When It Comes to Dying, Here’s How to Go Naturally

BY ALISON RAMSEY

There are currently no designated natural burial cemeteries in Canada where everything put into the earth is decomposable (such as all-wood caskets), nothing contaminates the soil (no embalming fluids are used) and the ground is not groomed or laden with pesticides and herbicides. Yet you can still take steps to lessen the environmental impact of your death:

Plan ahead. The first and most important step is to let your executor know your detailed wishes for a simple, greener interment, says Janet McCausland, executive-director of the Toronto-based Natural Burial Association, which promotes environmentally friendly burials across Canada. A grieving family will often choose the status quo – or upscale to an ornate casket made from exotic woods – and may unwittingly make decisions that lead to contamination of the soil or air.

Donate your organs. Two of the three environmental R’s are reuse and recycle. Organ donation does both.

Don’t get embalmed. Traditional formaldehyde-based embalming fluids are toxic. Refrigeration can replace embalming.

Reconsider cremation. Half of Canadians opt to be cremated, but the process, while more environmentally friendly than a conventional burial, still requires more resources than a natural burial. If you opt for cremation, consider removing mercury fillings before death. Mercury in fillings is vaporized during cremation. Mercury in its gaseous form is absorbed by water and accumulates in fish that we eat. A neurotoxin that acts on the brain and nervous system, mercury is especially hazardous for children and pregnant women. Mercury does not contaminate nearly as much when it’s buried because it is more stable (it doesn’t transform easily to a gas, for example) and it is not spread all about the way air-borne mercury is.

Choose an all-wood casket without metal fittings, made of local, sustainable wood treated with natural oil finishes. Or be even more minimalist: “My preference would be a shroud,” says Mike Salisbury, president of the Natural Burial Co-operative in Guelph. “It allows the body to be more easily recycled to the earth.” Some people are choosing cardboard caskets, which mourners can embellish with poems and other words paying tribute to the departed.

Don’t opt for a vault. Concrete vaults may prevent soil from collapsing at the gravesite, keeping the lawn nice and even, but they inhibit the decomposition that an environmentally friendly burial demands.

In lieu of flowers (which usually end up in the garbage rather than a compost), ask that donations be made to a land conservation organization. Some funeral homes have direct arrangements: groves planted by the Grand River Conservation Authority in Ontario, for example, are sponsored by funeral homes that accept donations for memorial trees.

Forego a traditional headstone. The cemetery may be able to mark the grave with an indigenous stone or by planting a tree. Try using native flowers and grasses to decorate the burial plot.

“Having a more natural burial,” says Salisbury, “is a life-affirming choice.”