Ecological Concerns with Conventional Burials

Each year, in conventional cemeteries in the US, we bury 1:

  • 4.3 million gallons of embalming fluid, 827,060 gallons of which is formaldehyde, methanol, benzene
  • 20 million board feet of hardwoods, including rainforest woods
  • 1.6 million tons of concrete
  • 17,000 tons of copper and bronze
  • 64,500 tons of steel
  • Caskets and vaults that leach iron, copper, lead, zinc, and cobalt

Cremation, erroneously thought to be greener than burials, has the following environmental drawbacks 1:

  • Uses 92 cubic meters of natural gas
  • Releases 0.8 to 5.9 grams of mercury
  • Is equal to an 800 kilometer car trip
  • Uses fossil fuels to reach and maintain 1900 degrees Fahrenheit for over 2 hours
  • Releases mercury into the air and water
  • Produces 139 pounds of carbon dioxide pp = 1.74 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually in the US
  • Byproducts include nitrogen oxide, dioxins, and particulates related to acid rain
  • Final product is calcium phosphate and sodium

The national average for cremations in 2018 is 53.1% of all final body dispositions2

NC is ranked 29th in the nation - 46.6% of all dispositions in NC are by cremation2

1. Green Burial Council, 2019
2. Cremation Association of North America (CANA)