In the last few weeks I have been asked the question of green burials in Vermont.  As of today, there are no green cemeteries in Vermont.  The project in Bristol is moving forward but still does not have the “green stamp”. (2007 article by Kegan Harsha)

Public green cemetery’s are here and coming to an area near you soon.  The idea of green burial space which has multiple uses works for everyone.  ”A full-blown conservation cemetery is basically a nature preserve that has trails to walk through and it’s 100 percent green burial: No embalming, no concrete vaults, only natural grave markers,” says Theresa Purcell who runs the Full Circle Project, which advocates for natural burials.

Currently if you want green burial services in Vermont you can only use your own land.  WRCS may have a compromise that works for everyone. There is a way to have a green burial at your local cemetery and still be operating by the law.  The answer/compromise is the grave liner.

Here are the FACTS: There are no laws that say a body must be embalmed. There are also no laws that say a body must be placed in a casket before burial. The only restriction is a cement grave liner.  That requirement is by the cemetery.  Nobody can argue that cemeteries before liners/vaults were hard to maintain and not very welcoming.  Grave liners are made with  no man-made materials. Concrete is made of sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, and water. Just earth. 

I have recommended to families that the body be placed in a biodegradable casket or wrapped in linen and  placed directly into the grave liner. At that point the family may choose to cover the body with earth, place the cover on the liner, and refill the remainder of the grave. The body is in direct contact with the earth.  No chemicals, no wasted energy, and part of a natural preserve that folks will be using for years. Having served many Jewish families, this was a way for the family and Temple to satisfy all concerned about tradition.

Green burials are not for everyone. 200 hundred years ago it was commonplace. There was no choice. I think we have been subconsciously brain washed into thinking that green funerals can’t be done without major difficulty or expense.  The amount of public green burial space is growing. Some will call it breaking with tradition, others will say were taking tradition back and once again getting what we need.   

More people choose ‘green’ funerals

by Jon Collins, Minnesota Public Radio

ST. PAUL, Minn. — As environmental consciousness has grown in the country, some people like Theresa Purcell have questioned the practice of pumping dead bodies full of chemicals before they’re buried in thick, concrete vaults in the ground.

“People are unfamiliar with the embalming process. People just hear that if you’re going to be buried, you need a concrete vault but don’t actually question the reasons behind that,” said Purcell, who runs the Full Circle Project, which advocates for natural burials. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s a huge waste of resources.”

Purcell and her group promote a range of options, from wrapping a body in only a shroud to burial in a simple, biodegradable casket. She said traditional cemeteries are starting to offer services that are more environmentally friendly along with conventional services.

“A full-blown conservation cemetery is basically a nature preserve that has trails to walk through and it’s 100 percent green burial: No embalming, no concrete vaults, only natural grave markers,” Purcell said. “More existing cemeteries are starting to set aside an acre for green burial or just mixing them in with the other headstones.”

There are no hard numbers regarding how many green cemeteries exist in the United States. But Joshua Slocum, who runs the national Funeral Consumers Alliance, said when he joined the organization a decade ago, there were only two commercially run green cemeteries. Now he knows of about 60.

In Minnesota, a couple options have emerged in recent years for people who want a green burial.

One of those is Prairie Oaks Memorial Eco Gardens, which Tony Webber and a business partner just opened in Inver Grove Heights. Plans for the three-acre cemetery include space for about 1,600 green graves, as well as areas for the interment of ashes.

“We will not allow any above-ground monuments, we won’t mow the grass. The headstone will consist of a natural field stone with the head cut off,” Webber said. “The concept is to feed the earth and not to damage it with the compounds.”

Another advantage is cost. The National Funeral Directors Association put the cost of a conventional funeral at $7,755 in 2009. Webber puts the price for a green funeral in his cemetery at about $5,000.

Webber hopes people will come to regard the cemetery as a sort of public park. It will contain wooded areas, native grasses and a pond.

That’s not that unusual. Although people don’t hang out in cemeteries much now, they did in the past, said John Troyer, deputy director of the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath in England.

“The 19th century cemetery was very much designed as a park, as a public sphere for people to go and stroll through and eat,” Troyer said. “Cemeteries that are going to more meadow type setups — or what’s described as green burial — they are in some ways creating sort of a 21st century reinvention of what might be thought of as a burial ground.”

http://www.naturalburial.coop/2007/11/10/vermonts-first-eco-cemetery/