Photo via Forest Home Cemetery
Green Burial
In light of climate change and other pressing environmental concerns, more individuals are considering a green burial as a final way to lessen their carbon footprint on earth.
Processes such as cremation can emit as many carbon emissions as an automobile. With traditional burial, caskets using nonbiodegradable materials like concrete and metal, encasing bodies injected with harsh chemicals such as formaldehyde, are placed into the ground. “A green burial focuses on simplicity and sustainability, without sacrificing dignity and respect,” says Debra Marcus Watton, president of Goodman-Bensman Funeral Home in Whitefish Bay. Goodman-Bensman provides these services for families of all faiths and denominations.
With a green burial, chemicals such as formaldehyde are not used to prepare a body. All caskets, containers and clothing used in burial must be biodegradable. “Some of the green cemeteries in our area don’t even require use of a casket,” Watton says. Funeral homes that offer green services, such as Goodman-Bensman, use a pine or cardboard and wooden casket and a linen shroud. If requested, the body is refrigerated rather than embalmed. The funeral home also provides a graveside service. “Cosmetizing or other artificial preparation of the body is avoided,” adds Watton. “Green burial eliminates the unnatural elements. Embalming is not necessary.”
Many green cemeteries use a central stone, with engraved names, as a marker. Some allow a flat or flushed headstone to mark graves, and GPS software enables families and loved ones to locate the grave. “Each aspect is designed to minimize the energy consumed, in order to conduct the burial and maintain the cemetery,” Watton explains. Green burials can also occur on private properties, depending on the county.
Watton noted that a green funeral and burial, which, unlike traditional methods, doesn’t include embalming, a public viewing of the body, and a traditional vault or headstone, can save families thousands of dollars in expenses.
“Many families are surprised by the simplicity of the green burial, but it becomes a logical and comfortable choice after a conversation about benefits—especially as people become more concerned about the condition of the environment that they are leaving to their children and grandchildren. Every aspect of the burial advances the highest level of respect for the deceased, but also a sustainable and natural return to the earth,” concludes Watton.
Below are lists of funeral homes and cemeteries that offer green funerals and burial services.
Funeral Homes
Goodman-Bensman Funeral Home
4750 N. Santa Monica Blvd. (Whitefish Bay)
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414-964-3111
Krause Funeral Homes
Brookfield
21600 W. Capitol Dr.
262-395-7151
Brown Deer Road
7001 W. Brown Deer Road
414-937-5695
Capitol Drive
9000 W. Capitol Drive
414-326-4362
New Berlin
12401 W. National Ave.
262-383-2378
Prasser Kleczka Funeral Homes
Chapels:
Bay View
3275 S. Howell Ave.
414-483-2322
South Suburban
6080 S. 27th St.
414-282-6080
Cemeteries
Natural Path Sanctuary
2299 Spring Rd., Verona
608-845-8724
Prairie Rest at Forest Home Cemetery
2405 W. Forest Home Ave.
414-645-2632
Prairie Green at Greenwood Cemetery (Jewish memorial ground)
2615 W. Cleveland Ave.
414-645-1390
Prairie Home Cemetery
605 S. Prairie Ave.; Waukesha
262-524-3540
