It’s a tough marketing challenge, since you can’t rely on any individual’s repeat business to sustain a customer base. But a wire-service story suggests there’s a “potentially huge” market for biodegradable coffins as part of a broader trend toward “natural” burials, which avoid formaldehyde embalming and other planet-hostile practices. The story notes that cremation used to be viewed as the eco-friendly way of disposing of oneself but has fallen out of environmentalist favor due to its use of fossil fuels. No doubt ad agencies will come up with catchy slogans to tout competing brands of biodegradable coffins.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver