In addition to the monetary costs, the environmental impact of
traditional burials can also be high and can continue for
decades.
Biopod size is 2.7 cubic feet / average casket size is
32.5 cubic feet.
Biopod marine habitat footprint size is 2.7 cubic feet /
average casket plot size is 147 cubic feet.
Biopod.
The biopod is made of 100% clay - it's ceramic, inert, and
chemically indistinguishable from various kinds of 'natural'
rocks. all natural. In addition to the clay, all materials
associated with the Genesis biopod are as natural as
possible. The packing peanuts are plant based potato starch
and water soluble, the cremains bag is natural and water
soluble, the carry sack is 100% natural cotton, the sisal
lowering rope is 100% natural sisal, and the shipping boxes
can be placed in your recycle bin.
Traditional caskets.
Traditional caskets and burial materials vary greatly and often include hardwoods ( much of this sourced from rain forests ), glues, varnishes, stains, fabrics, cooper, bronze, steel, reinforced concrete, and, formaldehyde ( embalming fluid ). Many of these materials have an adverse impact on the environment, leaching dangerous chemicals into watersheds. And continued sourcing of exotic hardwoods for caskets depletes rain forests.
The biopod weighs 10 pounds. Casket weight varies from 150
to 500 pounds or more. Fuel used to ship a biopod cross
country is a tiny fraction of that used to ship a casket
cross country.
After serving it's purpose as a cremains container, the
biopod becomes a mini marine habitat for a wide variety of
ocean critters. With the coral reefs in our oceans dying,
the biopod will help to create great new little, long
lasting ecosystems where they are placed.
Each year in the U.S., 22,500 cemeteries bury the following materials (for vaults and caskets).
• 30-million board feet (70,000 m?) of hardwoods – much of this sourced from rainforests.
• 104,272 tons of steel (90,272 for caskets and 14,000 for vaults).
• 2,700-tons of copper and bronze.
• 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete.
Furthermore, 827,000 gallons (3,100 cubic meters) of embalming fluid (primarily formaldehyde – a highly toxic substance) are used to prepare bodies for burial and additional binders, glues, stains, varnishes, and fabrics are used to produce and finish caskets.
• Compiled using statistics from the Casket and Funeral Association of America, Cremation Association of North America, Doric Inc., the Rainforest Action Network, and Mary Woodsen, Pre-Posthumous Society). |
