When Your Loved One Wanted an Eco-Friendly Grave Stone
If you want to be literal about it, all cemeteries are green cemeteries, and tending to those beautiful lawns must take a huge amount of time and effort. But there's a difference between a cemetery that is primarily green in appearance and one that has a green ideology. An eco-friendly green cemetery in Paris stipulates that all its residents must not be embalmed and must be buried in biodegradable coffins while wearing biodegradable clothing and that all graves must have have a wooden marker instead of traditional grave stones. This last point can be an issue for someone who wanted an eco-friendly burial, even if it's not at an eco-friendly cemetery. A grave stone requires a lot of natural resources to produce, so what are some alternatives for someone who would have preferred something that reflects the green values they held in life?
Check With the Cemetery
Before you start making plans the eco-friendly stone or marker that you want to place at your loved one's final resting spot, you should check with the cemetery in question. They might have some restrictions about the type of marker that is placed there, as in it cannot be significantly different to the stones and markers already onsite. This is more of an aesthetic restriction and might just apply to the overall look of the stone or marker, as opposed to what it's made from.
Composite Materials
Many stone grave markers are made from granite, limestone or marble. While these materials are durable, your loved one might not have appreciated using such a large amount of a natural resource to note their final resting place, but you can achieve a traditional look using non-traditional materials. The same look and durability can be reached with a grave marker made from composite materials, using smaller pieces of stone or using concrete (and even wood) to create a marker that looks and feels just like a solid piece of stone, which will allow you to get around any restrictions that the cemetery has.
A Smaller Marker
The other option is to opt for a small marker, as opposed to a large stone. This will be a small piece of metal, engraved with your loved one's name, birth year, the year they passed away and perhaps even an epitaph. This metal plate can be made from recycled materials (and brushed stainless steel would be an appropriate choice), and it's then bolted to a small stone, which is anchored to the burial site. It's still a traditional choice, but one that requires far less natural resources while being more cost-effective.
So if you doubt that your loved one will have wanted a traditional stone marker at their final resting place, you have options that will honour their wishes. Contact funeral homes in your area to learn more about your options for grave stones.