Eco Friendly Green Funerals and Burial at Sea

Many people believe burial at sea is reserved for Hollywood movies and military personnel. Most of us have watched tear-jerker movies where a loved one's ashes are scattered while driving a convertible along the beach or bodies honored as they are released into the ocean.

Recently, the Discovery Channel featured a program which included a segment about the Neptune Society; an organization providing eco friendly underwater funerals. By purchasing a Neptune Memorial Reef, you or your loved ones can become part of a natural marine life habitat resembling the lost city of Atlantis.

As a devout fisherwoman, I've joked with my family about scattering my ashes at sea. To me, funerals are expensive and depressing. I'd rather leave life insurance proceeds to my husband and daughter than spend thousands on a casket and be buried underground. Once I heard about the Neptune Society, I knew this was a burial option I wanted to further explore.

Burial at sea is far from a new idea. Decedents have been buried at sea since the creation of boats. Unfortunately, these souls weren't provided with underwater tombstones or burial capsules. Most were wrapped in a blanket or tarp and tossed overboard.

Today, multiple options exist for eco friendly underwater funerals and burial at sea. Nearly every coastal area surrounding the United States offers oceanic scattering of ashes to underwater tombstones.

Underwater Funeral Resources

Eternal Reefs, Inc. is one of the more renowned underwater funeral providers. Eternal Reefs founders developed the first Reef Ball project in 1998. Reef Balls were originally created to replicate a natural marine environment to support coral reefs and microorganism development.

Today, reef balls are used for entombment, allowing decedents to rest in peace amidst coral reefs and brightly colored fish. Eternal Reefs offers a variety of Reef Ball entombment options ranging in price from $3995 to $6495, plus the cost of cremation and transportation of the remains to the boat dock.

The Mariner Memorial is the largest reef ball and can accommodate up to four sets of remains. Next is the Nautilus Memorial Reef which accommodates up to two sets of remains and is often used for married couples or individuals who desire to be buried with their pets. The Aquarius Memorial Reef is the smallest reef ball and is ideal for burial of children, young adults, and pets.

Eternal Reefs was featured on Fox News and touted as "a new memorial choice that replaces cremation urns and ash scattering with a permanent environmental living legacy."

My Living Reef is located in Coronado Island, California and is a division of the Global Preservation Project; an international ecological nonprofit organization. Scattering of cremated ashes takes place aboard The Dolphin; a 1966-foot eco-friendly, wooden sailing vessel powered solely by wind.

My Living Reef offers a variety of reef packages ranging in price from $300 to $3490. Pet Reefs are also available for $895. Cremated ashes are stored inside hexagonal marine life friendly containers which remain in the same spot regardless of ocean conditions.

My Living Reef offers a unique layaway plan which allows individuals to prepay burial payments in increments until paid in full.

SeaRest, Inc. encases cremated remains placed inside an urn and forever preserved in cast concrete memorials. Located in Florida, SeaRest is authorized to position artificial memorial reef modules which encourage natural growth of coral reefs and increase plant and marine life.

Brass plaques are attached to SeaRest waterproof containers and lowered to a predetermined place on the ocean floor. Relatives are provided with GPS coordinates of the reef so they can visit the burial site by boat or sea diving.

Great Burial Reef is located a few miles west of Lido Key, near Sarasota, Florida. This unique underwater burial site provides two alternative environmentally friendly funeral options.

The most economical is the Community Reef Burial which provides a private niche for burial of a single cremation urn within the reef structure. The second underwater burial option is the Private Reef Burial; a 4,000 pound stand-alone structure available for singles or couples.

Great Burial Reef offers family participation services ranging from monthly group burial services to private yacht charters complete with catered meals, beer, wine, champagne toasts and a keepsake DVD.

Burials at Sea by Captain Johnnie Lee offer underwater funerals for decedents who wish to be buried in the Long Beach and Huntington Beach, California area. Burials at Sea offer private funeral rituals aboard a 48-foot Sea Ray Express Bridge Cruiser which can accompany up to six people. Captain Johnnie Lee also offers non-witnessed scattering of cremated ashes for the low cost of $100.

Ash Scattering at Sea Resources

Ocean Tranquility is owned and operated by Captain Mary Nugent who personally performs ash scatterings in the Atlantic City and Ocean City areas of New Jersey. Basic burial fees start at $225, which includes regulatory government documents and a family certificate stating the time, date, longitude and latitude of your loved ones final resting place.

Ocean Tranquility does not take family members or friends to the burial site. However, family members can witness ash scattering services from Great Egg Harbor Inlet in the Atlantic Ocean.

Los Angeles Yacht Charter offers attended and unattended burial at sea services. Prices range from $150 to $1399 with services ranging from ash scattering to catered memorial services complete with release of doves. Ash scattering is performed off Catalina Island by a United States Coast Guard Licensed Captain.

Serenity at Sea performs ashes scattering burial ceremonies at various locations off the Pacific Coast. Serenity at Sea marine burial plots encompass a range of 125 nautical miles and include locations such as San Diego, Del Mar, Oceanside, and La Jolla Cove.

Services include attended and unattended ash scattering rituals, ceremonial videos, cut flowers and wreaths, and floating urns. Serenity at Sea also offers boat charter services which allow friends and family to revisit the burial site.

Crematory and Funeral Benefits for Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs offers burial and memorial benefits to all U.S. veterans, surviving spouses and dependents. Although underwater funerals are currently not included in VA benefits, veterans may be eligible for up to $300 reimbursement towards cremation services and free headstones or grave markers.

Online resources for United States Veterans burial benefits can be found at www.cem.va.gov. Veterans' survivors and dependents benefits are located at http://www.vba.va.gov/survivors.

Burial preferences are a private choice that can only be made by you. Personally, I prefer to hang out in the ocean and plan to have a mermaid tombstone constructed. My life insurance proceeds can be used to provide scuba diving lessons for relatives and friends who wish to visit me.

Sources:

Neptune Society

Eternal Reefs

SeaRest, Inc.

Great Burial Reef

Burials at Sea by Captain Johnnie Lee

Burial at Sea by Ocean Tranquility

Los Angeles Yacht Charter Burials at Sea

Serenity at Sea

My Living Reef

Green Burial Council

Discovery Channel