Earth Friendly Burial

or
My Simple Pine Box



At first it may seem as if this is a strange topic for an alpaca farm website but if you think about it, it really does fit in well with the alpaca lifestyle.
Most of us in the alpaca community are drawn to alpacas at least partially due to the fact alpacas are a low impact livestock i.e., earth friendly (Green). Most alpaca people we have met seem to be making a conscious effort to live work and play in an earth friendly way. So why not take next logical step and make our final act on earth an earth friendly, green burial. It just seems to be a logical conclusion to leave a “Green” legacy.
Another reason to look at earth friendly burial is the monetary savings. It provides you with a way to save your family thousands of dollars in funeral expense. Just by using your own wooden casket the savings can be anywhere from $2,000 to $8,000 less than buying the funeral home’s metal casket.  Add to that other options in a Green burial and the savings for your loved ones can be quite substantial. In 2007 the average casket cost in the U.S. was over $2,800 with some models going for over $10,000.
Our journey into Green Burial and wooden caskets came about as my wife and I discussed our funeral plans and preferences. I really did not want to leave this world surrounded by a gaudy metal box lined with some frilly shiny material that if I were alive wouldn’t be caught dead in. We also couldn’t justify wasting thousands of dollars of our kid’s money on expensive funerals. So, we began looking at options. We had heard that you couldn’t use your own casket and that if you did the funeral home would just raise the price on other things to make up for their lost revenue. They can no longer do that. The FTC has outlawed that practice and it is all outlined in “The Funeral Rules”. The funeral home must give you a price list of all their services before they talk with you about arrangements. We also found that embalming is not required by law. Burial vaults are not required by law. Some cemeteries do require one or may have a surcharge to compensate them for more upkeep due to more settling of the burial site.
We have included a number of links that will help you find out what the legal requirements are and what rights you have in your state and just some general information about the green burial practice. Green Burial is rapidly gaining popularity throught the United States and abroad.
Ultimately we found that we could use the pine box we desired for our final resting place. Our cemetery does require a vault but yours may not. We are now looking into the requirements of starting up our own Green Cemetery.
All of this led to us building our own coffins. I have been a finish carpenter for over 30 years and thought why not make our own caskets. It was a remarkable experience. After many conversations with friends and family urging us to do so, we have decided to build wooden caskets and offer them for sale. Maple Tree Caskets will be offered in Knotty Pine, Pine, Maple, Poplar, Walnut, Cherry and Oak. The casket can be made using two methods. With the first method  assembly is accomplished with a minimal number of metal fasteners, i.e. screws and nails. The other method uses no metal and glue that contains no animal products. The metal free casket is a little higher in price due to the added labor of installing wooden dowels during manufacture and assembly. The caskets start out as a simple wooden box but decorative moldings, engravings or linings can be added to make your casket truly reflect you and your life. If you are interested in finding out more please contact us and we will be happy to provide you with any information we can.
The casket can be shipped to you fully assembled or shipped flat and ready for you to assemble when the need arises. Assembly would take less than an hour and not require any special tools.
Below you will find links to informational sites dealing with your rights and the topic of Green Burial. You will also find pictures and prices of our wooden caskets.
Tom & Jenny Kardoes