According to Wikipedia, each year, 22,500 cemeteries across the United States bury approximately:

• 30 million board feet (70,000 m³) of hardwoods (caskets)
• 90,272 tons of steel (caskets)
• 14,000 tons of steel (vaults)
• 2,700 tons of copper and bronze (caskets)
• 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete (vaults)
• 827,060 US gallons (3,130 m³) of embalming fluid, which most commonly includes formaldehyde.

The sustainability of such funeral practices is being increasingly called into question. One greener alternative to traditional funeral practices are "Green Burials".

The details of what is included in a green burial are not all agreed upon, but generally it involves:

• No embalming fluids
• No casket put into the ground
• GPS coordinates used to identify grave site
• Protected burial area that can be easily visited from populated areas
• Emphasis on a burial area that can be enjoyed as a nature and wilderness area

In most cases one would expect a green burial to be cheaper than a traditional burial, however, there would be costs associated with preserving and maintaining the conservation area used for green burials.

The Green Burial Council has a list of cemetery operators in many states who are willing to accommodate green burial, as well as funeral professionals who can provide services/products that do not involve the use of toxins or materials that are not biodegradable.