Natural Burials
By Eileen, EcoSpace
When animals and plants die, they decompose and become nutrients for new forms of life. Why should we deny ourselves of Mother Earth’s beautiful cycle? Modern cemeteries separate the deceased from natural cycles by embalming them in toxic chemicals, boxing them in steel caskets and concrete burial vaults, and drenching the funeral grounds with pesticides.
Natural cemeteries are resisting these modern trends by bringing back simpler and traditional ‘dust to dust’ burials. These sites do not permit embalming, or caskets made of steel or precious hardwoods like rainforest woods. Instead people are buried closer to the earth, inside shrouds, cardboard or pine coffins. The body’s decomposition can therefore nourish the earth, creating nutrient-rich soil for trees, wildflowers, and native vegetation. Instead of large headstones, the graves are marked with small fieldstones or with native trees or bushes. Grave sights are plotted with GPS to make sure loved ones can always find the proper sight if the natural landscape eventually grows to look entirely different.
Every year the funeral industry buries tons of hazardous and nonbiodegradable materials throughout their cemeteries. This includes 90,000 tons of steel caskets, almost 17,000 tons of steel and copper vaults, and 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete. They also bury over 800,000 gallons of Formaldehyde, the toxic chemical used for embalming to temporarily delay the perfectly natural process of decomposition. All of this material is seriously not necessary to lay our loved ones in peace.
Natural cemeteries, on the other hand, can serve as parks for people to enjoy and hike in. New York’s Greensprings Natural Cemetery, for example, foresees a massive hardwood forest covering over 144 acres in the next 100 to 200 years. The trees will serve as graves, and beautiful hiking trails and recreational areas will embody the site. Rather than being a mowed down, pesticide-drowned conventional cemetery, it will actually be a vitalized forest preserved from development or logging.
Another great aspect of a natural burial is the decreased price. This simpler ceremony saves thousands of dollars versus a conventional one. A plot in Greensprings Natural Cemetery, for example, is only $500.
Some natural cemeteries in the U.S. are: The Ramsey Creek Preseve in South Carolina; Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve in Florida ; Forever Fernwood in California ; Ethnician Family Cemetery in Texas; Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve in New York; Ramsey Creek Preserve’s Natural Cemetery in South Carolina.
The Green Burial Council is a nonprofit organization that connects families with cemeteries that have earned the council’s green approval. They also help provide information for other alternatives like burials at sea.
If there is no natural cemetery near you, another option is to ask about the possibility of a greener burial in local conventional cemeteries. Though most require the use of burial vaults, some will allow an unvaulted burial somewhere on the property, or the use of a concrete grave liner with an open bottom. As people are becoming increasingly aware of our harm to Mother Earth, the demand for natural end-of-life rituals will continue to grow, and it will become easier to make a natural burial happen for your loved ones.