As interest in more environmentally-friendly burial options grows, one Ontario company is trying to help cemeteries across the county offer more affordable and greener alternatives.
The Natural Burial Association told Global News in March that since 2018, they have seen the number of cemeteries offering natural burial options triple.
Awake, a company formed in Oro Medonte, is trying to make greener burial options accessible for more Canadians while helping cemeteries continue to operate.
“What Canadians don’t realize is that many of our cemeteries are in a crisis right now,” says Amanda Kelly, Awake’s co-founder.
“They are running out of land, and (cemetery operators) understand that Canadians are looking for alternate options than traditional burial, but they don’t necessarily have the resources or the knowledge and experience to implement new options and practices in an affordable way,”
Kelly says it’s important that cemeteries find more sustainable ways to operate in order to stay open.
The company was recently awarded a grant from the Federal Economic Development Agency of Ontario to expand their work to other provinces like B.C. to help more cemeteries create sustainable and more environmentally friendly burial options.
Awake works with a process that mixes ashes, which are generally toxic, with a patented soil mixture that makes them capable of helping new plant life grow.
Over the last few months, the company has partnered with several cemeteries throughout Ontario to help them create scattering gardens.
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Kelly says that by doing this, they can make use of previously unusable ground in cemeteries, such as areas with tree roots running through them.
While traditional cemetery plots can house between eight and 12 bodies or 24 cremation urns, Kelly says scattering gardens can accommodate an infinite number of people over time.
“As remains are planted with plants or scattered in this garden, over time, the cremated remains are composted into the earth, and that means that every five years, that cemetery is able to double the amount of space that’s available in the garden to their community,” Kelly says.
“Doing this creates not only a really eco-friendly and sustainable model for the cemetery, but it also creates really affordable options for their families.”
A scattering garden at Fairview Cemetery in Niagara Falls.
Supplied by AWAKE
Scattering gardens also provide a more affordable option for people, Kelly says, noting that traditional plots cost, on average, around $2,500, while the cost of a scattering garden is about $500.
Kelly was recently appointed the co-chair of the sustainability committee for the Ontario Association of Cemetery and Funeral Professionals. Through this, they are working to develop resources for the funeral industry on how they can integrate greener processes into their work.
She says regardless of what options families are choosing, it is important they have more green options available.
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