Eco-Burial For The Whiskered Set -- Greener Options That Tap The Green Right Out Of Your Wallet!

Do we run the risk of being hardened, cheap-o, plain old sucky pet guardians if we fail to enshroud the remains of our furry friends in pre-manufactured pet coffins? Whatever happened to wrapping them in a plush, perhaps slightly tattered bath towel and gently placing the whole neat package six feet under (...maybe even four if you're somewhat rusty with a shovel)? Someone out there in consumer culture land apparently decided that it was high time to capitalize on a new niche, one that pulls at our heartstrings and guilts us into ponying up the smackers, and boy has it worked. There are certainly a lot of final containment choices out there in internet land designed specifically for the beloved whiskered critters we share our hearts and homes with. Heavy gauge steel and polished wood coffins, cloth burial pockets, muslin-lined woven baskets, honeycomb cardboard structures and rigid plastic versions abound, but if you really want to make a decision that is easier on Mother Nature (and can't imagine going old school), the choices are more plentiful than you might imagine.

The Pet Casket Shop claims to be "the only Manufacturer of Biodegradable Plastic Pet Caskets in the world" despite the fact that their boasting is made all the more eye-rolling with the long list of competitors waiting in the wings. They also go as far as to say that "non-biodegradable plastic pet caskets will remain in the ground for tens of thousands of years" and while it is humanly impossible to shoot down that factoid, everyone can probably agree that plastic in general has taken a massive toll on our ecosystem. Biodegradable plastic pet coffins are commonly made out of compressed, formed corn starch, hemp and soy bean oil and other microbial sources. The Pet Casket Shop is apparently really impressed with the mystery biodegradable additive that they mix into their 19 inch polyethylene plastic pet containers.  Currently available in just one size which accomodates critters that weigh no more than 10 pounds, the bereaved will spend $49.95 plus $19.95 in shipping and handling to purchase what looks like an opaque, clamshell like container. That price includes a cotton lace trimmed hand woven Thai silk burial shroud produced with no chemicals.

Memorial Gallery offers a biodegradable shoebox-like pet coffin covered in handmade wildflower embedded paper. If you want to send your beloved pet off to perpetual slumber on a cloud of comfort inside of his or her flowery box, their raw hemp fiber filled mattress will cost you an extra $25.00 no matter the size you select. So, if you purchase the 12 inch version with mattress, you'll spend $90.90 or $160.99 for the 28 inch version with mattress, plus extra for sales tax and shipping. Richard Lamb New Traditions Pet Memorials sells the same flowery box at the same price (as do so many other retailers), but they also offer a wood grain version wrapped with sustainably harvested mulberry bark, starting at $95.00 for a 12 inch model (the hemp mattress described above costs extra along with tax and shipping).

After perusing what seems like countless pre-made versions online, I think that any one of us can create our own personalized and totally organic version with minimal expense and maximum personalization. At the risk of sounding callous, if you have a box lying around in your closet that accomodates sneakers or boots, then you have an instant biodegradable pet coffin that can be easily spruced up with seed-embedded paper purchased at a craft store and lined with a simple organic bath towel or t-shirt. How many gift baskets have you already acquired throughout the years that are now collecting dust in your garage? These are quite similar to the woven containers sold for final pet enterrement at around $100 per pop. What about sewing a simple organic linen burial shroud? Allowing your pet to take their final journey in a handmade coffin or burial wrap is not just a smarter financial choice -- it enables you to take advantage of resources that you may already have on hand -- and isn't that one of the true hallmarks of being an eco-responsible citizen after all? Mother Nature's greatest fans -- Rover and Fluffy -- would give it an otherworldly high-five!