 Woven caskets, composting machines that use wood chips and alfalfa to transform a loved one into soil, urns filled with cremated remains that nourish a tree seedling, and recently anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu's simple pine casket. These are among a growing number of green burial options that people are choosing in recent years in the U.S. and around the world. Green or natural burials reject chemical embalming and sometimes even forego a wooden casket entirely. Shrouds are commonly used. In natural burial, the body breaks down much faster and decomposes quicker and with less harm to the grounds which are buried. A 2021 survey revealed that half of Americans would consider this type of ending. And that is a trend and we expect that to continue. So why are more people exploring these new funeral traditions? Partly because funeral home burials can leave a lasting stain on the environment, according to Beth Holke of Concordia Seminary. Now we are putting in lots and lots of metals and lots of chemicals from embalming fluids. These can seep into soil and water after a body is buried. Traditional caskets have varnish wood cushioning in metal. Woven or pine caskets or even this white cardboard coffin can break down much more cleanly. In fact, for most of human history, all burials were natural. Well, natural burial is actually what we would say is the closest example of how Christ was buried. Some religions like Judaism and Islam prohibit embalming. The relatively modern technique of replacing bodily fluids with preservatives was invented in the late 1700s. And at first it wasn't very popular. Then came the American Civil War. The process itself was improved greatly when the need became greatly improved to get the soldiers home to their families. Nowadays, more than half of Americans are cremated, a process that has a heavy carbon footprint. Standard funeral home services cost between $7,000 and $8,000. Green burials can be much cheaper and some religious groups are leading the trend. Unless Christ comes tomorrow, we are all going to die. So we have decided it's time to educate not only the Christian community, but even engage in conversation with the culture to talk about death and to allow that conversation to take place. In Asia, countries like Singapore and Japan have been running out of space for burials for decades. Now, a growing number of Japanese people are going grave free. They bury cremated remains in the forests surrounding temples and plant a tree to mark the spot. Beth has her natural burial plan already written up. I'm going to be shrouded and placed in the ground. I'm going to ask that my body be transported on a horse-drawn carriage and walked out to the cemetery and placed in the ground. Funeral directors have started to adjust to the new market, too. It would be foolish to try to resist changing consumer needs. Even if they may not be arranging a green burial for their own deaths. We envision just the full-on extravaganza of a funeral. We're funeral directors. We want the whole nine yards funeral.