Listen: Green Goodbyes: Choosing an Eco-Friendly Burial

By Paula Span October 14, 2025

A funeral ceremony honoring Nancy Koney at Larkspur Conservation. (John Christian Phifer/Larkspur Conservation)

Cremation has become Americans’ most popular choice for the postmortem treatment of their bodies. But the process involves burning fossil fuels, which may release toxic gases. “The New Old Age” columnist Paula Span appeared on WAMU’S Oct. 8 “Health Hub” to explain some of the more environmentally friendly alternatives.

This story also ran on WAMU. It can be republished for free.

Green burials are gaining popularity as an affordable, eco-friendly alternative to traditional funerals. They avoid toxic embalming chemicals, steel caskets, and concrete vaults, letting a body naturally decompose. Methods range from the elaborate — like “human composting” and water cremation — to a simple pine box.

“The New Old Age” columnist Paula Span appeared on WAMU’s Oct. 8 “Health Hub” to talk about the environmental and economic motivations behind these alternatives to conventional burials.

Jackson Sinnenberg contributed to this report.

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Listen: Green Goodbyes: Choosing an Eco-Friendly Burial

By Paula Span October 14, 2025

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<h1>Listen: Green Goodbyes: Choosing an Eco-Friendly Burial</h1>
	<span class="byline">Paula Span</span>

<p>Cremation has become Americans’ <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aDjeaQkCG5KVxSAsKT2MOFznrZ13qJFT/view?usp=sharing">most popular choice</a> for the postmortem treatment of their bodies. But the process involves burning fossil fuels, which may release <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045653522025188">toxic gases</a>. “<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/the-new-old-age/">The New Old Age</a>” columnist Paula Span appeared on WAMU’S Oct. 8 “Health Hub” to explain some of the more environmentally friendly alternatives.</p>

<p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/green-burials-funerals-cemeteries-human-composting-new-old-age/">Green burials</a> are gaining popularity as an affordable, eco-friendly alternative to traditional funerals. They avoid toxic embalming chemicals, steel caskets, and concrete vaults, letting a body naturally decompose. Methods range from the elaborate — like “human composting” and water cremation — to a simple pine box.</p>

<p>“<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/the-new-old-age/">The New Old Age</a>” columnist Paula Span appeared on WAMU’s Oct. 8 “Health Hub” to talk about the environmental and economic motivations behind these alternatives to conventional burials.</p>

<p><em>Jackson Sinnenberg contributed to this report. </em></p>
<p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us/">KFF</a>.</p><h3>USE OUR CONTENT</h3><p>This story can be republished for free (<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-to-the-latest-kff-health-news-minute-2025/view/republish/">details</a>).</p><div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-text sd-sharing"><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-x"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"
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