The environmental impact of a traditional burial is significant. The average coffin weighs around 275 pounds, and for an adult, 250 cubic feet of soil are needed for the burial- that translates to 25 tons per acre or 10 acres for one person’s disposition.
An average of 4 gallons of embalming fluid is injected into corpses during a typical funeral service, rendering over 200 liters of wastewater, posing serious health risks to U.S. waterways. Not only does this practice create more pollution in form or wasted fluids, but improper disposal can lead to burial grounds becoming pools where water collects with no drainage system, which contaminates soil and groundwater systems.