Nick Brown spent forty years building high-end furniture and houses for people's lives. Now, in an effort to “make a difference in this world,” Brown has founded Catskill Mountain Casket Company to make furniture for people’s deaths.

It isn’t just about the full-circle idea of building furniture for every stage of a person’s life, including their departure. What makes Brown’s caskets special is that they are 100% biodegradable, with the assurance that they will fully decompose within 25 years, leaving the ground in a condition that allows it to be dug up and used for another burial. That is, of course, “besides the bones.”

Brown’s caskets are made entirely of solid knotty pine, with no metal fasteners or screws. The only other materials used are hemp rope for the handles and water-based glue. The full assembly process can be viewed on the company’s website.

Brown has strong opinions about the state of burial practices. “Green isn’t a choice,” he said. “It’s a responsibility.”

Cremation is often the least expensive option offered by funeral homes, with costs starting at around $700. However, the process produces emissions that can be harmful if they are not properly controlled. Embalming, which is not legally required in New York State unless a public viewing is taking place, uses formaldehyde to preserve the body. Concerns have also been raised about the environmental effects of formaldehyde entering the surrounding soil. However, the Environmental Protection Agency states that formaldehyde has a low sorption rate in soil and is unlikely to persist in the ground. The agency also considers exposure to formaldehyde through soil to be improbable.

Despite these considerations, caskets purchased through funeral homes are rarely, if ever, 100% biodegradable, and cemetery burial vaults are meant to last forever.

Depending on the funeral home, conventional caskets can be more affordable than Brown’s. The least expensive local options range from $1,125 to $2,000, while Brown’s caskets cost just under $3,000. For purchasers, the higher price comes with the assurance that their environmental footprint will be significantly reduced.

“I’m not trying to take away from the experience of a person having closure with a traditional funeral. What I am trying to change is the process of how it protects the environment,” Brown said.

Brown describes the price of his caskets as the “base cost of something that will have no environmental impact.” Even the waste generated during production is put to use: wood shavings are bagged and given to a farmer for his animals.

He also offers a 30% discount to nonprofits, funeral homes, and cemeteries that purchase directly from him. For individual buyers, he provides a certificate of purchase that reserves a casket for up to ten years. When the time comes for delivery, certificate holders can receive either 15% off the total cost or free delivery within four business days.

Brown was raised in Stone Ridge, and the land where he lives has been in his family for more than 130 years. Though he is the last member of his immediate family still living in the area, he has never lost his passion for his work, despite the many hurdles he has faced along the way.

After building numerous farmhouses along Route 209 and crafting all the alderman desks at Kingston City Hall, Brown said he thought that, by age 63, he would be in a more comfortable financial position than he is today. When the market crashed in 2006, he was left with two houses he had built, plunging him deep into debt.

In the high-end furniture business, he explained, “No matter how good you are or how fast you are, it’s who is going to do the best work for the least amount of money and when can I have it.” The biggest difference with his new business is that making caskets allows him to “work on my terms.”

Now, he said, he “just want[s] to have my bills paid. I’m not looking to be a millionaire.”

Brown recently sold his first casket to an individual in California. Catskill Mountain Casket Company is now fully operational, and people can learn more about its products and services through the company’s website: cmtcasket.com.