Types of Biodegradable Urns

The urns listed on Green Burial are biodegradable, ECO-friendly and versatile. Many of our selections are offered in sizes from adult (holding up to 400 cubic inches of remains) to infant and pet (holding a few tablespoons). For ease of viewing, we have listed the urns by the material from which they are constructed.

The choice of which urn to purchase should be made in consideration with what you will be doing with the cremains. An easy rule to remember is that all water urns can be used for a land burial. Most earth urns will not dissolve in water such as bamboo, scattering tubes and our chest earthurn.


Cremation Urns play an important role as the final resting place of a loved one. The process is called an internment. An urn may be kept for generations. Urns should make a statement about who the person was and what they represented for the family.
 
There are many different types of cremation urn styles, as well as many different materials that they can be comprised of. They can range from basic designs to more elaborate, personal ones. 
 
Biodegradable funeral urns offer a way to both honour loved ones and protect the environment. These eco-friendly urns are made of natural elements which present no environmental threat. Some types of biodegradable urns are made specifically for burial, others can also be used to scatter part of the ashes and then bury the remainder. Most of the urns are also travel friendly, as they are TSA compliant. This way, family members who want to take part of their loved one's remains to another place can do so easily.

The biodegradable funeral urns are offered in different shapes, colors, themes. There are both single and companion adult urns, as well as smaller urns for children and pet urns.
At Green Burials, we recommend that you choose an urn which is approved by the "Green Burial Council". Look for these leaves . Each leaf represents the rating given to a Biodegradable Urn.
 
Biodegradable materials are materials which are decomposed by natural organisms, allowing the resulting components to reintegrate into nature without harming the natural balance. Bio urns reduce both burial costs and your environmental impact all at once. 

Although biodegradable urns are made of paper or paper like materials, they look like and even come in the same shapes and designs as traditional urns. If you want the ashes to be scattered into an ocean or lake, you may simply sink a bio urn into the water. Bio urns usually degrade in two days if sunk in water and in about a year if buried in the ground.

Eco-friendly urns or Biodegradable urns are urns meant to absorb into to the earth after they are buried. They are made of compressed paper or cardboard, so that they can quickly dissolve. They dissolve anywhere between three days and three months time.
 
Popular types Biodegradable Eco-Friendly urn materials are comprised of:
 
Cloth
Salt
Cornstarch
Clay
Recycled Paper

Cremation Urns can be purchased in any combination from a wide array of styles, materials and designs. Demand for urns is increasing rapidly. Manufacturers try to keep up with the rising demand and crate a wide variety to match most requirements. As a result, the sheer number of choices can be overwhelming. 

Urns may differ depending on the material they are made of: glass, wood, pewter, porcelain, ceramic,  cloisonné, brass, bronze or copper.  EcoFreindly urns are made of biodegradable materials from salt, sand, gelatin and paper.
 
Here are a few of the most popular kinds of cremation urns:

Keepsake Cremation Urns.
Smaller than the average urn, these cremation urns allow family members to keep smaller parts of a loved one's ashes. Upon cremation, the ashes can be divided into several of these smaller urns in order to be kept by differerent members of the family. These urns are ideal for giving each family member or friend an opportunity to do what they wish with a piece of the departed. 

Companion urns
These urns are designed to hold the ashes of couples who want to be kept together in death. They have two compartments to hold each individual's ashes. They can also be offered with only one compartment, so the ashes of both partners are mixed together.

Infant urn or Child Cremation Urns
These urns are smaller and are designed with specific children-related themes. The grieving parents can also personalize their urn with special messages or photographs.

Eco- Friendly Urns.
Our planet and its climate are changing. The effects of global warming have made more and more Americans aware of their environmental imapct and the ways they need to change it. The funeral area is one of many to become environmentally conscious as of late. For instance, there is a heavy debate surrounding metal caskets, considering the approximately 100,000 tons of steel annually buried in the ground an affecting the environment. The advent of paper products, which can be broken down, has become applicable in the way of eco-friendly, biodegradable urns.