About the Founder Jane Hillhouse of Colorful Coffins™

An English woman by birth, the inspiration for Colorful Coffins™ came in 1999 as I was driving to a horticultural college in Yorkshire.  I rejected the flashy trappings of steel coffins and shiny black hearses. I began to think about a plain pine box painted with all of the things I loved in life. 

After returning to the U.S. in 1999, I fell in love with the television series Six Feet Under. It was so cleverly written, the characters were fascinating, and the theme was something major networks hadn't’t yet given much air-time. The best part was that the series concluded with a green burial in a shroud made in San Francisco. This gave me great hope.  I realized then that the taboo was lifting, and there was a future for the green burial movement in the U.S.

I began to widen my research into green burials.   Home funerals and burial in the family plot were the norm until the Civil War when families, wishing to have loved ones transported from the battlefield, began to desire preservation of bodies for the long journey home.  A pagan ritual – embalming with arsenic, mercury and other toxic chemicals – was used.  From the mid 19th century to the present, the funeral industry grew and became dominant in the end-of-life process. 

Funeral Industry Pollution - Some horrifying facts: Every year we bury
• Over 827,000 gallons of formaldehyde and toxic chemicals,
• 30 million board feet of precious hardwoods, including tropical woods,
• 5 million pounds of copper and other precious metals, and
• 3 billion pounds of concrete for vaults.
• We could build another Golden Gate Bridge with the steel that is buried in the ground every year.
• We could build a two-lane highway from New York City to Detroit with the concrete used to construct vaults to hold coffins every year.
• Water consumption for growing grass and herbicides, pesticides used to control weeds is enormous.

Ignorance and mythology about end of life procedures is perpetrated by funeral industry. Many people believe they must use a funeral home and embalm the body and that they are not permitted to take their loved one, who has died in a hospital or other facility, home. This is simply not true.

There are now over 250 green burial sites in the United Kingdom.  I was dismayed to find fewer than 5 in the entire United States in the early 21st century.  Even though the red-tape, including the permitting process, is lengthy and expensive, I am pleased to report that this figure has doubled since then. Ramsey Creek in South Carolina, directed by Billy Campbell, is currently the leader in the green burial movement in the U.S.

The Green Burial Council in Santa Fe, New Mexico, founded by Joe Sehee, encourages the ethical and environmentally sustainable death care practices. By partnering with organizations such as the National Programs for the Trust for Public Land, GBC can facilitate the restoration, acquisition and stewardship of natural areas throughout the United States. This land will be held in perpetuity. We need to educate the public, and I believe the movement will expand exponentially when someone of national stature gets involved.

The interest is growing at the grass-roots level.  As evidence, Green-Seed Radio and Cathedral Investments have aired shows, in which I participated, dedicated to this growing movement. Permaculture Activist Magazine and local newspapers have interviewed me for their publications.  My involvement in a variety of ‘green’ trade shows (e.g. Green Festival in San Francisco, Whole Earth Festival in Davis) has been well received.