When Bruce Berlin, 64, died under hospice care last spring, his wife of 33 years didn’t like the idea "of leaving him in a cold, dark box downtown in the morgue or a funeral home and having him pumped full of formaldehyde," a toxic chemical used to preserve and sanitize the dead and delay decomposition.
So Anna Berlin worked with the Rev. Bodhi Be, funeral director of The Death Store in Haiku, Maui, to prepare her husband’s body at home, forgoing embalming. Family and friends from her church sang and prayed over the Vietnam veteran’s simple wooden coffin at the Berlins’ house before he was laid to rest at Makawao Veterans Cemetery two days after he died.
"People really don’t have a clue that there are alternative, organic ways of taking care of your deceased loved ones," said Berlin, 61.
Indeed, going "green" now extends to the grave as the funeral industry is joining other businesses in offering eco-friendly options. Funeral directors say interest is largely from younger generations raised on recycling and renewable energy, and environmentally conscious "hippies" of the late 1960s and ’70s.
"Baby boomers have hit 65, and they have aging parents and are starting to see their friends die," said Be, 61, an ordained interfaith minister. "They want to know what services are available and what’s not available. Just as so many other things have changed, we’re going to change death and dying and how it happens."
A green burial aims to care for the dead with minimal environmental impact and typically involves burial, without embalming, in a biodegradeable casket, cardboard box or shroud made from nontoxic, sustainable materials.
"It’s so much more ‘nature’ and it’s less expensive," said Gregory Stephens of Borthwick/Norman’s Mortuary on Maui.
He estimates the cost of a green burial at $2,000 to $6,000 versus $10,000 and up for more traditional arrangements.
The company’s Valley Isle Memorial Park in Hawaii is the first cemetery in the state to be certified by the Green Burial Council. It received a "one leaf" rating as a "hybrid burial ground" — a conventional cemetery offering the option of burial without a casket.
A small section of the 22-acre Maui cemetery has been set aside for burials in which un-embalmed bodies are placed in the ground, with or without a biodegradable coffin — sometimes with just a shroud. (State law does not require caskets or burial vaults.)
"There’s no marker or headstone," Stephens said. "The person goes back into the earth."
Since advertising its green burials at the start of the year, Borthwick/Norman’s has gotten a number of calls about the services but so far no burials. Stephens expects that to change.
"I see it growing," he said. "I never thought vegan would be popular."
There are certified green cemeteries in at least 11 states, with more under development, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.
The Green Burial Council gave The Death Store its top "three leaf" rating for funeral homes — the only one in Hawaii certified by the organization. This means it has met standards for accommodating home vigils or viewing without embalming, carries approved burial containers, and handles and prepares bodies using only noninvasive techniques and materials.
In addition to the pine and mahogany coffins with rope handles that Be makes himself and sells for $400 to $800, his funeral home stocks wicker caskets from China and an assortment of art-worthy urns, including egg-shaped vessels crafted from rich koa and other local woods priced at $300 to $500, and finely woven lau hala bags for $150 to $200. Also for sale are papier-mâché containers made into sea turtles and other shapes, costing $30, that hold cremated remains — cremains — and dissolve when placed in the ocean.
OTHER funeral homes in Hawaii report little demand for green burials.
"There is a slight interest here in Hilo, and by that I mean the merchandise customers are asking for. There’s been a degree of interest in biodegradeable urns," said Mitchell M. Dodo, vice president of Dodo Mortuary & Crematory, which operates in Hilo and Kona.
His funeral home stocks a small selection of papier-mâché vessels and tinted Himalayan rock-salt urns, both of which dissolve in sea water. Prices for the latter range from $300 to $400. Wicker caskets go for $3,000 to $4,000, but Dodo said he doesn’t see those catching on.
Because of the high rate of cremation in Hawaii — fourth highest in the U.S. at almost 70 percent, according to the Cremation Association of North America — many families already choose not to embalm their deceased, sending them straight to the crematory and holding services over cremains.
"Maybe 30 or 40 years ago, it was the norm to have a service over the body in a casket, but there’s been a drastic increase in the amount of cremation, and people are forgoing buying caskets for services or viewing before cremation," Dodo said.
Cost is one reason, but Dodo said many of Hawaii island’s newer residents, especially those on the west side, don’t see a reason for a cemetery burial.
"They have no ties to the community, and there’s no one to visit their grave site. They would rather have their ashes scattered somewhere," he said.
"The rate of cremation will only continue to increase in the future, and that will lead to a demand for different products such as biodegradable urns."
(And how green is cremation? There are pros, such as reduced land use, and cons, including use of nonrenewable fossil fuels and airborne emissions.)
Miles Okamura of Mililani Memorial Park & Mortuary said green burials are getting more buzz on the mainland. "There’s been a lot of articles about it in (trade) magazines, but we really haven’t had any calls. It’s more on the mainland; it hasn’t hit here yet," he said.
At Diamond Head Mortuary and Williams Funeral Services, funeral director Bill Amigone said "a basic green funeral of scattering of ashes off Waikiki" has long been popular, but beyond that, not so much.
"Cemeteries are always talking about having a green section," he said. "It may catch on if it gets more attention."
HOME funerals were common in the United States until the mid-20th century but may seem strange and morbid for contemporary sensibilities.
Anna Berlin, who chose a green funeral for her husband, admits the arrangements are not for everyone.
"I don’t think everybody can handle having the departed in the house for a day or two before burial. Death is a real mysterious thing to most people, and they’re hurt and grieving and want to stay away from it until confronted with it," she said. "For those people this could be harsh. For people like us who had warning (about a family member’s impending death) and had options to mull over, it really paid off. It was all handled sensitively, and we had a lot of confidence that we had done everything in a good way for our loved one."
Green burials can also be a ghastly reminder of the natural processes that follow death. In Berlin’s case, because her husband was not embalmed, his body began seeping fluid before family and friends had said their final goodbyes. (Embalming or refrigeration is required after 30 hours.)
"I was not prepared for that," Berlin said. "Bodhi came over and cleaned the body for me."
Despite the mishap, "it was totally worth it to make sure he was taken care of in a kind, humanitarian way."
Of course, for some religious faiths, green burials are as old as Moses.
For example, Jewish burials generally are done without embalming and in haste in accordance with scripture from Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, said Ken Aronowitz, cantorial soloist for Temple Emanu-El in Nuuanu.
"That’s a little more challenging in Hawaii, where two to three days is the norm," he said.
Ideally, the body is covered in a shroud and buried in a simple pine box with holes and without metal parts or a liner.
"It’s the notion of dust to dust," Aronowitz said. "It’s very natural in the outlook."
