Berryville, VA 22611
www.virginiatrappists.org
(540) 955-4816
Duck Run Natural Cemetery (Natural)
3173 Spotswood Trail
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
http://duckruncemetery.com
(540) 432-8650
Forest Rest Natural Cemetery (Natural)
5970 Grassy Hill Road
Boones Mill, VA 24065
http://forestrestnaturalcemetery.com
(540) 334-5410
The Meadow Natural Burial Ground (Natural)
959 Ross Road
Lexington, VA 24450
http://themeadowlexingtonva.com
(540) 460-4180
WASHINGTON
Cedar Lawns Memorial Park (Hybrid)
7200 180th Avenue NE
Redmond, WA 98052
www.dignitymemorial.com/cedar-lawns-funeral-home/en-us/index.page
(425) 885-2414
Fern Prairie Cemetery (Hybrid)
25700 NE Robinson Road
Camas, WA 98607
www.fpcemetery.org
(360) 833-9176
Herland Forest (Natural)
55 Windward Lane
Wahkiacus, WA 98670
www.herlandforest.org
(509) 369-2000
The Meadow Natural Burial Grounds (Natural)
5700 Northwest Drive
Ferndale, WA 98248
http://molesfarewelltributes.com/77/The_Meadow_at_Greenacres.html
(360) 384-3401
White Eagle Memorial Preserve Cemetery (Conservation)
401 Ekone Road
Goldendale, WA 98620
http://naturalburialground.org
(206) 383-3285
Woodlawn Cemetery (Hybrid)
7509 Riverview Road
Snohomish, WA 98290
http://woodlawncemeterysnohomish.com/Woodlawn_Cemetery/Green_Burial_At_Woodlawn.html
(360) 568-5560
WISCONSIN
Circle Cemetery (Natural)
5354 Meadowvale Road
Barneveld, WI 53507
www.circlesanctuary.org
(608) 924-2216
Forest Home Cemetery (Hybrid)
2405 W Forest Home Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53215
www.foresthomecemetery.com
(414) 645-2632
Greenwood Cemetery (Hybrid)
2615 W Cleveland Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53215
www.greenwoodjewishcemetery.org
(414) 645-1390
Natural Path Sanctuary (Natural)
The Farley Center
2299 Spring Rose Road
Verona, WI 53593
http://naturalpathsanctuary.org
(608) 845-8724
Prairie Green Section of Greenwood Jewish Cemetery (Natural)
2615 W Cleveland Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53215
www.greenwoodjewishcemetery.org/jewish-green-burial-milwaukee-wisconsin
(414) 645-1390
Prairie Home Cemetery (Hybrid)
605 S Prairie Avenue
Waukesha, WI 53186
www.prairiehomecemetery.com
(262) 524-3540
CANADIAN PROVINCES
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Denman Island Natural Burial Cemetery (Natural)
6400 Denman Road
Denman Island, BC V0R 1T0
http://dinbc.ca
(250) 335-1786
Mountain View Cemetery (Hybrid)
5455 Fraser Street
Vancouver, BC V5W 2Z3
[email protected]
(604) 325-2646
Royal Oak Burial Park (Hybrid)
4673 Falaise Drive
Victoria, BC V8Y 1B4
www.robp.ca
(250) 658-5621
ONTARIO
Cobourg Union Cemetery (Hybrid)
Elgin Street W
Cobourg, ON K9A 4L3
www.ecoburials.ca
(905) 372-8687
Duffin Meadows Cemetery (Hybrid)
2505 Brock Road
Pickering, ON L1V 2P8
www.mountpleasantgroup.com
(905) 427-3385
Fairview Cemetery (Hybrid)
4501 Stanley Avenue
Niagara Falls, ON L2E 4Z6
https://niagarafalls.ca/city-hall/municipal-works/cemetery/locations-and-histories/fairview.aspx
(950) 354-4721
Meadowvale Cemetery (Hybrid)
7732 Mavis Road
Brampton, ON L6Y 5L5
www.mountpleasantgroup.com
(905) 451-3716
INDEX
Page references given in italics indicate illustrations or material contained in their captions.
Aging with Dignity, 159
air conditioning, 109, 112, 129
air pollution, 25
air transportation, 102
Alabama, 163–64
alkaline hydrolysis, 131–33
American Way of Death, The (Mitford), 22, 24
appointees, 57–59, 60
Arizona, 164
Arkansas, 164
Arnold Mills Cemetery (Cumberland, RI), 175
art, sustainable, 136–37
Ascension Garden St. Francis Meadow (Henrietta, NY), 171
ashes. See cremains
Associated Press, 36
Atlantic magazine, 70
Aultorest Memorial Park (Ogden, UT), 177
Australia, 37–38
baby boomer generation, 33
backhoes, 83–84
backyard burials: body lowering in, 85–86; of cremains, 133; defined, 77; grave closing, 86, 86–87; grave digging for, 82–84; grave location, 77, 80–81; legalities, 77–78, 79–80, 123, 125; planning ahead for, 19, 125; popularity of, 78–79; Tales from the Grave, 82; Tips, 80
balloons, 144
bamboo, 89, 120–21
banana leaves, 89
Baskin-Robbins, 113
Bass, William, 37
bed sores, 109
Beechwood Cemetery (Bensalem, PA), 174
Bel Air Ascension Cemetery (Wichita, KS), 168
Bellefontaine Cemetery (St. Louis, MO), 170
Bestgate Memorial Park (Annapolis, MD), 169
Bible, 27
bin Laden, Osama, 88
bio-cremation, 131–33
biodegradability, 89–90, 94, 95, 134–35, 144
bio urns, 136
body: exhuming/transferring costs, 78; legal paperwork accompanying, 63
body, handling of, 52; death care consultants and, 70; dressing, 103, 108–9; envisioning, 46; lowering into grave, 85, 94, 118; person in charge of, 101; planning ahead for, 103; preservation methods, 109–12; rigor mortis and, 104–5; sanitary environment for, 103–4; supplies for, 103–4, 106; Tales from the Grave, 108; Tips, 107; transportation, 125–27; washing, 28–29, 103, 105–7; wrapping in shroud, 95–96, 96–97 figs. 1–4
body farms, 37
Bretzel, Raoul, 39
British Colombia (Canada), 179
Brooksville Cemetery (Brooksville, FL), 166
Buddhism, 32, 36
bunk beds, 81
burial: alive, American fear of, 22; cremation vs., 123; green options for, 139–44; planning ahead for, 44, 123–29; religious/social attitudes about, 7, 27–32; at sea, 87–88, 135–36; state/local regulations, 7; vertical/upright, 37–38. See also green burials; modern burial customs
burial arrangements: envisioning, 47–48; legalities, 57–59, 60
burial containers: biodegradability of, 89–90; cardboard/fiberboard, 98; coffins/caskets, natural handmade, 90–94, 92; ecopods, 99; Infinity Burial Suit/Shroud, 99; shrouds, 94–96; Tales from the Grave, 91; Tips, 98. See also burial shrouds/wraps
burial forests, 39
burial permits, 124
burial shrouds/wraps, 18, 89; biodegradability of, 94; body lowering and, 85, 94; costs of, 49; green, 94–96; planning ahead for, 52; wrapping body
in, 95–96, 96–97 figs. 1–4
burial site. See gravesite
Burr Cemetery (Freeport, ME), 168
cadavers: bathing of, 28–29; composting of, 39; freeze-dried, 38; myths/misconceptions about, 19; Tibetan Buddhist view of, 32. See also body entries
California, 4, 133, 164–65
Calvary Cemetery Dayton St. Kateri Preserve (Dayton, OH), 173
Campbell, Billy, 133
Canada, 131, 133, 179
candles, 105
Canton Cemetery Association North Lawn Cemetery (Canton, OH), 173
Capsula Mundi, 38–39
carbon, 25–26
carbon dioxide, 25, 110
cardboard coffins, 98
Caring Info, 159
Carlisle (England), 32
Carl Vinson, USS, 88
Carolina Memorial Cemetery (Mills River, NC), 172
caskets: costs of, 49, 50; earth-friendly, 18, 34; environmental effects of, 23–24; handcrafted, 120–21; hanging coffins, 31; legalities, 7; nonbiodegradable, green burials without, 14, 17–18; planning ahead for, 52, 120–21; safety coffins, 22; wood, how to make, 92, 92–94. See also coffins
casket toppers, 141–42
Catholic Church, 28
Cayetano Natural Burial Ground at Tolocay (Napa, CA), 164
Cedar Brook Burial Ground (Limington, ME), 168
Cedar Lawns Memorial Park (Redmond, WA), 177
Celebrating Life (Rubin and Fraser), 26
celebrities, green burials of, 34–35
cemeteries: burial container type and, 98; burial vaults in, 18, 76–77; family cemeteries, 73; grave location in, 49; legalities, 125; lot ownership in, 76–77; modern, environmental effects of, 2, 23–24; planning ahead for, 52
cemetery licensing departments, 61
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19
ceremony leaders, 117
chants, 107
Chavez, Cesar, 34
China, 13
Chocorua Cemetery (Tamworth, NH), 170
church truck, 126
Circle Cemetery (Barneveld, WI), 178
Citelli, Anna, 39
Civil War (1861–1865), 20–21
Clarke, Richard, 92, 92–94
clothing, 89, 106, 108
CNN, 34
Cobourg Union Cemetery (Cobourg, ON, Canada), 179
Coeio, 99
coffins: body displayed in, 108–9, 110; costs of, 49, 90; lowering of, into grave, 85; natural handmade, 90–92; planning ahead for, 52; Tales from the Grave, 91. See also caskets
Colorado, 133, 165
common law, 58
community, 65–67, 115
composting, 39
Connecticut, 56, 165
Conscious Elders Network, 159
conservation burial grounds, 75–76
contracts, 61
Conversation Project, 43–44
cooling blankets, 111
Coolsprings Cemetery at Holy Cross Abbey Monastery (Berryville, VA), 177
Cornerstone Funeral Services, 159
coroners, 63
costs: alkaline hydrolysis, 132; burial shrouds/wraps, 49; coffins/caskets, 49, 50, 90; cremation, 37; embalming, 50; funeral home services, 50; grave liners, 50; green burials, 48–51; modern burial customs, 2, 37, 48–51; transportation, 50
Countryside Memorial Park (La Vernia, TX), 176
cremains, 26, 131, 133–37
cremation: alkaline hydrolysis vs., 132; burial containers for, 98; costs of, 37; environmental effects of, 25–26; funeral pyres as, 35–36; green burials vs., 116, 123, 131; green method of, 131–33; increased popularity of, 24; legalities, 87, 133; traditional burial vs., 24–25, 37, 123
cremation ovens, 25
Crestone Cemetery and Natural Burial Ground (Crestone, CO), 36, 165
Crossings: Caring for Our Own at Death, 159
Davis Cemetery and Arboretum (Davis, CA), 164
death: American squeamishness about, 22; annual statistics, 22–23; community and, 67; location of, 57; modern avoidance of, 1, 13–14, 27; as natural occurrence, 1, 3, 27; religious/social attitudes about, 7, 27; unpreparedness for, 9
Death Cafes, 33–34, 159–60
death care consultants, 69–70
death certificates: electronic, 67; filing for, 62–63; funeral home assistance with, 67; in home funeral packets, 62; planning ahead for, 124; for residential burials, 79; for safety deposit box opening, 60–61
death midwives. See end-of-life doulas
decomposition: burial container and, 89, 99; grave settling because of, 87; methods for slowing, 109–12; research studies of, 37
decorations, 118–19
Delano (CA), 34
Denman Island Natural Burial Cemetery (Denman Island, BC, Canada), 179
disposition: cremation, 116; legalities, 62–63, 79; planning ahead for, 44, 52
donations, 119, 142
double grave, 81
doulas. See end-of-life doulas
dove balloons, 144
Doylestown Cemetery (Doylestown, PA), 174
dryer lint urns, 134–35, 135
dry ice, 109, 110–11, 112–13
Duck Run Natural Cemetery (Harrisonburg, VA), 177
Duffin Meadows Cemetery (Pickering, ON, Canada), 179
Dust to Dust Green Burial Cemetery (Swansea, SC), 175
dying, end-of-life doulas assisting the, 70–71
Dying Matters, 160
Eagle Harbor Cemetery (Eagle Harbor, MI), 169
Eastside Memorial Park (Minden, NV), 170
eco-embalming, 68
EcoEternity Forests, 133
ecopods, 99
Egypt, 13
Elmwood Cemetery (Memphis, TN), 176
Eloise Woods Community Natural Burial Park (Cedar Creek, TX), 176
email, 118
embalming: costs of, 50; environmental effects of, 19, 23–24; funeral home promotion of, 102–3; green, 102–3; green burials without, 14, 19; green cemeteries not requiring, 75; historical/cultural precedents for, 13, 20, 21; legalities, 7, 101; reasons for, 101–2; visitations without, 68
emotional comfort, 66
Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, 160
end-of-life care, planning ahead for, 43–44
end-of-life doulas: hiring, 70–71; planning ahead for, 52
England, 32, 34
environmental movement, 33
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 87, 88
Eternal Meadow at Woodlawn Cemetery (Santa Monica, CA), 164
Eternal Reefs, 136
Eternal Rest Memories Park (Dunedin, FL), 166
Ethician Family Cemetery (Huntsville, TX), 176
Eugene Masonic Cemetery (Eugene, OR), 174
eulogies, 118
Evergreen Memorial Park (Evergreen, CO), 165
exhumation, 78
Facebook, 118
Fairview Cemetery (Niagara Falls, ON, Canada), 179
families: body preparation by, 71; end-of-life doulas assisting, 70–71; home funeral guide as coach for, 71; home funerals directed by, 116; next of kin, 58, 116
family cemeteries, 73, 80
“fantasy coffins,” 91
farewell messages, 98
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 51
Feek, Joey, 34
Fern Prairie Cemetery (Camas, WA), 178
fiberboard coffins, 98
Final Passages, 160
Fisher, Dean, 132
flameless cremation, 131–33
Florida, 133, 166
flowers, 119, 141–42
food, 52, 119–20, 140–41
forensic anthropology research facilities, 37
Forest Home Cemetery (Milwaukee, WI), 178
Forest Lawn Cemetery (Detroit, MI), 169
Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens (Saraland, AL), 163
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hendersonville, NC), 172
Forest Rest Natural Cemetery (Boones Mill, VA), 177
Forever Fernwood (Mill Val
ley, CA), 164
formaldehyde, 21, 24, 102
fossil fuels, 25
Foxfield Preserve Nature Cemetery (Wilmot, OH), 173
Francis, Pope, 28
Franklin, Marliese, 134
Fraser, Susan, 26
freeze-drying, 38
friends, as next of kin, 60
Fultonville Natural Burial Ground (Fultonville, NY), 171
funeral arrangements, professionals for, 70
funeral bureaus, 61
Funeral Consumers Alliance, 9, 160
funeral directors, 55–57
Funeral Helper (website), 80–81
funeral homes: ceremonies held in, 2; costs of, 50; death care consultants vs., 70; embalming promoted by, 102–3; GPLs at, 51, 68; green burials assisted by, 8, 15, 19, 47; greenwashing in, 69; hiring, 67–69; legalities, 55–57, 61, 62; planning ahead for, 52; prepayment of, 61; Tips, 51
funeral industry: author’s experiences, 4; birth of, 21–22; environmental effects of, 7
funeral pyres, 35–36
funerals, traditional. See modern burial customs
Funeral-wise, 29
funeral wish list, 44, 51–53
Garden of Oaks at Spring Hill (Mobile, AL), 163
Gardens, The (Fallon, NV), 170
Gates to Heaven Cemeteries (Seligman, MO), 170
general price lists (GPLs), 51, 68
Genesis, Book of, 27
Georgia, 133, 166
Gethsemane Cemetery (Laureldale, PA), 175
Ghana, 91
Gibson Cemetery (Estacada, OR), 85, 174
gifts, 119, 141
Gilson, David, 88
Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve (DeFuniak Springs, FL), 166
Glen Forest Natural Burial Cemetery (Yellow Springs, OH), 173
Good Earth Burial Ground, The (Hazel Green, AL), 164
GPS, 49, 136
Gracelawn Memorial Park (Van Buren, AR), 164
grave: opening/closing, 50, 86, 86–87, 118; settling of, 87
grave digging: instructions for, 83–84; planning ahead for, 125; Tales from the Grave, 84; Tips, 84; tools needed for, 82–83
Grave Digging Competition (2016), 84
grave liners: costs of, 50; environmental effects of, 23; green burials without, 49; green cemeteries not requiring, 74; legalities, 7
Grave Matters (Harris), 23
gravesite: depth of, 81; envisioning, 46–47; location of, 80–81, 121; planning ahead for, 52–53, 125; ritual at, 118; size of, 82; transportation of body to, 125–27
Greece, ancient, 108
Green Acres Cemetery (Rocheport, MO), 170
Greenacres Memorial Park (Ferndale, WA), 86
“Green Burial Cemeteries in the US & Canada” (NHFREA), 163
Green Burial Council, 24, 47, 68, 69, 75, 94, 160
green burial grounds, 74–76, 163–79
Green Burial Naturally, 160
The Green Burial Guidebook Page 14