Green burial makes sense to me from an environmental perspective as well. After a lifetime of avoiding preservatives in my food and trying to limit the damage I do to the earth, why would I want my body pumped full of embalming chemicals and placed in a nearly impermeable coffin?
According to Greensprings Natural Cemetery's website, each year in the U.S. we bury:
- 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid
- 90,272 tons of steel (caskets)
- 2,700 tons of copper and bronze (caskets)
- 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete (vaults)
- 14,000 tons of steel (vaults)
- 30-plus million board feet of hardwoods (much tropical; caskets)
And that's not even counting all the pesticides and fertilizers conventional cemeteries use to keep their grounds unnaturally manicured.
Green burials, on the other hand, can actually preserve land from development. Trust for Natural Legacies, Inc., a non-profit land trust, explains: "Natural lands owned by the government can always be sold. Tools utilized by the conservation community, such as easements, are relatively untested. There is no guarantee that a group may exist in 100 years to enforce an easement. Cemetery lands, however, are protected against disturbing activities by State law. What's more, if a cemetery organization no longer exists, the local government is often required to take over and protect the cemetery. Because these cemeteries are also public green spaces, it's a win-win situation for everyone."
How does the cost compare? A conventional funeral—including the embalming process and a metal casket—can average $6,500, plus another $2,000 for cemetery charges. In contrast, at Ramsey Creek Preserve in Westminster, South Carolina, prices range from $250 for a scattering of ashes to $1,950 for a body burial.
Speaking of ashes, I used to think that I wanted to be cremated. I found out that the cremation process releases dioxin, hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and possibly mercury from amalgam dental fillings back into the air and ground. Greenspring's website claims that you could drive about 4,800 miles on the energy equivalent it takes to cremate someone—and to the moon and back 83 times on the energy from all cremations in one year in the U.S.
If I meet my demise in Maryland, there are no green cemeteries inside state lines. Here's a list of the green cemeteries I discovered in the US:
- GreenSprings Natural Cemetery - 93 acres in New York, opened in 2006
- Forever Fernwood - 32 acres in California, opened in 2004
- Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve - Memorial Ecosystems has 350 acres in Florida. Opened in 2002 .
- Ramsey Creek Preserve - Memorial Ecosystems has 32 acres in South Carolina. Opened in 1996.
- White Eagle Memorial Preserve - 20 acre cemetery is set within 1300 wild acres.
- Foxfield Preserve - 43 acres in Ohio
- Honey Creek Woodlands - Georgia
- Eternal Rest Memories Park - Florida
- Cedarbrook Burial Ground - Maine
- Steelmantown Cemetery - New Jersey
- Praire Wilderness Cemetery - Colorado (under construction)
- Ethician Family Cemetery - Huntsville, Texas
I'd like this blog entry to act as an official notification to my family of what I want done with my remains when the time comes: I direct that my remains be buried in a "green cemetery" according to the standard practices associated with "green burial," including burial in a natural setting without embalming, in a simple pine coffin or a biodegradable shroud. If it sounds primitive, well, that's kind of the point. You can see what a green burial can look like on this YouTube clip from HBO's Six Feet Under (includes adult language and situations, so beware).
Thanks for being my witnesses,
Jenny
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