Three Eco-Friendly Funerals

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Lifesong Funerals under funeral home
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funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL

Maintaining an environmentally conscious lifestyle can often be difficult work. New data and discoveries emerge constantly proving that many of the ubiquitous items and activities we engage with on a daily basis are harming the environment. From plastic straws to PFAS, nothing is safe from scrutiny. By and large, this is a good thing; striving to reduce our footprint on the planet and preserve the natural wonders and resources Earth provides is always an important and laudable pursuit. Still, change is nothing if not difficult, and sometimes it feels as if the world is changing faster than one can keep up. Contact funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL for more information regarding options available in your area.

Fortunately, there’s at least one easy decision you can make that will pay big, eco-friendly dividends that also has zero impact on your lifestyle – your funeral. Like every other industry, the funeral business has had to adapt in order to keep up with the changing times. Now the deceased has more options than ever regarding how they choose to return their body to the earth.

Read on to learn about some of the most popular options for eco-friendly funerals.

A Natural Choice

Natural burials (also known as “green” or “woodland” burials) are about as basic as you can get – and that’s a good thing. These burials focus on simplicity and minimizing environmental impact. They don’t utilize any preservation chemicals or embalming fluids, caskets, vaults, or any of the other accouterments that accompany a typical modern funeral. The deceased is simply placed inside a biodegradable coffin, built from materials like wicker or bamboo, and interred in the earth.

The Last Suit You’ll Ever Wear

For those who’d like an alternate but equally eco-friendly option, there’s the fungal burial suit – sometimes called the “mushroom death suit”. It might sound scary, but the premise is actually pretty straightforward and practical. The deceased is wrapped in organic cotton cloth embedded with mushroom spores and buried at the shallow depth of three feet. The fungus will quickly grow and develop mushrooms on the surface of the soil, purportedly breaking down the body into vital nutrients that it distributes to local flora via the mushroom’s mycelium – essentially a fungal root system – while simultaneously neutralizing any toxins within the body such as lead and mercury.

I Come From the Water

One of the most recent processes developed in the funeral industry is aquamation. Like cremation, the body is placed inside a chamber and broken down to its base elements over a relatively short period of time. Also, like the cremation process, the decedent’s body is reduced to an ash-like bone powder which is passed on to surviving kin. That’s where the similarities end, though. In aquamation the deceased is placed inside a stainless-steel vessel which is filled with water and alkali. The temperature of the solution is raised several hundred degrees and the alkaline water solution is gently pumped around the body. Over a period of 6 to 20 hours, the body is dissolved. Aquamation is stated to use only 10% of the energy required for cremation, doesn’t burn fossil fuels or release any toxins into the air as cremation does, and provides up to 20% more “ashes” than cremation.

funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL

Regardless of whether you’re a traditionalist or keen to explore many of the exciting new methods and technologies emerging within the industry, funeral homes have the knowledge, experience, and client-first mindset to provide you with the answers you need. Reach out today for more information.

You can learn more about funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL. Talk to us at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations to schedule a consultation and learn about cremation services/funeral home services. Visit our offices in Florida or call one of our locations.

Lifesong Funerals

We have nearly twenty years serving families of all backgrounds. These families turn to us in their time of need because they are aware that we are leaders in our vocation, have the highest level of integrity and are committed to providing quality service.

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