The beautiful greenery of Mills Country provides a final resting place for all.
“Going green” is the way of our world it seems, as of the last few years. It is this sentiment that has led many environmentally concerned people to request what are called natural burials.
Rather than being embalmed or cremated, these men and women see the value of a less costly and more earth-friendly method of being laid to rest.
The basic criterion for a natural burial is achieving minimal impact on the environment. In fact, often times such rituals can benefit surrounding soils and plant life. The dead are wrapped in organic linen, plain wooden boxes or other biodegradable materials and buried on natural hillsides and under trees.
Though engraved stones or plaques are sometimes used in place of headstones, it is even more common for graves to be found via GPS coordinates.
Kathy Curry, manager for the Forever Fernwood Cemetery in Mills Valley, CA, explained that Forever Fernwood’s natural burial grounds are laid out in 12-foot hexagons, with two plots per hexagon.
That being said, when a new plot is purchased, the cemetery locates it via GPS and maps it into the hexagon to prevent overlapping. These coordinates are then added to respective databases for easy retrieval.
Along with GPS coordinates, Curry noted, the deceased are buried with a radio frequency ID with a name and date for additional security.
Forever Fernwood is one of two cemeteries in California that provides natural burial services.
The Fernwood Cemetery was bought in 2004 by Tyler Cassity’s Forever Enterprise as a 32-acre lot with space set aside for natural burials. Originally, concerns about profit and senior citizen accessibility to the natural burial ground’s rough, uneven paths were arisen. However, it seems these concerns have not prevented success.
According to Curry, the addition is “continually growing in popularity.”
She estimated that the cemetery has approximately 200 naturally buried to date.
Along with nature, technology also plays an interesting role in enhancing the natural burial alternative at Forever Fernwood through a free service called Forever LifeStories. By signing up, friends and family can create digital media scrapbooks and video clips in memory of their deceased loved ones. According to Curry, Fernwood would like to find a way to link a person’s coordinates to their Forever LifeStory, but simply do not have the technology to do so.
Joshua Tree Memorial Park of Joshua Tree, CA, has made announcements of implementing a natural burial service as well, though has yet to put forth any additional information regarding the changes.
The Green Burial Council, a non-profit organization established to ensure the safety of natural areas dealing with burials, recognizes the cemetery has met the organization’s posted standards “to be permanently protected via a conservation easement or deed restriction, and that an operator engage in restoration planning as well as adhere to a set of ecologically sound protocols.”
The first natural burial cemetery established in the United States was opened in 1998, and now there are over 300 sites countrywide offering the service. For years, cremation has been seen as the cost effective and environmentally friendly alternative to embalming, and more traditional burials. With the renewed interest in a more spiritual “returning to earth,” the issue of cost is naturally concerning.
According to The Centre for Natural Burial, the estimated cost of natural burials range from $1,00-$4,000. This amount usually includes the plot of land, costs to open and close the grave, an optional stone marker and an additional fee to help maintain the property.
Cremating services, according to What It Costs, can range from $700-$1,000 for the most basic services. Compare these to a traditional embalming and burial at $6,500 (without the plot, burial fees or headstone), and it is clear cremation and natural burials outweigh the option tremendously. Though cremation expenses are somewhat lower, many argue that the cost in pollution and fossil fuels it expends make up the difference.
There is also the option of doing both cremation, and a natural burial. This is the solution for many organ donors, as they can be cremated and then placed and buried in biodegradable urns.
With so much talk about environmental awareness, even in death, many pet owners have brought up the question of natural burials for animals.
Many people practice a similar ritual by burying pets in their backyards, but that requires permits, and leaves those without land without “green” options. Pet cemeteries often bury their animals in plastic caskets, or other similarly harmful materials.
This is a serious concern of the Green Pet-Burial Society, a newly formed organization with similar goals to that of the Green Burial Council.
In February of this year, the Green Pet-Burial Society proposed to the board of the LA Pet Memorial Park that they designate a part of any future extensions for natural burials. The planning is an ongoing effort, however, it is it the mission of the Society to work towards effective alternatives to traditional (and harmful) burials.
According to the Associated Press, a March 2010 survey by the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association found a quarter of those polled “like the concept of environmentally friendly burials.” Paired with the latest means of “geolocating” loved ones, we find an innovative way of reconnecting to our ancestral pasts and traditions, while also exploring the possibilities of our technological futures.
-by Natasha Castro
