Most people do not think of a funeral as an environmental event. But every burial puts materials into the ground, uses energy, and takes up land. When you add up the numbers across millions of burials each year, the environmental footprint is larger than most families realize.
This is not about guilt. Nobody should feel bad for choosing the type of farewell that feels right for their family. But more and more people are asking the question: what does a traditional burial actually cost the earth? And the answer, backed by real data, is worth knowing.
What Goes Into the Ground
A traditional burial in the United States involves far more materials than most people imagine. It is not just a body and a casket. Here is what typically goes into a single burial:
The casket. Most traditional caskets are made from hardwood (cherry, mahogany, oak) or metal (steel, copper, bronze). A hardwood casket uses roughly 30 to 50 board feet of lumber. Metal caskets require mined ore that has been smelted, shaped, and finished. Both types are designed to resist decomposition, which means they persist in the ground for decades or longer.
The vault or liner. Most cemeteries in the United States require a burial vault or grave liner. These are large containers, usually made of concrete, sometimes reinforced with steel or lined with plastic, that surround the casket underground. Their purpose is to prevent the ground from sinking as the casket deteriorates. A standard concrete burial vault weighs roughly 1,500 to 3,000 pounds.
Embalming fluid. Traditional preparation of the body for viewing typically involves embalming, which uses formaldehyde-based chemicals. Formaldehyde is classified as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The fluid is injected into the body and eventually leaches into the surrounding soil as the body and casket break down over time.
The Numbers at Scale
Individual burial figures become striking when you scale them up to the national level. Several researchers and organizations have estimated the annual material consumption of American burials.
The Green Burial Council and various environmental researchers have cited figures along these lines for annual U.S. burials:
Enough hardwood to build thousands of single-family homes. Tens of thousands of tons of steel from caskets and vaults. Millions of gallons of embalming fluid containing formaldehyde. Thousands of tons of concrete from burial vaults.
These are not small numbers. They represent a significant flow of manufactured materials going directly into the ground with no recovery or reuse.
Land Use
Cemeteries take up land, and that land is permanently dedicated to its purpose. Once a cemetery is full, it rarely gets repurposed. In urban and suburban areas where land is already scarce, the space devoted to cemeteries is significant.
In the Columbus, Ohio metro area, dozens of cemeteries occupy hundreds of acres of land. Some of these are historic and serve as green spaces in their own right. Others are large, modern memorial parks with manicured lawns that require ongoing mowing, irrigation, and chemical treatment.
Cemetery maintenance itself has an environmental cost. Gas-powered mowers, fertilizers, herbicides, and irrigation systems all contribute to the carbon footprint of maintaining burial grounds over decades.
Embalming: A Closer Look
Embalming is one of the most debated aspects of traditional burial from an environmental standpoint.
The practice became widespread in the United States during the Civil War, when it was necessary to preserve the bodies of soldiers for transport home. Over time, it became a standard part of funeral preparation, largely because it allows for open-casket viewings.
But embalming is not required by law in Ohio or in most states. It is a choice, and it is one that carries environmental implications.
The primary chemical used in embalming, formaldehyde, is a volatile organic compound. When an embalmed body is buried, the formaldehyde eventually breaks down, but the process introduces chemicals into the soil and potentially into groundwater. The amount from a single burial is small, but across millions of burials over many decades, the cumulative effect is a legitimate concern.
Funeral workers who handle embalming fluid also face occupational health risks, including respiratory issues and increased cancer risk from long-term exposure. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set workplace exposure limits for formaldehyde, but the risk is well-documented.
It is worth noting that embalming is not required by law in Ohio for most situations. Families who choose not to embalm can still have a viewing with proper refrigeration, or they can opt for a closed-casket service.
How Cremation Compares
Some families turn to cremation as a more environmentally friendly alternative. Cremation does eliminate the need for a casket, vault, and embalming. But it is not without its own environmental costs.
A single cremation requires burning natural gas at high temperatures (typically 1,400 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) for 60 to 90 minutes. This process releases carbon dioxide, along with trace amounts of mercury (from dental fillings) and other particulates into the atmosphere.
Estimates of the carbon footprint of a single cremation vary, but most research places it in the range of 400 to 600 pounds of CO2. That is roughly equivalent to driving a car 400 to 500 miles.
Cremation is generally considered to have a smaller environmental footprint than traditional burial when you account for all the materials involved in burial. But it is not zero-impact. For families who want the lowest possible footprint, green burial offers another path.
What Green Burial Changes
Green burial, sometimes called natural burial, strips away the manufactured elements of a traditional burial. No embalming. No metal or hardwood casket (a simple shroud or biodegradable container is used instead). No concrete vault. The body is returned to the earth in a way that allows natural decomposition.
Green burial grounds are managed differently than traditional cemeteries. Instead of manicured lawns, they often use native plantings, wildflowers, and natural landscapes. Some serve as conservation easements, meaning the land is permanently protected from development.
The environmental benefits are straightforward:
No formaldehyde or other embalming chemicals enter the soil. No manufactured materials are buried. The body's nutrients return to the earth and support plant growth. Land is preserved as natural habitat rather than maintained with chemicals and machinery.
Green burial is still a small share of the overall market, but it is growing. In Ohio, a limited number of cemeteries currently offer green burial options, and demand is increasing.
The Carbon Comparison
Putting it all together, here is a general comparison of the carbon and material footprint of the three most common options:
Traditional burial has the highest material footprint (casket, vault, embalming chemicals) and a moderate carbon footprint (manufacturing, transportation, cemetery maintenance).
Cremation has a lower material footprint (no casket or vault needed) but a moderate carbon footprint from the energy used in the cremation process itself.
Green burial has the lowest overall footprint in both materials and carbon. No manufactured goods, no chemical processing, and minimal land maintenance.
Newer alternatives like alkaline hydrolysis (sometimes called water cremation or aquamation) and human composting are beginning to emerge. These methods have even lower carbon footprints than traditional cremation, but they are not yet widely available in Ohio.
This Is About Information, Not Judgment
Every family has the right to choose the funeral and disposition method that aligns with their values, their faith, and their relationship with the person who died. There is no wrong answer.
But families also deserve to have the full picture. For decades, the environmental costs of burial were simply not discussed. Families were not given the information they needed to weigh these factors alongside everything else.
That is changing. More families are asking about environmental impact when they plan ahead. More funeral homes are offering green options. And more data is available to help families make informed decisions.
Where Evergreen Stands
At Evergreen Funeral Cremation and Reception, we offer traditional funeral services, cremation, and green burial options. We believe every family should have access to the information and the choices that matter to them.
If the environmental impact of end-of-life decisions is something you are thinking about, we are happy to walk through your options and help you find a path that feels right.
Contact us to start the conversation. We are available 24/7 at (614) 654-4465.
