Green burial

Easyrider · 07-02-2006

Movement seeks a more natural way to spend an eternity

Sunday, July 2, 2006; Posted: 8:34 a.m. EDT (12:34 GMT)

NEWFIELD, New York (AP) -- It sits on the eastern fringe of New York's Finger Lakes region and is bounded on three sides by 8,000 acres of protected forests: a perfectly natural place to spend an eternity.

The 93-acre Greensprings Natural Cemetery is the first of its kind in New York and one of just a handful in the United States, where interest in "green" burial is just taking root.

At Greensprings, where a plot costs $500 plus a $350 fee to dig the grave, bodies cannot be embalmed or otherwise chemically preserved. They must be buried in biodegradable caskets without linings or metal ornamentation.

The cemetery suggests locally harvested woods, wicker or cloth shrouds. Concrete or steel burial vaults are not allowed. Nor are standing monuments, upright tombstones or statues.

Only flat, natural fieldstones are permitted as grave markers (they can be engraved). Shrubs or trees are preferred.

And only one person is allowed in each 15-foot-by-15-foot plot.

Natural or woodland cemeteries are common in the United Kingdom, where they make up more than 10 percent of burials. In the United States, however, green burial is a relatively new idea, but one that has caught the attention of people who favor blending land conservation with a natural approach to funerals.

Thirty-two-acre Ramsey Creek Preserve, which opened in 1998 in rural Westminster, South Carolina, is acknowledged as the nation's first green cemetery. Others are in Florida, Texas, California and Washington state.

Contrary to widespread belief, embalming is not required by law, so people can refuse it. Buy a no-frills wooden coffin. Plant a bush instead of a gravestone. Those options are available at most cemeteries.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the average funeral in the United States costs about $6,000. Many exceed $10,000. Even cremation typically costs more than $1,000 -- and it has its environmental downside: Cremation uses energy and releases dioxin and mercury (up to 6 grams a body) while preventing nutrients in bodies from enriching the land.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/27/gre....ap/index.html

tidechick · 07-02-2006

Thank you for posting Easyrider, I found that very interesting!

rockingtenn · 07-02-2006

I kinda like this idea. Also, I always thought that embalming was required by law. Thanks for the info!

debby · 07-02-2006

Thank you Easyrider. I have told my husband don't waste money on a fancy funeral for me. I won't even know it. Just save the money and get himselft that bass boat he's been wanting all our marrried life. Call it debby.

mmcd3182 · 07-02-2006

Yep -- I've always thought cremation or this would be a fine idea. Embalming people and putting them in metal / stone boxes in the ground never made sense to me.... it just takes up space for nothing, but I know it's a tradition.

BamaChE04 · 07-02-2006

Sounds interesting....but one question: If there is still a funeral service, wouldn't that be kinda nasty for the people visiting? Or is this for people who don't believe in funeral services that just want to throw someone in the ground as soon as possible? I may have missed something.

mmcd3182 · 07-02-2006

	Quote:	BamaChE04
	Sounds interesting....but one question: If there is still a funeral service, wouldn't that be kinda nasty for the people visiting? Or is this for people who don't believe in funeral services that just want to throw someone in the ground as soon as possible? I may have missed something.

you could always just do a memorial service... or closed-coffin...

I'd rather look at a picture of the person than to look at them sitting in a box rotting... I just never understood why people want to look at a loved-one's corpse--it's very unsettling and that's not how I want to remember someone.

RoadstarB · 07-02-2006

Very interesting. I think I will now cancel that insurance policy that will pay for my funeral since this is cheaper.
Cemetary Plot.......$1,000
Burial suit..........$300 (May be cheeper at the thrift store)
PERMANANT WOOD (oak tree) PRICELESS!!!!

debby · 07-03-2006

	Quote:	sportsterB
	Very interesting. I think I will now cancel that insurance policy that will pay for my funeral since this is cheaper. Cemetary Plot.......$1,000 Burial suit..........$300 (May be cheeper at the thrift store) PERMANANT WOOD (oak tree) PRICELESS!!!!

ROFL ...you definitely won't need that suit again.
I think a memorial service is better. Also cheaper. And instead of flowers donate to your fav charity or a church in memory of that person. I think I want a hydrangea on my grave.