Burial Choices – Biodegradable Burial Containers
by Loretta Jaunzarins
Welcome to this second part of a two-part series on green/natural burials.
A biodegradable burial container is a container you place the deceased’s body or ashes in which will then biodegrade naturally and become part of the earth. You can purchase biodegradable containers for humans or other animals. Let me describe them in more detail including some websites that offer these products.
Caskets
You might think that traditional wooden caskets are biodegradable because they are wood, but they aren’t. That’s because the wood is varnished and they are lined with fabric and other materials, such as metal, that are not biodegradable. And if the deceased is wearing their best dress or suit, then that material is also non-biodegradable. A biodegradable casket will be made of plain wood, like pine or cedar, wicker or cardboard. If it is lined, it will be lined with a biodegradable natural material such as linen or cotton that has not been dyed or treated. There are several companies online who sell ecofriendly caskets such as Casket Factory, the Green Burial Council, and Willows Bend Collective.
Shrouds 
When I think of a shroud, I think of something very plain. While you can still purchase a plain or simple shroud made of a natural material, I have found that more and more ‘designer’ type shrouds, the creations of some very talented people, are available online. For a beautiful shroud made of biodegradable materials including plant dyes and ornamentation, visit the Canadian company Sanctum Shrouds. As they say on their website, their shrouds are designed to embrace death as a natural part of life providing products that are “environmentally conscious and emotionally meaningful.”Sanctum also provides biodegradable shrouds for your pets.
Urns
Companies like Koru Cremation offer many biodegradable urns, scattering urns and specially designed urns for water burial. Paper water burial urns usually float for about five minutes before they submerge. You can find small, handheld biodegradable paper urns on Etsy. These paper urns come in packages of two, the idea being that several members of the family can each hold these turtle urns and then individually place them in the water. A nice touch. And if you go on the St. Louis Cremation site, you can get instructions for how to make a biodegradable urn. Canadian funeral director Kari Peters has a good youtube video on DYI ecofriendly water burial urn.
You can make peace with death, a natural part of the life cycle, by thinking about how you would like to be buried, either traditionally or ecofriendly, and then think about a casket, shroud or urn. Explore your options. You might want to consider making your own biodegradable casket, shroud or urn. I liked going through the Seven Ponds website for making a shroud and the St. Louis Cremation site for making a biodegradable urn. Artist Susanne Duijvestein makes death and burial a real art.
