The $12 billion-a-year US funeral industry will need a makeover to meet new demand for back-to-earth burials and low- energy, low-emission cremations. Customers are now curious about products from biodegradable embalming fluid to caskets made of recycled cardboard, said Joe Sehee, executive director of the Green Burial Council of Santa Fe, New Mexico, a promoter of green-funeral standards.

“A year ago we had a dozen providers in our network,” Sehee said. “We have more than 300 now. What’s changed in a year is people see this as an opportunity.”