Colorado Company Offers Banana Coffins

DENVER — Casket makers catering to natural burials have offered biodegradable coffins made of such materials as recycled newspapers or cardboard. Ecoffins USA, based in Montrose, Colo., is selling caskets made of banana sheaves.

They take six months to two years to biodegrade.

Marketing director Joanna Passarelli says the company sold $40,000 worth of banana-sheaf or bamboo coffins to funeral homes last year.

At least 14 funeral homes around the country offer them.

"We either get an, 'Oh, my,' or, 'That's very interesting,'" Passarelli said. "Some people think it's a great idea. We've had funeral directors look at them and say, 'I guess you can go to hell in a handbasket now.'"

In natural burials, bodies aren't embalmed and eventually decompose into the earth.

Ecoffins USA is the sister company of The SAWD Partnership, which has helped fuel the "green" funeral movement in the United Kingdom.

Sax-Tiedemann Funeral Home and Crematorium in Franklin, Ill., has sold one banana Ecoffin since it started offering Ecoffins in the last several months.

Stephen Dawson, owner and president of Sax-Tiedemann, said it's not that far removed from the woven baskets funeral homes used in the 1950s and '60s to pick up bodies from hospitals and nursing homes.

Passarelli contends the bamboo and banana coffins, made in Asia, are better for the environment than the cremation process.

Her interest in ecofriendly coffins grew after her son's school showed the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" in which Al Gore warns of climate change. Her son came home wondering why he should bother with homework if the world would be destroyed.

"I said if everybody did one little thing it would have a snowball effect," she said.

Comments

[PDXTransplant]

Cremation for me. None of this burial b.s. Throw my 'ash' all over the place.

[vinny]

just dump me in the ocean for the fishes to chomp on..

[3dtrix]

Ah, the Organic Oceanic Plan - that'll be $5,000 - and I'm sure you'll want the minor-key Captain Nemo theme on genuine recorded pipe organ for only $250 additional...

[Slackjaw1]

Both of my Parents were cremated, but I decided long ago to donate any and all organs that are usable. And the rest can go to science. I guess you could say I am into recycling. As far as a service, I want all my family and friends to get together and tell horrible stories about me! LOL.

[3dtrix]

Tres wasteful vis a vis btu's and carbon footprint - not that you'll be around to observe the results...

[PDXTransplant]

Banana coffin? Who in the he|| buries their banans? I don't. teehee

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

What is the cost?

[vinny]

a bunch

[Loving Oby]

ROTFL!!!!!!!

:D :D :D

[3dtrix]

A solid bell-ringer if ever there was one! Congrats! And happy Fourth...

[curiousasheck]

If your into woodworking and carpentry like I am why not build your own?

$50 bucks and your set

[Ecoffins]

Very good idea. The goal is to have it built before you need it... and let your family know to use it, and not be persuaded to bury you in something else!!

[chaallus]

I think it's a fantastic idea

[wadenelson1]

Sadly, I don't think my banana is big enough to require its own coffin.

[MNinWI]

It's about time. Our obsession w/ death is creepy. And if you don't spend 30K on a coffin, you must not have loved your person. Better to give that $$$ to the survivors.

[escribacat]

No kidding. That 30K is nothing but successful marketing.

[Ecoffins]

I AGREE! Please, if nothing else, let's start talking about our funeral they way we plan a vacation or wedding or some other special event. Talking about death does not make it happen!
Let your friends family and loved ones know what you want, so they won't have to try & figure it out while they are grieving your loss.

[aliVonal]

Hell in a handbasket! That's classic.

[WorkingClass]

Just whittle my head to a point and DRIVE me into the ground.

[justsaynotofascism]

Bury me with my butt cheeks above ground so a friend coming to visit can park his bicycle.

[vinny]

weird image

[Slackjaw1]

Now that I like! I am going to use that one at the next family get together.

[Topfeeder]

Naw, I'm still going for cremation.

[ewoman]

I thought about cremation, too, but it's not that green. See http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/cremation-eco-friendly.html

On the other hand, it's more green than a concrete vault and hardwood coffin with metal fittings.

Too bad we can't consider re-using graves like they do in the Bahamas (the limestone in the ground there disintegrates bodies rapidly). Folks in the UK are thinking about re-using graves (as in double-stacking) to provide people with the option FOR burial rather than cremation only thanks to lack of space. See http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Church-hopes-use-old-graves/article-1082563-detail/article.html

[Gasparilla]

I saw a very old cemetery on Grand Bahama island with vaults, out in the boonies. You're right about the limestone. It's the whole island.

[Chicago48]

Hmmm....I'll have to look into this. How much more/less does it cost from the regular coffin?

[squander123]

What will you care, you'll be dead! But seriously, I think it's a great idea.

[Ecoffins]

Way less. You can shop your local funeral director. A "cheap" casket may be around $3K to $5K.
Depending on your retailer, and Ecoffin runs about $800 to $2000.

[NL207]

"A "cheap" casket may be around $3K to $5K."

Self-promoting misinformation.

I had the misfortune to BUY a casket recently. The cheap conventional models I was shown were not $3k. They were more like $800 - $1600. Not what I'd call cheap, but no $3 - 5 thousand either.