to green. A reawakening of Mother Nature after a winter hibernation. A “greening,” so to speak.

Green burials are the latest trend in the death and dying arena. More and more Americans are rejecting traditional funerals and burials that include expensive coffins, lots of flowers, embalming, and a number of other, oftentimes, expensive add-ons that pollute the earth and take up precious land. “Greeners” embrace a friendly environmental stewardship or conservation of the land.

According to a survey by the National Funeral Directors Association released in 2020, nearly 54% of Americans are considering a green burial, and 72% of cemeteries are reporting an increased demand. People who desire green burials want to be buried in a park, green area, or nature preserve. They desire to restore their own personal relationship with nature in the cycle of life and renewal. It is economical. It is natural. It is green. It is calm. It is peaceful. It is meditative. It is biodegradable.

Those who think “green” desire to minimize negative environmental effects by forgoing concrete vaults, rethinking burial containers, and maintaining and protecting natural habitat. Their choices involve the limitation of waste, reduction of carbon footprint, and nourishment of the local ecosystem. Green burials negate the need for embalming chemicals and the extraneous non-biodegradable materials that conventional burials contaminate the earth with.

Some choose a green funeral because they are less expensive. Funeral costs vary from state to state and cemetery to cemetery. The national median cost of a funeral is about $8,500 according to the National Funeral Directors Association. Though green graves are comparably priced to the traditional grave, the savings of a green burial are significant.

Other greeners choose cremation as a way to nourish and save the land and as a way to save money. However, because of the the pH of cremated ashes, they create a carbon that doesn’t necessarily get absorbed into the soil for the good of the land. This carbon footprint has been calculated to be the equivalent of a 500-mile car journey. A product called “Let Your Love Grow” mixed in with cremains restores the ashes to a more neutral pH, making it more absorbable into the soil, reducing the carbon footprint left behind. I’m not sure whether this mixture is “halachic” (according to Jewish Law), so if you’re Jewish and contemplating such a green burial, speak with your rabbi.

Perhaps the most personal reason of all for a green burial is because it simply “speaks to a person,” giving comfort in the idea of returning one’s body to nature. The extent of how green a burial can be is up to the individual. The burial can be as simple as wrapping the body in a cotton shroud before lowering it into the ground or involve a more complicated process that includes a memorial ceremony and burial in a conservation park (with or without a grave marker) where families can choose to plant a variety of plants, flowers, and shrubs on the grave.

Although a current trend, a green burial is not an entirely new idea. The funeral traditions of many religions, such as Judaism and Islam, for example, align themselves with green processes. In a traditional Jewish or Islamic burial, the body is rarely embalmed. It is dressed in a biodegradable white cotton/ muslin or linen shroud. Besides being easily biodegradable, the shroud makes each one of us appear equal in the eyes of our Creator. The body is traditionally buried in plain, non-chemicalor hardware- containing coffins or other such vessels, made of biodegradable pine, wicker, or cardboard. You can even choose to be buried without a coffin. There are no embalming chemicals. There’s no fancy clothing. There’s a oneness with the earth. A oneness between the body, the soul, the land, and the Creator.

Death and life are two sides of the same coin. In my practice as a patient-senior-caregiver advocate and end-of-life death doula, I spend a lot of time discussing end-of-life planning with my clients. It is an integral part of the advocacy and end-of-life planning process. It is unique and deeply personal. It is never a pleasant topic. If you desire a green burial, you must plan for it. It won’t happen on its own. Talk to your family. Talk to your clergy. Talk with your preferred funeral home. Talk with your local cemetery.

The Charlotte Jewish community is blessed to have a most sanctified and beautiful Jewish cemetery as a final resting place. The cemetery is administrated by a volunteer Hebrew Cemetery Association and led by a fulltime cemetery director who are all Jewish and passionate about the cemetery and its legacy. If you are interested in a green burial, look no further than your own Hebrew Cemetery. For more info about the cemetery, contact Sandra Goldman at director@ hebrewcemetery.org or (704) 576-1859.