Hoosiers turning to green burials

Indianapolis, Indiana – Perspectives about customary funerals are evolving, per a survey by Choice Mutual, a life insurance company.

According to the poll, 72% of Indianaans support a relative’s decision to be buried differently. The majority of Indiana residents, according to Choice Mutual CEO Anthony Martin, prefer the “human composting” approach, which entails burying a person to speed up the decomposition process by covering them in wood chips or straw.

“A traditional burial costs around $10,000, and that’s a big bill for a lot of people to come up with that they just don’t have,” Martin said. “Cremation, although cheaper, is a little bit less. It hovers right around $7,000.”

Some people have chosen to be buried covered in spores from mushrooms. The body decomposes and finally blends into the dirt after those mushrooms bloom. Some opted to have their bodies inserted into pods that are positioned beneath trees. The decaying corpse provides nourishment for the tree.
Alkaline hydrolysis is a different procedure that essentially liquefies the body down to the bone using chemicals.

“One such option people don’t know about is you can have your body cremated and made into jewelry,” Martin said. “You can have your ashes put at the bottom of a reef where it grows. There are so many different things that you can do.”

People choose green funerals because they are better for the environment, even though money is an important consideration. Burning a body can release a lot of energy and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

“With a funeral, people don’t want to not honor their loved ones,” Martin said. “So, people are going to go through anything they have to do to, whether it would be to take on debt of their own, fundraise, sell things, they will do what they have to do honor their loved ones.”

Green burial choices could also be available at certain funeral houses.