Entrepreneur Jane Hillhouse has been passionately working to green the funeral industry since the 1990s. As the founder of Colorful Coffins, she supplied biodegradable coffins, caskets, urns, and ash containers to families wanting eco-friendly alternatives. In 2009, Colorful Coffins became Final Footprint. Originally an international distributor for an English natural casket company, Final Footprint later introduced its own line of environmentally friendly coffins, caskets, and urns. All Final Footprint products are 100 percent biodegradable and manufactured from sustainably grown materials such as banana leaf, bamboo, rattan, seagrass, wood, and organic fabric. No metal is used anywhere in the construction.
An active member of the Funeral Consumer Alliance, Hillhouse provides education about green burial practices to the public through conferences, festivals, and interviews. She has also been instrumental in the development of natural burial grounds in the US, which currently has 41 sites in 26 states. Hillhouse and Final Footprint have been featured on KCBS News, The Huffington Post, and more.
