(Photos by Stephen Shaver. Story by Xixi Quan, UPIU contributor)

July 20th marked China’s largest environmentally-friendly funeral, during which the remains of 281 people were buried in biodegradable urns in Tianjin, southeast of Beijing. The funeral was held at Yongan Memorial Park and hosted by the Bureau of Civil Affairs of Beichen.

Tianjin city officials began promoting the urns in March. Several other cities have hosted funerals to promote the urns, and Chinese officials say they expect the practice to spread.

The patented urns are made of silver sand and look like earthenware jars. Each urn degrades after a few hours submerged in water, or after a few months buried underground. In a country which has 1/5 of the world's population and has a death rate of up to 10 million a year, the practice of eco-burials are designed to contribute to the protection of the environment as space at cemeteries has become a serious issue.