Many "baby boomers" today are considering going green when they shop, drive their cars and drink their water.  Some are now beginning to talk about their funerals or the funerals of their loved ones.  The latest trend in burials is the "green burial" but is it new?  In earlier times before modern funeral facilities and embalming people cared for their dead loved ones by simply burying the body in a family cemetery on their own property or in a church cemetery.  Some people are now considering green burial as an alternative to traditional burial or cremation.  Green burial is generally any form of burial/interment that is not harmful to the environment. This can include the burial of cremated remains in a biodegradable urn or burial of an un-embalmed body in an environmentally friendly shroud or casket. Various religious groups such as Jewish, Baha'i and Amish are not embalmed but placed in simple caskets with nothing done to preserve the body. Consumers are seeking practices and materials that are environmentally friendly.  A natural burial is likely to include a natural setting and a deceased's body with no embalming or embalming with formaldehyde free products.

A truly green funeral would involve wrapping someone in a biodegradable sheet or shroud, placing them in the grave and covering them up. There are alternative containers that can be used for burial. At Rembs Funeral Home we offer a biodegradable simple pine casket as well as a willow casket which is hand crafted by skilled weavers. Willow plants are fast growing, easy to harvest and require no fertilizers. They replenish fertility in depleted soils in addition to providing habitats for birds and insects. Rembs Funeral Home offers these types of caskets to  the growing segment of the population interested in more environmentally friendly funerals. They also carry various biodegradable urns that are made out of recycled paper, salts or corn starch which break down over time and return to the elements.

These alternatives are certainly not for everyone but are meant to offer people a choice. Some people want unique ways to memorialize their loved one. They may desire something special to work out their grief differently than they have in the past.

Feel free to contact a Funeral Director if you have any questions about these services at (715) 387-1242 or toll free at 1-888-736-2705.