Are there "green" ways of being interred? The answer turns out to be yes, as those seeking a sustainable lifestyle want to continue the trend when they die, which includes environmentally friendly ways to dispose of people's remains.
Germany's Federal Association of Undertaker Supplies recommends solid wood coffins from sustainable, regional forestry, which it says are naturally biodegradable. They rot quickly in the ground, and since wood is a natural fuel, burning them in a crematorium saves energy.
The handles of sustainable coffins are made of wood, rope or other decomposable material. The coffins' surface is waxed, oiled or can be coated with an eco-friendly lacquer.
The lining of the coffin, and the clothes worn by the deceased, should burn easily or quickly rot. Options here include sheep's wool, European cotton or viscose, which is made from wood pulp.
For shrouds and blankets, woven linen from French or Dutch flax is a good choice. Hemp, wood shavings or straw can serve as filling material – in a coffin mattress, for example.
A coffin's sustainability can depend in part on its place of delivery. If it's manufactured regionally, the transport route to the undertaker will be short, which saves petrol.
Cremation urns can be biodegradable too, for example when they're made of beech charcoal, maize starch, wood, clay or natural fibers. Sustainable containers for burial at sea are highly water-soluble and made of lacustrine limestone, salt crystal, cardboard or clay.
Grave decorations should be sustainable as well. Andre Burmester, a cemetery gardening specialist, says he regularly finds tiny pieces of plastic in grave soil, remnants of decorative figurines that didn't withstand the elements and broke apart.
It can be assumed that plastics degrade very slowly, and perhaps not fully. They then turn into microplastics, which are consumed by insects in the soil or end up in groundwater – and eventually in our food chain.
