Canada’s First Green Burials

Canada now has its first green urban burial plot area in the entire country. The new green burial space is located at the Royal Oak Burial Park on Vancouver Island, in western Canada. The memorial park has allocated about one-eighth of an acre for green burials. Green burials have long been popular in the UK, but North America has been slow to catch on.

In the UK, woodland burials or green funerals are definitely increasing in popularity. Woodland burials provide natural settings for burial and work to protect and reforest the land. No embalming fluid is used in the bodies, and no pesticide or fertilizer is used on the land. Bodies are buried in simple compostable shrouds of non-toxic biodegradable coffins. Unlike traditional graveyards, protecting and preserving the land is part of the grieving process. There are currently more than 200 woodland burial sites in the UK.

Mainstream funerals have significant impact on the environment, from the overuse of endangered woods, the toxic finishes on the coffins, the cement vault, embalming chemicals, chemically treated lawns, and pesticide-covered flowers. The Natural Burial Cemetery explains that each year US cemeteries bury an estimated 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid, 90,272 tons of steel (caskets), 2,700 tons of copper and bronze (caskets), 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete (vaults), 14,000 tons of steel (vaults) and 30-plus million board feet of hardwoods.

At the Canadian Royal Oak Burial Park, choosing the green burial option includes not using embalming fluids, remains must be in a biodegradable shroud, or placed into the grave in a biodegradable container or casket. Families and friends can also plant indigenous plants or trees on the grave. The Royal Oak Burial Park intends to maintain a meadow-like appearance in their green burial area without the use of watering, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.

The green burial area is open for business and two green burials have already taken place in the last few months.

Visit: http://www.robp.ca/

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