What To Consider When Planning Green Cremation Services
Posted on: 14 January 2015
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When you are planning funeral services for either yourself or a loved one, choosing green cremation offers the opportunity to be more responsible in saying final goodbyes. Green funerals can give you the chance to carry on a legacy of responsibility and respect for life that continues. But before you decide which green services to use in planning a funeral, there are a few things to consider about green cremation.
There are Several Options
Green cremation services can encompass every aspect of funeral planning to using singular options that are more responsible and environmentally-friendly. Depending on your location, funeral homes offer different shades of green due to the relative demand for the practice and the cost of using equipment that facilitates responsible cremation.
In general, the process of cremation can vary in degrees of ecological responsibility, but you may be offered a few choices:
- Traditional Cremation with Responsible Containment: Because some funeral homes are not financially equipped to install modern cremation chambers, your choice in going greener may be in how the ashes are prepared and where they remain. Traditional cremation creates high emissions and uses a tremendous amount of energy, but you can still plan a cremation that is greener through using urns or containers that are sustainable, as well as conservation grounds for burial instead of a vault.
- Greener Cremation and Containment: Greener cremation chambers are becoming an alternative to dated chambers as they create less emission, involve medical parts recycling, and use urns and burial plans that employ sustainable alternatives. Choosing to skip formaldehyde embalming, as well as not using a casket, are also options that can make planning greener.
- Green Cremation through Flameless Interment: A method that dates back to 1888 and has been adopted modernly by the Mayo Clinic, flameless cremation is a green alternative that involves hydrolysis of the body with potassium hydroxide and water. It takes about 2-3 hours in order to cremate, which is the same as traditional services, but it removes emissions in the process and provides only water as a byproduct. If you plan this option, you have to consider using only natural products, like wool, silk, or leather for clothing the deceased.
Depending on where you live in the country, bio-cremation, or cremation with flameless interment, and low-emission chambers may not be offered. Greener options can be comparable in cost of planning if you live in areas that offer all alternatives, so you need to ask what's available before you decide.
There are many options that can help you plan a service that utilizes green technology at any stage of the cremation process, so it helps to know what to consider before you begin planning. Contact a funeral home like Marine Park Funeral Home Inc for more information.