Living Green - Dying Green

As some Chicagoans prepare Halloween costumes portraying the dead, death-industry professionals are gathered in Chicago to discuss business strategies regarding the dearly departed.

The National Funeral Directors Association International Convention and Expo opened Sunday and runs through Wednesday at McCormick Place. The group is holding its convention in conjunction with the Wheeling-based Cremation Association of North America for the first time, bringing together two seemingly competing sectors of the disposition industry.

Among the issues up for discussion are the rise of "green" funerals, which can include biodegradable caskets, organic or locally grown flowers, and burial without embalmment.

"As consumers, they make choices to live more environmentally friendly lifestyles, and they're also starting to look at ways that they can make their funerals 'green,'" said Jessica Koth, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin-based National Funeral Directors Association.

Another trend is that more families are opting for cremation, often as a more cost-effective alternative to traditional burials. The Cremation Association estimates that more than 44 percent of those who die in the United States in 2015 will be cremated, according to a 2008 report.

Another topic up for discussion at the convention is alkaline hydrolysis, an emerging technique that uses water, chemicals and heat to accelerate natural decomposition, Koth said. The process, which is legal in only a small number of states, serves as an alternative to cremation, with less use of fossil fuels.

"There are so many alternatives available that funeral directors and cremationists need to know how to respond to that," said Mark Matthews, president of the Cremation Association. "But we're not sure how the consumer is going to react to it."

As at most conventions, organizers have planned several social outings.

"A lot of people that come are often the only people in their town who own a funeral home," Matthews said. "So they come to Chicago and they kind of get to let their hair down."

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