Funeral home goes green

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Going green may be the new trend, but green burials offered by Callahan-DeBaun Funeral Home are an age old practice.

Callahan-DeBaun'smarketing director Curtis DeBaun said burials were done this way up until the late 1800s.

Green burials use no embalming fluids, metal caskets,or concrete vaults. Instead they use more earth friendly materials, like wicker or willow caskets.

"Embalming fluids, the metal caskets, and the concrete vaults all have negative effects on the environment," DeBaun said.

In fact,a typical 10-acre cemetery contains enough coffin wood to construct more than 40 homes, nearly 1,000 tons of steel, and another 20,000 tons of vault concrete.

Green burials not only save the environment but it can save you money. The average casket can cost around $3,500, but in a green burial a wicker casket will cost you around $700.

New Harmony Cemetery, owned by Callahan-DeBaun will soon have a separate area specifically for green burials. The site will no longer have traditional headstones but rather trees, shrubs, or flowers that are planted will mark where your loved one is buried.

It may seem a bit unconventional to some, but Callahan-DeBaun says they've had a positive response.

"I imagine in the next 10 years it's going to be a lot more wide spread and we just wanted to be the first to do it in the area."

Callahan-DeBaun Funeral Home is only one of thee funeral homes in Indiana offering this service.

To find more information on green burials go to this Web site www.greenburialcouncil.org.