Green funerals. Yes.

2 comments June 30th, 2009

At this month’s Women In Business Expo, I briefly met Kristan McNames, funeral director at Grace Funeral and Cremation Services.

It’s a new business at 1340 S. Alpine Road in Rockford (815-395-0559) that carries Ecoffins, caskets made with environmentally sustainable plants like bamboo and willow. This is from the company’s press release:

A popular choice for woodland burials, Ecoffins will biodegrade naturally along with the body, leaving nothing behind but human remains within six months to one year from the time of burial. Also appropriate for cremation, an added benefit is the lack of toxins released into the environment during the cremation process.

McNames also said she’s exploring the possibility of using environmentally friendly embalming products, since traditional ones employ formaldehyde, a carcinogen. In fact, she’s placing the order any minute.

And to stay with the green theme, she and her husband chose existing construction (at Heartland Church; it feels “more like a coffee shop,” to be more comfortable).

In addition to these green aspects, Grace offers traditional funeral services/products and technological enhancements, including Webcasting of services (live or recorded for later; password-protected, of course) and video tributes.

The business opened within the last month; its grand opening is July 30.