About Us Passages International
about us
Passages International, Inc. was founded in 1999, when the demand for greener funerals was at its earliest stage. With green funerals now mainstream, Passages is dedicated to providing sustainable choices that allow families to have a unique, meaningful and healing funeral experience. We are a family owned and operated business, and our environmentally-friendly products are designed to let families and funeral homes create a funeral that truly honors a loved one, meets their values, and celebrates their life.
With Passages products, families can curate a funeral that truly reflects the values of their loved one.
We partner with funeral homes around the world to help them cater to today’s modern consumer. People today want more efficient cars, less wasteful products, and are green-minded in all areas of life. These values don’t simply disappear when planning a funeral, and families have become disenchanted with what is traditionally offered by funeral homes. We believe that we can all do better, for those we serve, for ourselves, and for the communities we live in. Nobody deserves to be laid to rest in a cardboard box, or receive their loved one’s remains in a plastic container, but until recently these have been the default option when declining traditional caskets and urns. We are here to change that.
We design and produce many of our own products, and stand behind our unsurpassed quality and service. We are proud to be recognized by Green America as a socially and environmentally responsible business. You can read more about Passages’ business practices in our Green Statement above.
We also support the work of the Green Burial Council, an organization working to make burial more meaningful, simple, and sustainable. We have been a member since their inception. We offer by far the greatest variety of products that have been approved by the Green Burial Council, and most receive their highest "3-Leaf" rating.
According to the NFDA, over half of Americans today want greener funeral options, and over half of American families will choose cremation. Roughly half of those who choose cremation will scatter the cremated remains of a loved one. At Passages, we offer the most comprehensive selection of sustainably-produced and biodegradable urns, caskets, and memorial products to meet the needs of these families. We are dedicated to offering meaningful products to families who desire environmentally-friendly options for their end-of-life rituals.
Meet Our President and Co-founder
Darren Crouch – President and co-founder of Passages International, Inc.
Darren co-founded Passages International in 1999. Over the past several years, Darren has been published in The Director Magazine, The American Funeral Director Magazine, Funeral Business Adviser, The Cremationist, and the ICCFA Magazine. He has also been quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. In addition, he has spoken at several national and international conventions including the Asia Funeral Expo, the National Funeral Directors Convention, the ICCFA Convention and the CANA Symposium. Darren has been recognized as a thought leader in the funeral industry & Passages International was a finalist for Fast Company's World Changing Ideas in the category of Enduring Impact.
Darren holds a BSc. (Hons) degree from Manchester Metropolitan University in Manchester, England, is a Vistage member and is President of the Green Burial Council.
Direct: 505-234-1604 | Email: darren@passagesinternational.com
Direct: 505-234-1604
Email: darren@passagesinternational.com
Meet Our Team
Kerry Potter
Outside Sales Representative
Kerry is a green burial advocate and educator. She began her career in the industry when she opened her natural burial boutique, Dying to Bloom, where she sold earth-friendly burial products. As an executive for a radio station in New York, she also hosted a call-in talk show that focused on green burial trends and services.
Potter is a certified life-cycle celebrant and hospice volunteer, and understands the healing comfort of end-of-life ceremonies. Impressed with the products and mission of Passages, Potter is excited to represent the company and looks forward to building relationships with funeral directors in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Direct: 848-297-1881
Email: kerry@passagesinternational.com
Liz Hamilton
Outside Sales Representative
Liz Hamilton is a fully licensed funeral director who entered the funeral field in 2016 in order to support green funeral practices and community-led death care. She began her career in the funeral industry when she worked for a fast-paced funeral home and mortuary in Asheville, North Carolina. During her career there, Hamilton went to mortuary school at Fayetteville Tech Community College and completed her funeral service internship.
Liz has been trained as a home funeral guide and served on the board of the National Home Funeral Alliance from 2020 to 2022. She has given several talks on green funeral practices and home funerals. Hamilton also worked closely with the conservation burial ground in North Carolina.
Liz moved to Albuquerque, NM in 2021 to work for French Funerals and Cremations. During her career there, she was impressed with the products and mission of Passages. Hamilton is excited to represent the company and looks forward to building relationships with funeral industry professionals in New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and Arizona.
Direct: 505-317-7175
Email: liz@passagesinternational.com
Elizabeth Davis
VP of Marketing
Elizabeth was born and raised in New Mexico and has a passion for our local community. After having received her Bachelor’s in Mass Communication, with a focus on public relations, from The University of New Mexico, Elizabeth spent nearly 15 years working professionally in digital marketing, media relations, social media, event management, and content strategy in the Albuquerque, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle/Tacoma, and international markets.
Elizabeth is the former Director of Marketing for NWSL’s OL Reign women’s professional soccer team, having worked with incredible female and trans athletes and activists, including well-respected players like Megan Rapinoe. Additionally, Elizabeth was the original Director of Marketing and Communications for New Mexico’s own men’s professional soccer team, USL’s New Mexico United. Before joining the professional sports world, Elizabeth worked in social media and public relations in the entertainment industry, with projects including major motion pictures, a Netflix show, writing for Tastemade, and helping local businesses with their strategic marketing.
Outside of work, Elizabeth has a passion for learning new forms of art, singing, adoring dogs, and listening to true crime podcasts.
Direct: (505) 273-5149
Email: Elizabeth@passagesinternational.com
Britt Gallagher
Art Department & Graphic Designer
Having worked as a graphic designer for 26 years in New Mexico and the Pacific Northwest, Britt is thrilled to have joined the green team at Passages. He spends most of his free time reading, painting, writing and spending time with loved ones while enjoying the sunny days and starry nights of our beautiful state.
Direct: 505-234-1599
Email: Britt@passagesinternational.com,
artdept@passagesinternational.com
Armando Hernandez
Production Supervisor
Armando was born and raised in East LA and has lived in Albuquerque over 25 years, and proudly holds the trophy of our longest-standing employee, having been with Passages for ten years. Armando has seen the growth in the green funeral sector first-hand, and is excited for what's to come.
Armando enjoys camping, spending time with his family, barbecuing, woodworking, singing, and has been a Raiders fan his whole life.
Office: 505-478-0792
Email: Armando@passagesinternational.com
Sally Price-Brittenham
Purchasing & Logistics Manager
Sally was born in Albuquerque and has lived in Baltimore and South Florida, where she spent her free time eating Maryland Blue Crabs and body surfing. She eventually made her way back to New Mexico where she enjoys hot Pilates and yoga, and relaxing in her garden under the great New Mexico sky. She brings a decade of wholesale purchasing and import/export logistics and management from the home furnishings and accessories industry to Passages International.
Direct: 505-273-5124
Email: Sally@passagesinternational.com
Melissa Livingston
Operations and Integration Manager
Melissa has lived and worked in Albuquerque her whole life. She started her career in the death industry as a Pet Memorial Consultant for a local pet cremation company. In her current position, she hopes to build relationships and be a trusted resource to help best meet the needs of families.
She is passionate about sustainable fashion and loves to repair and revive vintage clothing. She loves anything crafty and usually has a new hobby monthly.
Direct: (505) 234-1598
Email: Melissa@passagesinternational.com
Joe Cano
Warehouse Manager
Joe hails from the Bay Area and moved to Albuquerque in the mid-2010s. He oversees all of our shipping. When not at work, he is lifting, golfing, camping, or grilling up something for his wife and two cats.
Office: 505-317-9211
Email: Joe@passagesinternational.com
Kilian Rempen
Marketing Manager
Kilian was born and raised in Albuquerque, but lived in Los Angeles, Boulder, and Bangkok before coming home and joining Passages in late 2017. Kilian studied advertising and marketing at Loyola Marymount University, and when not working can be found skiing, climbing rocks, seeing live music and tasting new tequilas.
Office: (505) 830-2500
Email: Kilian@passagesinternational.com
Our Mission & Philosophy
Our goal is to provide innovative, compassionate, and meaningful offerings to enrich and personalize the memorialization of a loved one while always keeping an eye on environmental impacts and allowing families to give back to the planet that took care of them in life.
At Passages, we believe in the power of ritual to transform and comfort. At death - the final rite of passage - we use rituals to celebrate, honor, and safeguard the memory of a life. By providing compassionate offerings for personal expression, Passages hopes to help mark the passing of a special soul.
Green Statement
Our natural environment is a finite and fragile system that we must all take responsibility to protect. Passages International, Inc. prides itself on being a responsible member of the business community, and we convey to our employees the significance of leaving the environment better than we found it.
Passages is committed to creating and providing environmentally-friendly and biodegradable cremation urns, caskets, and memorial offerings to families seeking unique and affordable products to celebrate the life of a loved one.
Passages creates and distributes the best quality products, produced as sustainably as possible. Most of our products are crafted by hand from renewable or recycled resources, using antique molds and centuries-old techniques. We use recycled cardboard boxes with biodegradable peanuts for packing and carbon-neutral shipping and are proud to support several conservation organizations dedicated to preserving our pristine planet for future generations.
The company adheres to the following practices:
In order to reduce gasoline consumption and carbon emissions, we assemble and produce several of our products here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The products that we manufacture abroad are transported in the most efficient manner possible; small items are shipped within large items, and many items ship flat-packed. Our urns and caskets are generally shipped to our wholesale customers in bulk, further reducing carbon emissions per unit during transportation. These simple solutions not only preserve our atmosphere and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, they also keep our carbon footprint low.
Passages is also active in reducing waste by reusing materials, recycling, and working towards paperless business. Simply by recycling paper and cardstock, it is possible to prolong the life of items and reduce waste accumulation.
Many of our products contain significant percentages of recycled materials. For example, The Shell™ Deep Water Bio Urn is produced from 95% pre-consumer recycled paper and paper clay. Each is handcrafted and painted (with water-based paints) by skilled artisans, and is presented in convenient and discreet recyclable packaging. The Shell Urns are proudly made in the USA. Our unique Scattering Tubes are created from recycled paper and cardstock and contain no metal or plastic components. Once the Tube has been used to scatter the cremated remains of a loved one it can be recycled by the family.
All of our Earthurn® Biodegradable Urns are constructed using a two-step process that utilizes recycled cardstock and organic paper that is handcrafted from the bark of the mulberry tree. In order to create the paper, a sustainable system is employed that harvests the bark of the mulberry tree while allowing it to continue growing. Much of this handmade paper is still dried in the sun on bamboo screens.
We take all steps possible to reduce energy consumption in our place of business and believe that if all people and businesses can reduce the environmental impact of every small or large action we take, we can make a massive impact on our planet's health.