Green Burials
What Is a Jaqui-Kuhn Green Burial?
In its purest form, green burial simply means burial in a natural setting using sustainable, eco-friendly practices, and materials.
Typically, it means no embalming. Our beautiful caskets (on our home page and some shown below) are biodegradable. Flat rocks or trees can be used as grave markers instead of traditional standing headstones.
These practices minimize the effect that a burial has on the environment and a Jaqui-Kuhn Green Burial minimizes the cost on your budget, too!
Environmentally Friendly
It’s definitely comforting to know that your death and burial will not have a lasting negative impact on the environment.
In fact, your remains can be a part of nature’s own cycle of death and rebirth.
Green burial means using less land, contributing to better habitats for native plants and animals.
It also means keeping the chemicals in embalming fluids (as well as several square feet of wood or metal) out of the earth.
It’s Cost Effective
By choosing green burial, you eliminate the cost of embalming.
You also use alternative caskets or shrouds which are significantly cheaper than the traditional metal or wood caskets you might purchase from a funeral home. Green cemeteries will not permit a vault, either.
All of these savings can really minimize the financial burden that you or your family might face in planning a funeral.
Biodegradable Casket
Our beautiful caskets may be built from a variety of materials including wicker, pine wood, cardboard or even banana leaves.
In some cases, artisans put care and attention into giving these coffins a unique and beautiful look. In other cases, they are quite plain and simple.
Some of them can even be decorated with personal messages before they are buried and begin to naturally decompose.
Here are two popular, but beautiful biodegradable caskets, for your preview;
Jaqui-Kuhn’s Green Burial Offers a Non-Traditional Option
When it comes to any tradition, there is always a moment when we ask why we are still doing it.
Many of our traditions around death and burial have become routine- we do them without thinking.
But green burial allows you to break the mold in the way that we think about death…and about life.
With your burial, you can make a statement for the generations that come after you. And that’s a wonderful legacy.
It’s Spiritual
There’s something about the cycle of nature that is deeply spiritual.
When a body decomposes, it becomes part of the soil that nurtures new life.
Plants and trees are nourished by that soil to provide food and shelter for living creatures.
Just like the changing seasons, nature provides a comforting sense of timelessness and eternity.
Green Cemeteries
It can be hard to find a cemetery that embraces “green” burial practices. However, Jacqui-Kuhn offers several choices close to home;
Vail Memorial Cemetery
(aka Parsippany Presbyterian Cemetery)
1774 US 46
Parsippany NJ 07054
(973) 334-0992
Maryrest Cemetery &
Mausoleum
770 Darlington Ave
Mahwah NJ 07430
(201) 327-7011
Steelmantown
Cemetery
101 Steelmantown Rd
Woodbine NJ 08270
(609) 628-2297
Moravian High Acres Cemetery
447 and Dutch Hill Road
Canadensis, PA 18325
(609) 628-2297
What Makes Them Green?
A green cemetery must accept only naturally prepared bodies in biodegradable containers.
In addition, land is planted only with natural and beneficial plants. It is managed only through natural means (not mechanically or chemically). Also there are guidelines in place regarding water conservation.
Natural burial grounds
A natural burial ground accepts only bodies that have been prepared naturally and placed in biodegradable containers.
Even the land and water is managed according to strict standards of sustainability.
WHAT ARE A FAMILIES OPTIONS?
No green burial will be like any other green burial. Jaqui-Kuhn offers a number of options you can consider to make a green burial unique. The location you pick, as well as the type of materials used, are all matters for consideration.
Shroud
This is simply a piece of fabric used to wrap the body during burial.
It can be made of muslin, wool, cotton, silk or even bamboo.
Some are plain and others may be quite decorative. Even just a plain bedsheet works fine as a shroud.
Some people may purchase a pattern to craft their own for a personal touch.
Green Burial Costs
Overall, green burial typically costs less than traditional burial in a cemetery.
Keep in mind that these costs can vary depending on where you live. It’s also important to remember that, in most cases, cremation services will be cheaper than any kind of burial, even a green one. Please call us for a breakdown of Jaqui-Kuhn Green Burial Costs.
Common Questions
Now that you’ve learned a few things about green burial, you may be wondering if this option is the right choice for you or for a loved one.
Here are some answers to common questions you might have in making this decision.
Truthfully, each person is different. There is no “black and white” when deciding whether to have a green burial.
In a blended funeral, elements of a green burial and/or a traditional funeral are combined with the elements of more traditional practices.
This gives you more freedom in deciding what you want.
Embalming is not required or necessary. Our firm has refrigeration on the premises.
In some cases, it might be desirable during a viewing to make the body appear more natural when on display.
But if you are looking to minimize the environmental impact of burial, cutting out embalming is the simplest and most cost-effective way to do so.
In a green burial, bodies are buried relatively close to the surface, usually only 3-4 feet deep.
That’s because there is more nutrient-rich soil close to the surface rather than the traditional six feet under.
It also means a freer flow of oxygen so that natural decomposition occurs faster.
Jaqui-Kuhn is the only funeral provider in Middlesex County available to provide a memorable full service Green Burial at an economical cost. Please call us to learn how you and your family can make a positive environmental impact for future generations to come.
Tree Urn
It’s hard to imagine a more eco-friendly act than planting a tree. And tree urns allow you to do this in the process of burying cremation ashes.
Once ordered, you receive a cremation tree pod, structured so that the tree’s roots connect with the ashes as it grows.
Once planted, the pod (along with the cremation ash) becomes part of the land as the tree grows.
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