The "Be a Tree" Question Thread - Natural Burial and Clean Cremation

Please use this thread to post thoughts or questions about what I've written here in the comment area below. I'm not starting a forum yet, but I am receiving a number of questions and thoughts by e-mail and 'd like to share the answers I give to people more easily with anyone who's interested.

Thanks for your work and attention!

Comments

[Linda Guntharp]

I really hope this becomes more accepted this is defiantly the way I want to go

[Cynthia]

Hi Linda,

Thanks for the validation.

I agree with you wholeheartedly and I think a lot of people do, too.

You may not check back here, but if you do, what area of the country are you in?

And for others who read here:

Having a natural burial is the sort of thing you can pursue wherever you are, just by asking questions.

Call around and ask cemeteries you like the looks of if they offer natural burial yet; ask funeral directors if they supply services with no embalming or if they facilitate home funerals.

Remember the basics - no embalming, biodegradable container, no outer burial vault. Seek out long-term land managers with the land in conservation trust.

Just by asking the questions you help to open minds. And like I said in "Be a Tree," it just gets better from there...

in trees,

Cynthia

[Donna Ward]

I am a baby-boomer (age 60) and I would really be interested in this...the only thing is I paid for my funeral expenses about 10 yrs. ago so my children wouldn't have to worry about this...I think they put your money in an annuity...I think this means you can't get it back....I would much rather do something along these lines...is there a way I could get my money back from the funeral home...I did call but they didn't seem to want to co-operate...

[Cynthia]

Hi there:

Lisa Carlson at askexperts.com says:

It depends on the state, among other things. And was the original contract set up as irrevocable for Medicaid eligibility? If I know in what state, I'll give you the laws that would apply. Florida, for example, is TERRIBLE, and she might get back only 40%.

*****************

Laws vary from state to state so if you ever need any more info to a general question, please identify the state you're living in and the state you bought your contract in.

What's most important is that you look into your current contract ASAP and review it, now that you know you want something different. You'll need to pursue this just like you would any other contract that you signed but were no longer sure of.

Unfortunately, many people do not want to confront this 'last little detail' - it seems so frustrating and complicated, but it is SO MUCH BETTER if you take care of this yourself so that your family members and friends do not have to.

It's terribly distressing to manage the fact that you're gone in the first place, but for your family to have to sort out a bad funeral plan that is so obviously contrary to what they know your wishes would have been is even more difficult for them - they love you, and they only want the best for you - so the more you can handle this now, and up front, as hard as it might be, the better it is for everyone.

Don't hesitate to get a family member involved, preferably one who'll also be taking a leadership role when you pass.

Thanks so much for leaving a comment here and taking this on. The more that people begin to address incomplete or no longer adequate funeral plans, the better.

Finally, do consult the links throughout the Be a Tree book page as they appear during the months of February and March (when I update the book outline). You'll get some more suggestions about 'pay on death' accounts and other vehicles that will make addressing your needs in advance simpler, and perhaps more practical for you and your family.

in trees,

Cynthia

[steve]

I wonder if a discussion of the biology and life cycle of trees might be nice. (I'm a biology major). Trees are very interesting organisms, and becoming a part of one would give my body's atoms something creative to do :)

How does one go about making plans to spare one's family from having to figure it all out themselves?
steve

[Cynthia]

Ah yes, Steve! A discussion of the life cycle of trees would be VERY good. I'll be doing a bit of that but I can only hint at the topic in the printed book - the subject is huge!

For example, did you know that most trees and plants depend upon fungi and microbes in the soil to get their nutrition? They don't "eat" the soil - they actually use very specific critters who colonize the surface of their root hairs, and the soil zones around them, to convert the soil to "food" by transforming it into usable forms that the tree can process and grow from.

It's almost as though the microbes become organs that are external to the plants but live because of them - they function much like the organs that make digestion and assimilation possible - many are symbiotes, and it's thought that many of them live BECAUSE of the tree and plant roots while at the same time making it possible for the trees and plants to live.

One of the greatest hurdles a conventional cemetery that wants to offer natural burial will have to overcome, once they work out the process to accept and manage a biodegradable casket over the long-term, is to reinvigorate the soil web so that it can actually decompose the body again.

Most landscapes that have been managed with herbicides and chemical fertilizers have killed their microbes, because the microbes don't survive very well in the concentrated salts and chemical baths they're exposed to.

Fortunately, microbes can be reintroduced to dead soil through inputs like compost tea (a brew that actually breeds the microbes and then is sprayed on the lawns and plants periodically to reinoculate the ground). It can take a number of applications to reinstate the microbiology of a healthy soilweb, and the groundskeepers must shift to IPM and other non-chemical forms of fertility and pest control, or the chemicals will just kill the new microbes again.

The best thing is, however, that a proper microbial balance in the soil actually replaces the need for many of the fertilizer applications, since the reason the fertilizers are needed in the first place is often related to the lack of microbia in the soil!

I agree wholeheartedly that becoming a tree gives my "atoms something creative to do!" After all, once they're done being a person, we don't want them to go without a job, do we?

Unemployed molecules - what a waste!!!

Thanks for your comment, Steve. Come back and add some more as you learn it.

And BTW - there's a section in the "Be a Tree" condensation that addresses telling your family and friends about what you want to happen "just in case". If you're still in school, but you're over 18, you're not too young to plan for this. What if you got hit by a bus? If you're pragmatic enough to think about this, then people should know what you want - just having them know will make it easier on them. No guessing. They'll take comfort in acting on your wishes, for if you're gone suddenly there will be little other comfort to be had.

I think the best way to begin this is to just start talking about it. Tell your folks you've run across this new idea - show them the websites, and help them see that this is what you want. It's not easy yet, but it's possible. At some point, it will be easy, too.

The most important thing is to start the conversation. It will be an ongoing discussion until you die, and it should be. We all die. We should get over it, so we can get on with the real work of really living.

best,

Cynthia

[Cynthia]

Recently I was contacted by Bob Prout of Prout Funeral Home in New Jersey. He informed me that Pay on Death Accounts (PODA)are problematic for a very specific sort of user - the person who needs to go on Medicaid and will end up having that PODA counted as an asset and interfere with Medicaid qualification.

Bob let me know that States vary widely in their protection of consumers' funds in this regard and that New Jersey, his state, is one of the strictest in the nation when it comes to protecting money invested in a pre-paid account.

Some states only require that the funeral home protect 10% of your funds, and leave the balance available to the funeral home to 'invest' as it sees fit. States like New Jersey that require 100% of your money be kept aside and out of the funeral home's hands make prepaid funerals safer.

It will be important to identify what sort of state you're in - again, the state chapter of your Funeral Consumers Alliance should be able to help you know whether or not 100% of your funds are protected or not, the way they do it in New Jersey.

PODAs work well for people who do not want to use a funeral home but want to make allowances in advance for a funeral to ensure that "everything's taken care of". They are also ideal for people who are younger and below the medicare threshold, or still moving around a lot and uncertain where they're going to settle.

PODAs should be created as revocable - meaning you can revoke them, or change your mind. If you are facing a situation where you (or someone you're caring for) need to qualify for Medicare, that is probably the time that you should be moving your PODA to a qualified funeral service provider anyway, as arrangements for death should be well established by this time.

[Janie Malloy]

This is a message for Steve who asked how to spare your family distress by making plans. As Cynthia has pointed out, there are natural death care professionals, like myself, and my business does workshops and private consultations to get your paperwork in order. You can check us out at FarewellAssistance.com. Another route is to join the Funeral Consumers Alliance or another nonprofit group that can send you the directive paperwork when you join. Go to www.funerals.org to go to the national website, which will guide you to your state organization. It's good of you to want to spare your family.

Thanks for creating this forum, Cynthia. As always, you have a lot of practical information, and I appreciate you.

[Catherine Diliberto]

I am interested in how to have a green burial in New York,New York,U.S.A for deceased cats and dogs(animals).I am an animal lover that buries all of my own deceased cats in a pet cemetary ;of which is beautiful but expensive and getting even more so.I,m especially concerned about having a green burial site for the many sray feral cats i myself and others in my neighborhood feed ;that have been killed by vehicles. I take their lifeless little bodies out of the street only to be left with no other choice but to dispose of them in the garbage.I will never see these prescious once living little bodies as garbage.I used to bury the sray ones at the same burial place as my indoor pets;but i no longer have the funds to keep this up.Each year the burial their seems to be getting more expensive.I have all to do to find the funds to bury any of my future deceased pets their.Any suggestions will be very valuable to me and the many other people out their looking for a respectful way to lay Gods lesser creatures to rest. Sincerely,Catherine

[steve]

Thanks for the advice. I think that by using the funeral.org materials I'll be able to leave a message that my family can read when the time comes. I just mention where it is now, and have as much (or as little) conversation about it as they want.

Considering how sensible a green burial sounds to me, it is surprising that green burial sites (woodland cemeteries or whatever) aren't everywhere. Maybe in a few years they will be.

Speaking of what someone's atoms/molecules do when he or she is gone, have any of you folks ever seen the calculations that are usually called "Caesar's last breath"? A quick search of the internet will give you several versions. What it amounts to is that in any given breath of air you breathe there is a very good chance that at least one of the atoms you inhale will have been one of the atoms exhaled by Julius Caesar as he died. Of course there is nothing special about Julius Caesar's breath, the same could be said about the sigh the first human who made a tool sighed when he or she smashed his or her thumb. And, of course there is nothing special about humans. The last T.rex's last breath was probably bigger than Caesar's, so we can be even more certain that we are sharing atoms with her. The same would be true of plants.

The point is that atoms in the ecosystem are constantly getting mixed back up in the atmosphere. And speaking of our atoms in our bodies right now, at least some of them have almost certainly been part of a tree already....

Take care,
steve

[Cynthia]

Hi Catherine,

Yes, pets are another area we've neglected, as well. At the Natural Burial Company, we're adding biodegradable pet coffins with the same objective that we use for offering the human ones -- putting the products out there will beg the question of where to use them, and it's people like you who stimulate the creation of natural pet cemeteries just by asking the question.

I would encourage you to ask around - call all the vets, call the shelters, and call the pet cemeteries. Ask if any of them offer a natural pet burial or know where you can get one. Be prepared for "no" as the answer, but don't let that stop you - just keep asking.

If you find any, send the links our way, or post them here. We'll pick them up, and I'll add them to the book or the blog - wherever we can.

What you need to remember is that you WILL bring change just by asking the question and stating what you want. If you don't state your desire, how can anyone build what you want? If enough of us ask, someone will...

in trees,

Cynthia

[Karin Witherow]

We are a family from Iowa seeking information on having a home funeral for our Mother. Our family would like to have all planning and logistics in place, so that the stress is lessened and we have already made critical decisions as to what needs to happen. Since she does not live with us, we are having difficulty obtaining authorization to remove her remains from wherever she passes - her apartment, a nursing home or hospital. The local medical examiner was unable to give me authorization as a "personal funeral director" - stating state law prohibits anyone but the police, paramedics, coroner, or funeral home from moving a dead body. We simply want to wake her in her apartment or our family home and then take her directly to the crematorium ourselves. We understand caution needed to insure there is no foul play or threat from infectious disease and are very willing to work with local authorities, while still caring for our Mother the way that she has requested. The medical examiner's office is concerned that "someone" might complain and that would reflect poorly on the department and staff of the county and harm their reputation. I might add that we were able to care for our Father in the same manner when he passed in Illinois in 2000. Do you have any advice so that we can work with the local authorities, yet fulfill our Mother's last wishes?

Thank you.

[Deb]

Hi
Great site.
Wondering if anyone reading this would have the pattern for a shroud? I have been searching the net and have not come up with anything!
Thanks.

[Cynthia]

Hello Karen,

You bring up a very good point. The first place I'd send you to is my number one reference on legalities with respect to funeral regs across all 50 states - Lisa Carlson at Ask an Expert. She answers questions on funeral planning and you can get directly to her particular page via http://www.allexperts.com/ep/1739-7058/Funerals/Lisa-Carlson.htm. The link to this is also on the top right hand corner of our "Be a Tree" website.

With respect to your question, first of all, I'd ask to see the "chapter and verse" of the Iowa law. In print. There's a good chance that if you read the law carefully, the regulations may only apply to licensees. Look carefully at them - usually at the top of the code exemptions to the regs are given. Exemptions are often provided to clergy - for example, if a monk from a particular faith died in the hospital in Iowa and the clergy came to claim him, chances are he would be released to their care under the 'freedom of religion' protection we have in our Constitution. Chances are that a person otherwise appointed as a funeral director might be named as exempt from the regs.

In addition, remember that our legal system is one in which all things not specifically prohibited are permitted. This is an important distinction to make. The law cannot bear the burden of describing every possible thing that anyone might do; therefore, the rule of thumb is that we list the no-no's, the "thou shalt nots", and everyting else is allowed. It saves paper.

Your right to your body is a similarly protected right while you're alive, and no one can claim possession of you without your permission except in very specific circumstances. If you have passed the right to decide what happens to your body to another via a directive naming a personal funeral director, chances are the rights to you as a 'corpus' pass to that person, as well. It's also unlikely that you'd be forced to hire someone to tranport the body if you could do it yourself, unless there were a demonstrated threat to public health or safety.

In an article posted at the Funeral Consumers Alliance website, the authors point out that regulatory boards that oversee funeral activites are very limited in their powers and may be prohibited from telling private citizens what they can and can't do:

" In most cases, these boards can only regulate the commercial business they attend to - they can't oversee what private citizens do. For example, a state Barbers and Hairdressers Board can set standards for people who cut hair for money, but they can't tell private families they can't cut their own children's hair." (http://www.funerals.org/consumer-protection/consumer-alerts/34-consumeralerts/92-ftc-v-missouri-funeral-board)

This fact hasn't stopped many of them - the boards as well as the people they regulate - from speaking as if the regulations apply to the general public. In some cases they just don't know.

With respect to the Iowa "chapter and verse", I found this sentence in the Iowa Administrative Code:
101.5(5) A burial-transit permit shall not be issued to a person other than a licensed funeral director if the death or fetal death is of a suspected or known communicable disease as defined by 641-paragraph 1.2(1)"a."

It appears that whoever gave you the regulation (the medical examiner) didn't read the last half of the sentence - they skipped the "disease" part.

Again from the regs:
641-101.6(135) Transportation and disposition of dead body or fetus.
101.6(1)
"A dead human body or fetus shall be transported only after enclosure in a container for transfer that will control odor and prevent the leakage of body fluids, unless the body or fetus has been embalmed, or is being transported by a licensed funeral director, emergency medical service, or medical examiner. In addition, the transport of a dead human body or fetus shall be in a manner that, applying contemporary community standards with respect to what is suitable, is respectful of the dead, the feelings of relatives, and the sensibilities of the community."

This is another example of a law that is not written with any significant health nor safety issues in mind. Babies leak all the time, sometimes for years, until they're potty trained. We use diapers for that. As long as the deceased doesn't have a communicable disease, "leakage" in this case is an aesthetic issue, not a public health and safety one, and has no business being in a law.

The final part of the paragraph may belong in a 'code of conduct' for a professional in order to guarantee a certain minimum standard of service, but again here's another example of a State's regulatory system being used in place of a professional trade association, in part because once it's in a State code it serves to protect the existing businesses from competition.

While the medical examiner has a right to be concerned about behaviors on the part of the public that might reflect poorly on his department, he has no right to abridge YOUR rights because of his concern. Concerns are feelings with their roots in fear. People are concerned about things all the time. We have a Constitution, and a set of well-chosen laws that we vote on, in order to minimize the number of times that someone else's personal "concerns" or fears interfere with our rights to live as we choose, providing we're not causing someone else harm.

If the medical examiner was truly "concerned" about how his department appeared to the community, he might want to be perceived as a servant of the people - who pay his paycheck - rather than a servant of an industry. My local medical examiner is adamant about defending the person's right - and by extension, the family's right - to the body. He states that once he's determined the death was not a murder, his only legally-permitted interest is in seeing that the family gets the support they need, and chief amongs those supports is the defense of their legal rights - including the right to the body. A professional is not required, and he will never falsely state that one is.

As the FCA article points out, the State of Kansas gets kudos for providing a consumer friendly FAQ and website -- http://www.accesskansas.org/ksbma/ -- addressing the most salient points of funerals, including those performed by the family and held at home.

You've asked for suggestions to help you with the Iowa authorities - I think with the resources on this post you should be well on your way to solving your problem. One thing you might do is actually get together with someone from the Iowa authorities and have them go over the Kansas website with you to identify which things on the Kansas site are NOT allowed, i.e., specifically prohibited - in Iowa. I think that would be very useful, don't you?

Finally, if you haven't already, join the national FCA - the Funeral Consumers Alliance - http://www.funerals.org. Your state chapter may or may not be active enough, but the national organization is great and deserves your support. It's a small one-time fee and the advocacy they perform is great. They're not always right, but no one is, and they're the only true consumer advocate out there in this field.

Thanks for the question. Let us know how it all turns out!

best,

Cynthia

[Gordon McShean]

Hi! I spent my younger years in the UK, my "mature" years in the US, and am now aging (like old wine) in NZ. I was given a death sentence by the medics when I was 14 ("only a few more years" because of a medical condition), and am 71 now. So I've had many long years to consider the final disposition of the vessel that accommodates my vintage. I accept that (eventually) the spirit must be released (please excuse the pun!). Back in California 40 years ago I joined a funeral society (thinking it was a practical thing to do - but it might be said my membership expired before I did); I am pleased to see the green burial movement offering even more practical options. Here in NZ, despite the fact that historic Maori burial sites abound, we must all now observe conservative restrictions to attend to our end. I note that a Natural Burials group, with about 100 registered supporters, has been established in the Wellington area and has succeeded in obtaining permission for a "first" green burial (NZ also has a Natural Caskets business that - one assumes - has so far depended on funeral-director supported dealings). I'm hoping such enterprises proceed speedily to ensure my eventual happy disposal. Have you any ideas that might help? Picketing city hall...?
Cheers, Gordon

[Maria]

In pursuing many of the links referenced in your book and in these posts, I found another one (and I'm sure there'll be many more as this movement gains momentum): Green Burial Council (www.greenburialcouncil.org, or www.ethicalburial.org), a non-profit organization seeking to develop certification programs for natural burial providers and cemeteries. Most useful here is a list, by state, of those providers.

I'm very excited about this movement... I previously wanted to be cremated because it seemed more "natural" than the expensive and gross -- personally and environmentally -- alternatives that were offered, but I've changed my mind based on everything I've read.

[Cynthia]

Hello Gordon!

Glad to hear you're ready to pick up the banner in New Zealand. I think the best thing you could possibly do would be to take on the cause of securing for yourself a natural burial. As you can learn from my excerpt (book to be out next spring), simply arranging for your own affairs to be handled will go a long way toward furthering the movement.

The best thing to do would be to put together your personal burial group. These are "the people to put you there." Get a couple of your close friends and have them over for a bottle of wine. Ask them to read "Be a Tree" first, so they'll understand what you're talking about and then say that you'd like to appoint one of them to be your funeral director in the event of your death.

Zenith Verago in Byron Bay will be able to recommend someone in your area who is knowledgeable about the regulations you need to observe. Consult with whomever she recommends to ensure that you're in compliance with regulations for your paperwork, and then commence meeting with your group at least once a month.

At first, this will be all about you (pick at least one strapping young friend with a good back!) but gradually it will become about your friends, too. What I've observed is that this sort of group tends to make a compact - the others will also get their paperwork in order, and if one of them goes first (as you've obviously demonstrated a capacity to beat the odds), you'll all know what to do.

As you proceed, at some point you'll go 'grave shopping.' I advocate the "hit by a bus" alternative - find yourself a plot in a nearby cemetery that you can buy (and make sure you have the rights to resell it if you like, so get a nice enough one.). Find a place that will permit a vault-free burial, specify your natural disposition instructions, and then know you've got something adequate "just in case."

Now that's taken care of, you can go to work lobbying for what you really want. You can research local cemeteries and find out if any of them are supported by tax payers. If they are, you can lobby on the grounds that a natural alternative should be supported. Perhaps you have a freedom of religion clause that enables you to get what you want on constitutional grounds - if you're Muslim, Ba'hai, Pagan, Jewish, Buddhist, or any of a number of groups that require natural burials you may have traction here. Once you've found what you want, purchase a plot there and sell your "hit by a bus plot" - perhaps to another person who's now taken up the same torch you have.

Pursuing this for yourself, to your satisfaction, will trailblaze for countless others - good luck, and keep us posted!

best,

Cynthia

[Matt]

After hearing a story on natural burials on CNN, I decided that was definitely how I wanted to go. After a bit of research, however, I found but a handful of such cemeteries across the US.

Thus, I have decided to start my own cemetery in PA adhering to these concepts. I am rather clueless on how to get started: laws required for marking the graves (in a natural way), and how to ensure that this plot will never be violated by construction or some such, etc. I once lived in a town (Boyertown, PA) that relocated dozens of century-old graves to make room for a bank. I want to make sure that will never happen.

I figure with selling points such as low burial costs via enviro-friendly methods, meanwhile preserving land forever in the process...it's just a matter of time before this movement gets going.

Can you point me in the right direction for research into starting my own Green Cemetery in PA?

Thanks, Matt

Thanks, Matt

[Kody]

I don't think it is listed in your article anywhere, i might have missed it though. I was wondering about the cost of the natural burial process compared to a normal burial process. It seems like it should be much cheaper than a normal funeral/burial. I know normal funerals can costs from about 5000 to 7000 easily. I can't find any average costs of natural burials anywhere online really. Does anyone have any numbers?

[Thomas Friese]

I can't say enough about how positive I find the growing movement towards natural burials. Poisoning our mother earth with formaldehyde and filling her up with concrete and steel is entirely unjustified. As is poisoning her with mercury from our dental fillings and wasting so much fossil fuel by cremating our bodies. YET I need to mention a potentially nihilistic trend which I perceive in some aspects of the natural burial movement.

The thought was prompted by a recent reading of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, whose awful utopic vision seems to be coming true in many aspects. Among the negative developments for humanity in the brave new world, Huxley predicts the ultimately nihilistic attitude towards death. In the brave new world, only cremation exists. When people die, they are immediately transferred to a central crematorium, where they unceremoniously disappear in a puff of hot air. No funeral service, no mourning or sadness, no memorialization at all - people have been thoroughly conditioned from early childhood to altogether disregard death, see it as quite inconsequential, not worth a second thought. Indeed, the only significant emotion their conditioning leaves in them regarding death is that by being cremated, they will contribute to society via the fertilizer recovered from their body's cremation. That is, they will help grow plants. I quote:

"Why do the smoke stacks (of the cremetorium) have those balconies around them?" enquired Lenina.

"Phosphorous recovery", exclaimed Henry. "On their way up the chimney the gases go through four separate treatments. Phosphorous used to go right out of circulation every time they cremated someone. Now they recover over ninety-eight percent of it. More than a kilo and a half per adult corpse. Which makes the best part of 400 hundred tons of phosphorous every year from England alone." Henry spoke with a happy pride, rejoicing wholeheartedly in the achievement, as if it had been his own. "Fine to think that we can go on being socially useful even after we're dead. Making plants grow."

We understand that in the Brave New World, the significance of death has been reduced to the amount of useful fertilizer returned to the environment, to a merely ecologically useful function.

To return to the natural burial movement now. We can only agree that land conservation, pollution reduction, energy conservation and tree planting are noble and necessary aims. And that conversely, preserving the material body is evidently NOT the point - only the ancient Egyptians and 20th century North Americans thought this at all relevent.

THE POINT IS that burials and funerals should never become ONLY about their utility to the earth's ecology and to the social collective. Eliminating our negative effects on the earth and collaterally conserving green space are only first steps in redressing the historical aberration that our modern death care has become. Then we need to return to the truly traditional aims of death care, those primary aims which have motivated people through the millenia: paying tribute to the existence and dignity of the individual; creating momento moris for the survivors; and testifying to hopes of transcendence and immortality in whatever form that takes for a particular people. Whether people are cremated or naturally buried, if no LASTING individual markers and no eternally protected and sacred burial sites are left, these three primary functions will not be served and the natural burial movement will have failed in its potential.

Which means that conserving green space by burying people there and then forgetting who those people are is insufficient. That only planting a tree as a grave marker, though it may serve the earth and thus society, is insufficient. Trees are among Man's oldest and most faithful friends and protectors, and the more we have the better - but trees die like humans, sometimes sometimes sooner, sometimes later. Thus they cannot be substitutes for lasting and individualized grave memorials.

Why do we think this is an either/or situation? We can have more trees, more protected green space AND lasting memorials and cemeteries. If "traditional" grave stones and cemeteries provoke aversion and morbidity in people today, let's change the way we memorialize - all sorts of appealing, meaningful AND natural alternatives might be created with artistic imagination and creative use of technology. After all, ancient burial sites that archeologists now uncover contain no plastic or concrete, only natural materials that have lasted thousands of years. Are we not capable - or worthy - of something equally lasting, beautiful, dignified and individual?

Or will we choose the way of the brave new world?

Thomas Friese

[Cynthia]

Thanks for this post, Thomas. What you write is the main reason I've been stumping for a wide range of alternatives based on the agreements between the persons providing the cemetery/interment services and the people who want them.

It's also the reason my primary focus at this time is on urban access to a natural burial for all, with encouragement for a wide variety of memorialization options. The last thing I want to see is a handful of people telling everyone else "how it should be."

It's one of the reasons why I'm such a strong advocate of looking to the UK's models: they've opened a couple hundred cemeteries now that cater to natural burials, and they range through a full spectrum of rembrance options.

Some people want complete anonymity and their wishes should be supported. Others don't, and their wishes should be supported, too. We've got a lot of healing to do in this culture around death and how we force and share our current experiences of it -- in such a case, it seems appropriate to me that we be inclusive of a wide range of choices while we seek some new cultural norms.

The bottom line that I do see, however, is the respect for the environment. While some people may believe that is the only thing to be considered (and again, I think they can manifest that belief in their choice of a pristine preserve without any trace left and that's their right) others don't, and accommodation of a range of beliefs is vital during the transition back to a natural end.

I'm curious (if you're still reading here) - what's going on in your area? Are you able to find a natural burial site where you live? If so, how are they dealing with the issues you raise? If not, are you involved in creating the sort of space you seek?

Please keep me posted!

in trees,

Cynthia

[Phil Wolter]

Hey there. Found this article through stumble and thought it was very cool. I think that it's a great idea to start promoting green burials. Although I'm only 16 I think that when I die (hopefully a very long time from now) I will want a natural burial.
On the topic of alternatives to burying what would be the impact of either A)having bodies disintegrate in the earths atmosphere or B) Having a body launched into the sun. If a green method could be found I would love to be disposed of via method B, the sun provides life on earth and when I'm done I'd think it would be cool to be part of that burning star.

Perhaps the magnetic launch ring would be a sufficient solution that I read about in this article.http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=761

I know it's not as plausible as a natural burying but I still think it would be cool.

[Moises Diaz]

Dear Madam,

LIMBO (LIMBODISSENY S.L.) was created by a group of young designers and
architects who wanted to take part in the construction and improvement of
a new funeral world. Having sought advice and made strong contacts with
other professional in this area, LIMBO is now able to share this
knowledge. Today we have to take into account the important need to
preserve the environment.
Our company developped, among many other useful, smart and degradable
products, a new concept of real 100% biodegradable funeral urns. All our
urns are made using only vegetal and mineral products. Because we are
convinced that we can leave this world in a respectful and caring way, we
are committed to create a wide range of products to fit the need of an
ecofriendly funeral.
Limbo believes that, through its project, it can provide exemplary
services and solutions to make the personal attention that is required
during difficult and emotional moments, easier, in a caring and
respectful manner. We want to make the attention provided in funeral
houses more human and special which means we also provide a very
personalised service to the companies and enterprises involved so that we
can meet their needs too. This is why everyone at LIMBO, in addition to
being well qualified professionals in other areas, have a common
commitment to developping improvements in the funeral sector.

We invite you to visit our web site: www.limbodisseny.com and wish you
like what you find there.
We look forward to hear from you.
Yours sincerely,

Moisés Diaz
moises@limbodisseny.com

[Regena Kilgore]

Hi, I happened upon your site tonight, and find much interest in this idea. I have always said "I'd just as soon be in a wooden box, and just put straight in the ground." I've never found much sense in the casket/vault thing. I live in Georgia, and have never heard anyone mention anything such as this. Where can I find out if this type of burial is legal in Georgia? Also if you can be buried on your own land, instead of a cemetery? Thanks, and for the record- "I'd much rather become a tree"!

[sandi]

i've wanted to be planted in forested land and food for daffodils since i was almost 8. that's more than 60 years now.

i've copied a posting for steve that seems to have good resource information. i'd like more, but find web searches to be more time eaters than information sources.

i'm 69 and come from long-lived stock. i live in northern california. my daughter lives near san diego, and my son is in washington, d.c., until he finishes his doctorate. then he's planning to work in his fiancee's home country, mexico. so it's potentially complicated.

from where i live in northern california, sebastopol is too difficult to reach by public transportation, and, since i'm quite comfortable with my working poor roots, the gentrification of mill valley literally creeps me out.

is there a way to fulfill this long-held, very human desire that doesn't go through political correctness, strict eco-correctness, or any other philosophical dissociation? all of these concerns are potentially good, but i'm tired of bludgeons.

all i want to do is re-unite with the variously colored and textured dirt, the plants, the colors, movements, breezes and smells that were the most beautiful, reliable, trustworthy, always-present playmates of the little girl i once was.

[Cynthia]

Ah, dear Sandi,

I understand (I think) where you're coming from.

If you've had the time to read the online excerpt of my book here, I think you might find some suggestions that can help you find what you're looking for, especially if you convene your personal "natural burial group" -- that could get you started and would make a couple of good discussions over hot tea and cider on one of these upcoming wintry nights. There's nothing like facing a bit of the cold bluster within to make the sunshine of every day that much more precious and worthy of gratitude.

The best thing to do to create a "righteousness free-zone" is to start the conversation with the folks who are going to be the ones who will "naturally" be called when it's your time to go. Ask their opinion. Use all obstacles that arise as opportunities to craft a new family ritual. Tell them your wishes and start the dialog --

One woman I've worked with started out as a "cremation only" gal and by the end of our talk she realized that she, being the current matriarch, could call the clan and tell them that (though they'd had a formal cemetery plot in New England in the family for generations, it was growing full and didn't speak to their current values) so henceforth she thought everyone should be reunited in the same forest, if at all possible, and she proposed to start a new "line" in one of the natural burial grounds that was starting in her area. Some might be cremated, due to distance away from the family forest; others might move nearby (and she chose upstate New York) and pass closer to "the land." For those who never could afford to buy the little house in the country, perhaps a little "tree in the country" would work just as well??? I'm sure a squirrel or two would like it!

Perhaps you could start a family forest plot, too.

Or if traveling "en coffin" just isn't your (or your family's) cup of tea, perhaps you've got some sympathetic neighbors and friends - and a local pioneer cemetery that needs some love and volunteering - and perhaps you can start up a dialog to see what it would take to add a small natural section there. It might be simpler than you think.

The most important thing, IMO, is to voice the intent and let your family know what you want. You'll learn from them, too - it's never too early to plan. Even the 25 year olds need to do it. Contemplating our mortality is one of the most powerful exercises there is; nothing is gained by putting off the cognition. 400 years ago, in most cultures my age (50) was pretty darned ripe and you, at 69, are just about venerable!

But who says we can't plant one more garden, eh? And why not make it a forest?

What city are you in? I might be able to steer you to something/one more specific...

in trees,

Cynthia

[Lauren]

Hi there,
I'm currently writing a research paper on the positives of "Green" burial methods and would like to know, should I quote this article directly, how to introduce you [Beal]. Meaning, would I say that you are a writer, conservatioist [etc] or is there perhaps a link of some sort that can help. Very informative article by the way.

Please and thank you.

[Debbie]

My family and I have always been committed to living our life as 'green' as possible. Having the option of a green burial is wonderful news! There is no place near to us, so we would like to get information on starting a new woodland burial place. Where do I start in terms of getting information?

Thank you for writing this book (will certainly get it when it comes out) and for having this website!

Debbie

[Don]

HI,
We live in a carbon negative earth sheltered, very comfortable home we built 26 years ago. The wind turbine produces more electricity than we use - etc. etc blah blah -
So - we would like to "go green". We have 8+ acres across the road which would make a great cemetery. I have just decided to investigate the idea in much more detail. (We live in Northern NY)

Thank you for all of the information and profusion of links. I'll also see to it that the funeral director who buried our son and my parents gets this information-

PS your web site came from "ode" magazine.

Don

[Cynthia]

Hi Don,

Thanks for spreading the word!

If you decide to go into the cemetery business, it's not as straightforward as it seems.

Well, it is, actually --- any sort of land management plan that needs to run a business, regulated by several sets of often conflicting laws and rule-makers, in an industry rife with, *ahem*, mis-representation that often involves a lot of money, and ALSO needs to conduct that business in an environmentally sensible manner *FOREVER*, is straightforward -- the straightforward bit is that it's obviously very challenging to do.

That said, people do it, and we've tried to learn from the success and failures of the other folks we've studied around the world.

In order to help successful public options become available, we now do sustainable cemetery management consulting -- Ken West, founder of the first woodland burial grounds in the UK and now retired, is our lead technical advisor, and the team I'm on works with CPRA Studios out of Denver, Colorado.

We've got a modest "get started" package that's mostly about feasibility for your project -- are you sited right? does your business plan work? what's the best niche for your project? etc...

We draw on Ken's fantastic experience (he helps judge the UK's woodland burial competitions and so has seen lots of options, and knows when to apply them) as well as CPRA Studio's cemetery management experience to help folks either be successful or leave the notion in 'fantasy land' and plant themselves in someone else's forest someday.

You can get more information here:
http://www.naturalburialcompany.com/nbc_consulting_services/

Also, read the stories on the Alternative Funeral Monitor for more information, and you can visit the various cemeteries in our growing lists throughout this and our sponsor site, the Natural Burial Company - http://www.naturalburialcompany.com

There are MANY different styles of natural burial creation, with a lot of disagreement amongst the creators, worldwide, about how it "should" be done.

My advice: think very carefully, move more slowly, and invest in as much planning as you can afford. Small natural "pocket cemeteries" will likely only survive as niches, after the hoopla of everyone getting on board settles out in a few years.

Pick your spot in the long term cemetery service realm very, very carefully -- the failed (and now failing) "farmers' field" woodland burial plots throughout the UK are a testimony to inexperienced citizens rushing in, headlong, without the proper set-up or counsel in advance. Enthusiasm and environmental "mission" only take you so far.

"Be a Tree" will deal with a lot of these specifics, but it won't be out til later on this year.

Good luck and thanks for being willing to create new territory for a very special set of trees!

Cynthia

"May the Forest be with You"

[Devin]

Hello, I am interested in having a tree planted on top of my grave somewhere in the Oregon area, but haven't found any cemeteries online that list this as a service. Although I haven't called any and asked, I was wondering if you had any advice for me in searching for a cemetery in Oregon that would oblige with this request?

Thank you,
Devin

[cynthia]

Dear Devin --

If you take a look in the sidebar of this blog you'll see a list of a few Oregon spots. This is by no means all of them - reading through Be a Tree, I hope you'll notice that there are a few ways you can do your own research and stimulate discussion amongst your family, locals, and friends.

Making your own personal plans is probably the best way to arrive at a list of viable choices. If you start right where you are and just think about it for a minute, WHERE TO GO may be the last decision that needs to be made.

And even if you're making that 'where to go' choice now, you should probably have an 'escape clause' - i.e., if you buy a plot, can you sell it? if you choose cremation, can you change your mind?

What won't change is the conversation you need to have with your family, or the fact that you'll need to complete your paperwork, (or even start cleaning out the garage!!).

Knowing where you want to 'be a tree' someday is probably less important than asking around -- just think: every cemetery you call to ask if they offer vault-free burial, or the option of a tree memorial, or if they'll take your pet's ashes in the same cemetery (if that's the sort of thing you want) is one more "market message" that sends the signal that you want something new.

So, I encourage you to actively look. Look loudly. Everyone else who comes after you will be glad you did!

[Maggie Machado]

Hi Cynthia--
I met you Thursday evening at the basketry guild meeting (I spoke to you before the meeting about Chinese knotting). Your talk was so informative and it dispelled many of my long held beliefs about how funerals HAD to be by law. Anyway, I was very interested in what you had to say about the possibility of basket making and what your thoughts are as to implementing the idea. Please keep me informed about the progress of your basket crafting concept. I would really like to be a part of it. Thanks, Maggie

[Bea Sweetie]

from the be a tree link
you make reference to ...

The latter is spurred on by educational and nonprofit consumer organizations who focus on presenting a full spectrum of end-of-life options to the public, like the Natural Death Centre in London, the USA's Funeral Consumer Alliance, the Memorial Society of British Columbia, and alternative funeral service providers like ARKA Original Funerals in the UK, Thresholds in San Diego, or the home-funeral guide-training classes of Jerri Lyons’ Final Passages in Sebastopol, California.

I presume some or all of these organizations have websites. For ease..and when you have time...would you include hyperlinks on the website for each of those that have website addresses. Much appreciated.
**********

continuing...i think the beatree information is fabulous..amazing...extremely informative
and cleverly sprinkled with rye and daisied humor..bravo!

[Cynthia]

Thanks so much for your thoughts, Bea Sweetie (great name, yourself!)

I'm in full agreement with you about the linking, and you'd think I would have done it by now!

sigh.

I'll get there...I'm still trying to get the book published and finished, but it keeps changing under my feet.

best,

Cynthia

[Cynthia Beal]

This is in reply to the story at Green Muze:
http://www.greenmuze.com/celebs/gossip/1270-michael-jacksons-ungreen-coffin.html

Thomas Friese made some great points that I want to pick up on and I'm not sure Green Muze will publish the whole thing (I kept getting "comment too long" - the story of my life!!!!)

cynthia

Hi Thomas -

I agree with you about the shortcomings of the current "green burial" movement. Where I part company with you is your statement that a forest is independent of humans. Ursula LeGuinn has a book that always stuck with me - 'the Word for World is Forest' - and the loss of the forest, and our lives within it, may be one of the greatest tragedies of all time. I grew up in a modern house, in a forest...forests and people can co-exist.

Gardens take a lot of tending - forests, by their nature, replicate the full sheltering and watering system that the widest variety of plants need in order to thrive. A forest edge - where sunlight meets shade - supports the most complex array of life's expression.

It's my hope that natural burial re-inspires the forest muse again, and that we see the return of the forest back into the inner workings of our cities. Natural cemeteries, with their initial funding stream when loss is fresh and we're willing to spend money to express that loss, hold potential for cities to afford greenspace.

A "garden" implies a lot of tending. Tending costs money. The Victorian era of intense memorialization separated out the rich and the poor with their "gardens" of stone. The stone lasted longer and was cheaper to maintain than the flowers, until the family members forgot or moved away and the stone toppled and the taxpayers had to foot the bill for maintaining the stone in perpetuity, or until someone got up the nerve to turn the stone back to a wall or path paver and re-use the grave. London in the 1850's tells that story well.

Check out the pics and docs at http://site.baysidecemeterylitigation.com/ to see what the future holds for urban cemeteries that go untended (and the taxpayers and families that have to argue about them)

One of the main features of natural cemetery management is its focus on using nature's own systems to save time, energy, and money. The argument asks "why spend money on the dead when the living are suffering?"

We chould spend a little more money, now, and regenerate our cities' cemeteries so that they use less money and resource down the road, and add all the additional values I describe in "Be a Tree" and elsewhere.

Forests are the core of natural systems on landmasses on planet Earth. Trees bring rain and save water. Trees use up bone. Trees house creatures. Trees give oxygen. Trees recover old industrial land. If you want to compare the 'housing value' of a forest to a garden, a forest wins any day.

I do think the 'garden' has emotional appeal, like the 'preserve'. That emotional appeal will sway a certain group of people and is just as necessary as the 'preservists' in motivating change. That's important work and I'm glad you and others are doing it.

But if it's really about respect - then returning homes to the living creatures that made the world that first made us is one of the most meaningful ways to honor the world of Life that we've all had the blessing to experience.

The Japanese suggest a kind of mastery is evidenced when natural systems are understood, and when our human-built things express our understanding of nature by using natural systems rather than fighting them.

Gardens - managed arenas that grow tightly along a particular design - are often highly manipulated systems of living energy. They do express well the lives of some people and, for those who have the money, gardens will - and are - an option. Indeed, many cemeteries now are already beautiful gardens, and consume a lot of time and resources in their care.

I think that the key point of natural burial is a minimization of resource consumption in memory of ourselves and our dead. It's a vanity to assume that future generations will be obligated to water and weed your grave forever - as if somehow the life you lived is worth requiring people forever to tend your plot.

That vanity is expensive and, for a lot of people who buy graves in modern cemeteries, embarrassing once they realize the work they'll be forcing others to do forever. Once the cemetery is full, the private owners will be long gone with the profits - bankrupted, cemetery abandoned - and the problem of what to do with the cemetery will still be there.

...I agree with you that "green burial" has unfortunately become a funding mechanism for some conservation organizations, and that these groups (of which I'm a supporter because I do believe in the work in almost all its forms!) pride themselves on NOT being a cemetery, without focus on the normal ceremony currently conferred by our custom.

That's their marketing angle - the anti-cemetery - and I think it's right for the niche (whether it deserves federal funding via a non-profit 501c.3 OVER the conversion of an existing cemetery run by a broke municipality is another story. Once the efforts are equally funded and equally lauded I'll relax...)

But this is also EXACTLY what folks supporting this modality want - an anonymous return to nature with minimum impact to memory and resource - and to the extent that it removes a future taxpayer or environmental burden, it must be honored. It's actually my preferred style, too, but in deference to the needs of the larger society I find I must champion existing urban cemetery conversion above all else, until access for all is secured.

You might find its lack of memorialization personally offensive and "missing the point" yet one man's ceiling is another man's floor...

The burial preserve is not the only way to do this, however - it can be done with an existing Pioneer or churchyard cemetery, already in 'trust' and protected, without all the money spent on lawyers, conservation org by-laws, "certification", and meeting time on volunteer boards of directors that may or may not stay convened for 40-60-100 years. If all these costs were fully accounted for, and the natural burial preserve were compelled to do its books as thoroughly as a conventional cemetery and allocate perpetual grave costs properly, it's questionable whether or not a natural preserve burial would be as "economical" as its current billing suggests. I don't know - I've only done back-of-the-napkin math. But none of the preserves I've seen have offered the math publicly either, and I'm not involved with this part of the movement (I focus on biodegradable products, policy reform, and existing cemetery conversion) so I don't know how they're figuring costs yet.

I agree with you it's unfortunate the conservation aspect of the movement has clouded all others, because it's led to statements in the press like "there are only 12 places in North America where you can get a natural burial" so I'm glad to see you're holding forth. You must feel like a lone voice at times!

No matter if you're pro-memorial or ANTI-memorial - it's key to minimize resource use through sustainable cemetery management .

That means fully utilizing (and returning to use) EXISTING cemeteries so that they function with minimal cost to the community in perpetuity, as they're required by law in most countries to do - and I think that all cemeteries should be on a conversion track to sustainability within the next 5-10 years.

In addition to the human element, the cemetery must be considered coolly, from a 'balance-sheet' perspective, because - due to its permanent nature - it creates a liability on future generations that can't be ignored. Right now, we have cemeteries being abandoned and bankrupting - we'll see that more and more as the next decades unfold. To start new cemeteries before we fix the old ones makes no sense.

Thinking about this from an accounting point of view may not be the sexiest way to spend one's time, but if you're a municipal budget manager or a planning person in urban development you'll know EXACTLY how important this under-attended to task is!

To respect the use to which we put our descendants' time is one of the highest forms of respect we could confer. To leave the humans of the future with working social and cultural systems that function in accordance with the laws of nature (NOT collapsing vaults to maintain or elaborate gardens to water and trim) means that THEY can make music, do art, re-create, and have leisure to live their own time rather than being forced to do landscaping homage to ours - in other words, by limiting our legacy to that which can be run on natural systems, we free the future to experience life just as freely (or even more so) as we did.

What could be a better tribute to life - anyone's life - than that? (and yes, forests and gardens CAN get along... without trees, gardens would be hot and dry and very unhappy in a world that's several degrees hotter than it is now...)

in trees,

Cynthia Beal
http://www.naturalburialcompany.com
http://www.beatree.com

[Donna]

Recently I learned about the concept of Natural Burial and like the idea very much. Unfortunately we only have one Natural Burial Park in the area and I really do not like what I saw. I really would like to open one up to run one properly. Where can I find the rules and regulations needed to open a Natural Burial Park?

[cynthia]

Dear Donna,

In answer to your question:

1) First and foremost, if you start something like this you'll be running a cemetery. That's the most important thing to remember. Even if you want it to NOT look like a cemetery, it will still be a cemetery. That means you run it forever; it means you serve people -- even if you don't want to serve people, that's whom you'll be serving and you'll want to remember that - forever.

2) Where you operate the cemetery means a lot to the rules - the LAWS - you'll be operating under. But you also need to understand that the rules can change - and you should expect them to.

3) The "Rules and Regulations" for natural burial, outside of matters of public health and safety (and there are none that are any different than in a regular cemetery such as you would find in the UK) are what the people - you and your customers and the community you're in - say they are. And that's what they should be. You don't need an outside group telling you what the RULES are.

You DO, however, need to know how to do the work properly, but that's a different story and more related to running a business than following someone else's rules. Rules are very rarely designed to create successful businesses, and are often known to destroy them - that's one reason why we keep them confined to issues of public health, safety, and equity. (and the equity is ALWAYS tempered with Caveat Emptor - let the buyer beware! -- there's only so much we should make rules do, otherwise the rules will keep us from having what we want and need. It's a fine line, isn't it?)

That said, you can run a successful cemetery more using sustainable management techniques if you have the right site and location, the right cemetery experience (and yes, it's required - there are a LOT of people who think it is just about digging a hole in the ground and I predict their mistakes will come back to haunt them...) and there's really a need in your area.

The problem I see for most newbies is that they forget to factor in the competition that will face them in 5-15 years when many of the city and non-profit cemeteries will have added natural burial options.

If you're really serious, study what's happened in the UK. I've been doing that for about 5 years now and only just today do I feel like I know enough to avoid most of the start-up mistakes - even so, I'd need a consultant if I were starting out. We work with Ken West (http://www.naturalburialcompany.com/consulting) and if you're serious, drop us a note and Ken can consult with you for very reasonable fees!

What didn't you like about what you saw? I'm curious and would welcome your input!

in trees,

Cynthia

[Brandi Correll]

I've recently been doing research on "natrual burials" and i noticed in my location (North carolina) there is no natural burial sites. i was wondering is this a costly burial or does it range about the same as a traditonal burial. I have you know i'm only 18 years old so this is just a shot in the dark. I think it would be wonderful to get some natural burial sites up and running in NC but is it a dificult process? i'm currently majoring in nursing, would it be a good idea to also obtain a business degree as well?

[cynthia]

Dear Brandi,

I'm really glad you're taking an interest in natural burial and can see the sense of them. Good for you! By the time you're statistically old enough to make your own earthly return, I imagine there will be quite a few natural burial sites in North Carolina. In fact, I'm betting that natural burial will be what we mostly do! (Some people think we'll come up with energy-efficient cremation but I still say there's no energy-efficient way to incinerate something that doesn't need incinerating and besides, why burn the dinner???)

RE: your question on cost -- right now the costs in the US vary widely, but that's mostly because most cemeteries offering "green" burial don't really know the costs long term and currently under-estimate the cost of maintaining conventional cemeteries. I suspect that what happened in the UK, where this movement started, will happen here: the costs of the natural burial site will become more expensive until they are realistic, and that eventually what will end conventional burial as we've known it over the last few years will be the expense of the traditional landscaping, coupled with the coffin, the vault, the memorial, the embalming and all the other bits that are all part of the "modern funeral."

Nursing is a great start for you because it gives you a skill that involves handling people - literally, handling their bodies - and you'll get a chance to figure out whether or not you're one of those people that's squeamish around death. Most of us aren't, really. We're just trained to be.

But you're right - a business degree is probably the most important thing if you want to run a cemetery because, like it or not, a cemetery is primarily a pile of "fixed costs" that you have to manage forever, long, long after all the income is gone.

To run a cemetery right, you've got to be a whiz at business (unless you're just going to cut-and-run when the income dries up and leave your cemetery to the taxpayers; that's something that more than a few cemetery owners have, are and will be doing!)

Yes, it's a difficult process. Mostly for the reasons above - because, as folks keep bailing out on the cemeteries, the laws about operating them will get tougher as well.

But the best prep for running a cemetery naturally is probably horticulture/gardening with a sustainable agriculture background and a little apartment managing thrown in. If you don't know the farming stuff, you'll never be able to keep up with the new ideas, and you'll just be at the mercy of lawn chemical, machinery, and grass seed salesmen. Outside of managing the emotional needs of people, taking care of the vegetation and the buildings and roads at the cemetery is the largest real expense.

I'm not really an advocate of starting new cemeteries, however, no matter if they're natural or not. I'm pretty sure we have enough available land already zoned for cemetery use in much of the country. The main exception I support is in a dense urban area where fresh land is at a premium; there, industrial brownfields areas can be remediated with natural burial parks and help create wildlife habitat right in the middle of the city!

Instead of starting something new on arable land that could be used for other things (like farming for food if the site is close enough to a city to commute to, and if it's not then it has no business being a new cemetery unless it's just for a small local population) when people tell me they like the idea of natural burial, I suggest that they get involved with a local non-profit pioneer, historic, or churchyard cemetery that needs some attention from the community.

They can offer to help the cemetery research natural burial options and THAT is a much better use of land all the way around because it keeps the existing cemetery "alive" and lets it convert to natural techniques and PARTICIPATE in the change rather than being left behind.

I hope that helps somewhat!

in trees,

Cynthia