People often assume cremation is the most environmentally friendly thing they can do with their body after they die, but that’s not the case. In this article we explore the impacts of the cremation process, what cremated remains actually are, and how we at Larkspur lay these remains to rest in a way that minimizes their impact on the land.
These days, many of us are making more eco-conscious choices in our lives. It’s why green burial exists and why Larkspur is here. But we know natural burial isn’t for everyone, and there’s no one right way to treat death. People do all kinds of different things with their bodies for economic, environmental, and religious reasons. It’s important to us that people know what their choices represent, and what their impacts are so they can really be informed consumers. The problem is, with many things surrounding death, people often don’t have clear information.
When trying to plan ahead or going to work with an attorney on a will most folks are only ever asked to check a box: burial or cremation. Given those two options, it’s easy to understand how people end up at cremation; it’s got to be better than a big metal casket, a vault, embalming fluid, and all the plastics right?
Let’s look at the facts: according to the Green Burial Council the conventional funeral industry buries enough metal caskets in the ground to build the Golden Gate Bridge each year. That kind of information can make anyone wince about the environmental impacts of these actions, and move swiftly towards a “better,” cheaper option: cremation. In fact, a survey conducted by the National Funeral Directors Association in 2019 showed many people chose cremation due to the “perceived environmental impact.”
In many ways, cremation is a better option for the environment than conventional vault burial, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best option available. The truth is, cremation isn’t good for the environment. It’s not even close. The cremation process requires a lot of fuel that burns for hours. The end result of this constant burning is that millions of tons of carbon dioxide are then dumped into our atmosphere every year. This kind of emission increases the catastrophes of climate change, and with 78% percent of people projected to choose cremation by 2040, we can only expect cremation’s environmental impacts to become more devastating.
Not only is the cremation process harmful to the environment, but cremated remains themselves are inherently toxic to plants and the surrounding ecosystem.
After the body has been burned what is left are large bone fragments, which are then put through a machine that grinds them down—these are the “ashes” we are familiar with and know. However, there’s very little ash in this material at all. The reality is the cremation process strips our bodies of almost all the nutrients it contains, and what’s left is highly concentrated with sodium and has an incredibly high pH (approximately 11.7). So, not only is the act of cremation harmful to the environment, but what is left of our bodies after the process is too.
That’s where Let Your Love Grow (LYLG) steps in. What began as a way to lay the cremated remains of a beloved family Daschund to rest became a mission to give people an environmentally conscious way to care for the cremated remains of their loved ones. Bob Jenkins, Co-Founder of Let Your Love Grow, puts it like this, “In my lifetime I’ll never see the transition to 100% organic burial, but we cannot annex anymore earth.”
The Let Your Love Grow product Bob designed is a soil mixture that people can plant directly into the ground with their loved ones’ cremains without hurting the pH of the existing, local soil. We use LYLG at Larkspur when we bury cremated remains, and we have seen it work time and time again. We use this product because Jenkins has done his research and showed the product’s efficacy with real science. He noticed cremains alone stripped the soil of its nutrients; the sodium content and the pH of the soil flew way off track when mixed with cremated remains alone. When the LYLG soil amendment was added, these harmful effects were minimized. Where the ashes and mixture are planted, wildflowers regrow.
According to the website, “Let Your Love Grow is the world’s first patented, all-organic mixture designed to offset the natural toxicity of ash and invite new life to flourish.” And flourish it does. By using Let Your Love Grow Larkspur is able to help families lay their loved ones to rest, and still help the land thrive and grow.
If you’d like to learn more about burying cremated remains at Larkspur, please contact us. We’d love to speak with you about your many options, and why Larkspur is a place where cremains are laid to rest peacefully in a way that benefits the environment we share.