greenliving
in South Carolina, the first green cemetery in this country.
Today, more than 200 sites in the United States are set aside
as current or future natural burial grounds.
For green burial, the body of the deceased is prepared
without chemical preservatives, and the remains are buried in
a biodegradable coffin, shroud or other container. Graves are
natural
sometimes hand-dug, and almost always vault- or liner-free.
Some graves are unmarked, while others may bear a simple
Burial
native stone or indigenous plantings. Natural burial grounds
use no irrigation, pesticides or herbicides for maintenance.
The idea is for the grave and its occupant to be part of the
natural cycle of life, death and regeneration of new life.
Resources for researching and planning a green burial
abound. The Green Burial Council has established standards
for sustainability and transparency in the death care indus-
try; its website lists providers who adhere to them, sorted by
service and location.
An individual can find anything he or she needs to ar-
range the natural funeral or memorial desired. Websites like
GreenBurials.org and NaturalBurial.coop are full of general
information and links to all aspects of death care. EarthUrn.
com offers a variety of natural, biodegradable and organic
containers for cremated remains, while NaturalBurialCom-
pany.com helps consumers find a green coffin to suit them,
made from materials like cardboard, sustainably harvested
“Just as most people once knew how to
can vegetables, milk a cow, butcher a pig
and have a home birth… how to care for an
un-embalmed dead body at home used to
Honoring life
be pretty common knowledge. Now, that
in death
knowledge is an art practiced by a relative
few.” — Author Bob Butz
by sandy rogovin
T
he city of Carlisle, Great Britain, faced a challenge: wood or woven plant fibers. EternalReefs.com adds cremated
to find and preserve green space within its borders. remains to cast concrete “reef balls,” used to rebuild dying
Creative thinking by the city council revealed some ocean reefs.
unexpected open land—its cemeteries. In 1993, Carlisle Service providers like Memorial Ecosystems, owner of
Cemetery opened a small section of property for “woodland Ramsey Creek Preserve, and local funeral homes that have
burial,” with the goal of restoring forested area in the city. opened their doors and minds to include or specialize in
The section was designed to provide a natural memorial set- natural burials, are prepared to answer the myriad questions
ting dominated by native plant species, while reducing the that surface. “If you know how to use the Internet and you’re
environmental impact of conventional interment and cem- not afraid to make calls to people you don’t know, you can
etery upkeep. Carlisle Cemetery’s Woodland Burial Ground get answers to any question in the world,” notes Bob Butz, a
became the modern world’s first eco-cemetery. naturalist and award-winning author.
The green burial movement took shape through the Butz, 37, has recorded his odyssey through eco-friendly
efforts of its advocates, with slow, but steady growth world- interment in Going Out Green: One Man’s Adventure Plan-
wide. Naturalists saw green burial as a gift returned with ning His Own Natural Burial, due out in May 2009. Although
gratitude to the Earth they loved. Environmentalists valued the book is complete, the author’s exploration of natural
preventing the burial of toxins and non-degradable materials death care is not over. His blog on the topic can be accessed
into an already endangered ecosystem. Stepping away from through the website of Spirituality and Health magazine.
the conventions of the modern funeral industry gave many Butz makes observations ranging from soulful to pragmatic
a freedom to honor the departed in unusual and personal or humorous, an approach which may seem irreverent in a
ways. 1998 marked the inception of Ramsey Creek Preserve, culture that tiptoes so carefully around death. He hopes his
30 New Haven/Middlesex Counties
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