Ways to Green Your Memorial

Your plans for this Memorial Day may include a big neighborhood cookout, a pool party or just some simple relaxation on your day off. But what does the holiday really mean?

This year, Earth911 wants to get down to the roots of Memorial Day and find eco-friendly ways to celebrate a loved one’s memory. The inspiration for this article came from a recent story that appeared on CNN Solutions.

Carole Dunham was diagnosed with cancer in July 2008. With only months to live, she began planning out her last impression she would leave behind. A lover of the ocean, Dunham began researching eco-friendly burials at sea.

Dunham decided she wanted to be memorialized in an underwater cement reef to create new habitats for marine life. Dunham, who passed away on Nov. 3, chose Eternal Reefs for her burial. According to her daughter, Dunham liked the idea of becoming a “home for fish.”

In celebration of this year’s Memorial Day, we would like to highlight some other eco-friendly ways to honor a loved one or plan your own remembrance.

Planting a tree in a loved one's memory is the perfect way to celebrate life. Photo: Nedlands.wa.gov.au

A Growing Memorial

Planting a tree is the perfect way to keep a loved one’s memory alive. Instead of sending a card, Trees Instead offers unique condolence trees with the name of the honoree, sender, receiver and the tree number. There’s an option for every budget. One acre memorials are $99, half acre is $60 and a single tree is $25.

Amy Landisman, a writer for Peachy Green, says she wasn’t sure how to properly honor her deceased grandmother. She remembered her grandmother’s tradition of planting trees in her backyard for every grandchild. In honor of that sweet custom, Landisman memorialized her grandmother with a tree.

“I have found that when I’m feeling down and missing someone I love, the best thing to bring me back “up” again is to do something good,” Landisman writes. “Helping someone less fortunate or helping the environment in some way can lift your spirit.”

Pet Memorials

Your dog or cat may have been your best friend, so creating a memorial that reflects its life is important. The popularity of pet cremation has soared in recent years and has become the fastest-growing pet market of all. However, the most eco-friendly way to memorialize your pet is to bury your friend in a grassy area, without a casket. Like an eco-friendly, traditional burial, use flowers or flat stones to mark your pet’s plot.

Instead of making a purchase for your memorial, another way to honor your pet is to donate money to a charity in his or her memory. It’s also a great sympathy gift for a friend’s pet loss. Pasado’s Safe Haven is an organization that allows you to sponsor an animal and support its care and rehabilitation.

Traditional Alternative

Are you an avid recycler? Is composting your favorite hobby? Then leaving a green legacy behind is probably important to you. Be up front with your family about your plans for an eco-friendly remembrance. In fact, green burials will actually save your loved ones money in the end.

According to Green/Simple Living, 1.6 million tons of concrete, 827,060 tons of embalming fluid, 90,000 tons of steel and 30 million tons of hardwood board are used each year in traditional burials. Furthermore, the cost for a traditional burial could run your family more than $10,000.

There are several alternatives you can take to alleviate the environmental effects and financial burden of your funeral. The idea of reduce, reuse and recycle can be applied even in death.

Green burials attempt to keep the burial site as natural as possible, meaning the body is buried without embalming in a natural, non-toxic, sustainable material casket. In place of headstones, plants, shrubs or trees are planted or flat rocks are used.

Eco-Pods are one option for a sustainable casket. Similar to an over-sized picnic basket, the material is durable and resembles a sturdy coffin. But the casket is completely biodegradable and able to break down into the Earth.

To learn more about eco-friendly burial, visit Greenburials.org.

Burial at Sea

According to National Geographic, up to 70 percent of the world’s corals could be destroyed by 2050. However, a burial at sea could actually prevent their extinction. Organizations such as the Reef Ball Foundation and Great Burial Reef are similar to Dunham’s choice of Eternal Reefs.

The artificial reefs are tailored to meet a specific environment’s needs and promote natural coral growth. You can choose to rehabilitate a coral reef, create an oyster reef, a new fishing/diving/snorkeling reef or prevent beach erosion.

According to Jason Rew, president and CEO of Great Burial Reef, the four-foot-wide reefs are cast from 100 percent natural concrete, weighing 2,500 pounds each. Each memorial is built with two niches for urns, which can be placed at the same time or separately over time.

“What we do is as much about land conservation and building reef habitat as it is about helping people leave a legacy to future generations and to the planet,” Rew says.