What is green burial?
According to the Green Burial Council, green or natural burial is a way of caring for the deceased with minimal environmental impact. Generally, the body is prepared without chemical preservatives or disinfectants such as embalming fluid that may destroy the microbial decomposers active in breaking the body down. The body is usually buried in a biodegradable coffin, casket, or shroud. The grave does not use a burial vault or outer burial container that prohibits the body's contact with soil. The grave should be dug to a depth shallow enough to allow microbial activity similar to that found in composting. Natural burials must take place in a cemetery that will accommodate the vault-free technique.
While there has not yet been a cemetery in Calgary that has been designated “true” green, there has been discussion about the possibility of one being started. Our service provider McInnis and Holloway are able to provide a casket that does meet green requirements and can be used for either burial or cremation.
Memorialization options
A natural burial ground will utilize natural memorialization techniques such as planting trees, shrubs, and flowers on or near the grave to establish a living memorial and help create habitat. Irrigation, pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers may be significantly reduced or eliminated altogether, in favour of non-toxic and less resource-dependent vegetation support and control.
A COMFORTING SYMBOL OF LIFE…
For our service provider McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes and the families in Calgary a tree represents quiet strength, beauty, longevity, and peacefulness – an ideal memorial to a person’s life. McInnis & Holloway’s Memorial Forests® program allows McInnis & Holloway Funeral Home to give back to the community, by enhancing the growth of parks in the Calgary area. Families are encouraged to come to one of the Memorial Forests®, and enjoy the protected haven they provide.
A LIVING TRIBUTE
The Memorial Forest®
The Memorial Forests® program offers a special way of memorializing a person who has died and provides families with a meaningful way to deal with a loss. McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes makes every attempt to find appropriate and lasting ways for loved ones to be remembered. In this case, a tree planted will remain a living memorial for families and friends to return to year after year.
For our service provider McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes and the families in Calgary a tree represents quiet strength, beauty, longevity, and peacefulness – an ideal memorial to a person’s life. McInnis & Holloway’s Memorial Forests® program allows McInnis & Holloway Funeral Home to give back to the community, by enhancing the growth of parks in the Calgary area. Families are encouraged to come to one of the Memorial Forests®, and enjoy the protected haven they provide.
A LIVING TRIBUTE
The Memorial Forest®
The Memorial Forests® program offers a special way of memorializing a person who has died and provides families with a meaningful way to deal with a loss. McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes makes every attempt to find appropriate and lasting ways for loved ones to be remembered. In this case, a tree planted will remain a living memorial for families and friends to return to year after year.