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The Green Cemetery in America
Plant a Tree on Me

by
Tanja Lena Schade

An Essay of Distinction
Submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Master of Environmental Study
The Evergreen State College

June, 2011

 2011 by Tanja Lena Schade. All rights reserved.

This Thesis for the Master of Environmental Study Degree
by
Tanja Lena Schade

has been approved for
The Evergreen State College
by

________________________
Frederica Bowcutt, Ph.D.
Member of the Faculty

________________________
Date

ABSTRACT
Green Cemetery Practices in America: Plant a Tree on Me

Sustainability issues face America today. We look for ways to live that do not deplete the
resources and opportunities of future generations. I examine American burial practices for simple ways to
increase our sustainable practices and decrease waste and pollution. Green burial practices use no toxic
chemicals and require fewer resources. Trees adorn graves as markers. I cover American practices over
the last 200 years showing how we have come to our current situation today. It also looks at American
attitudes towards death, the Green Burial Council's ideals, and how green cemeteries may work for future
benefits. By embracing an environmentally sensitive practice we can fulfill a basic human need. Our
choices today about the meaning of our own death rituals offer the opportunity for creating a better world
for generations to come. With a slight alteration of current practices we can embrace more sustainable
options that will provide a better life for tomorrow.

Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................ 1
Green Burial Practices........................................................................................... 4
A History in American Burial Practices............................................................... 6
The American Way of Death, Currently............................................................ 15
The Cemetery: An Overview............................................................................... 17
Ideals of Green Burial.......................................................................................... 22
The Green Cemetery as an Economic Enterprise............................................. 24
Organizations Offering Certification.................................................................. 28
Green Burial Council Categories........................................................................ 30
Green Burial in Action......................................................................................... 32
The Rethinking of Current Practices.................................................................. 34
References.............................................................................................................. 38
Appendix I…………………………………………………………………..……42

(iv)
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my thesis reader Frederica Bowcutt for her time and effort on
this project. I would also like to deeply thank my editor and good friend Pam Ring
for her efforts and support. Without her this project would have never been
completed. A thank you goes out to those who have cheered me on, even in my
darkest times. This thesis was written for those who have gone before us and to
those who shall come after us.

(v)

Introduction
Life is like a library book, you don’t own it and can only have it for so long, and exceptions to
this rule are never made. It is subject to immediate recall by another borrower even if you haven’t
finished with it. Attempts to excessively prolong human life are attempts to steal the library book
and cheat the earth community, to take nurturance from others but not to give it back (Plumwood,
2008).

Serious environmental issues face the world today. To address many of these
challenges we need to revise current practices that drain our resources. In this thesis I
address the question: Can sustainable burial practices or green cemeteries provide a way
to use fewer resources and provide future benefits? Green cemeteries are a place where
green burials take place, using biodegradable and sustainably produced materials and no
toxic chemicals. Often a tree or native plant is used as a grave marker. Green cemeteries
are an immediate way to start creating multi-functional sites for the betterment of the
community. By focusing on our human needs we can more easily embrace this idea and
have our needs better served through this process. The choices we make today reflecting
our values will influence future generations. Through the focus of this thesis on green
cemeteries, I explore a larger set of meta-questions: What can we do to create a better
future? How do we improve what we are already doing, with what we find important,
and how do we serve multiple goals? How do we create bounty with less waste? How
do we make our actions useful towards a better future?
Because addressing the environmental impacts of burial in the United States is
complex, I take an interdisciplinary approach in this thesis. Cemetery studies are by their
very nature interdisciplinary (Rugg, 2000). This work examines literature in several
broad areas of study, including anthropology and ecology. The overt characteristics of
the cemetery can be delineated and examined, including the social importance of

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cemeteries, as well as many other topics. These areas of study can incorporate work from
social science and physical sciences, as well as sub-headings under these. Cemeteries
vary over areas as do the people who use them (Jean & Francaviglia, 1972). Vast cultural
differences and practices of burial in America in past centuries created diversity of all the
local cemeteries throughout the country. I am unable to reference all, although many are
noteworthy and worth visiting. The religious aspects are myriad and the topic for another
paper. However, religion will not be completely excised. Military cemeteries differ
greatly from the type of cemeteries discussed in this paper. Regulations for military
cemeteries, such as concrete liners for all burials, come from a federal level (Marino,
2009). There is some interesting work being done in places such as Hawai’i at a military
cemetery; however they are not likely to be replicated at other military cemeteries.
Current burial practices changed with America’s needs over the last two
centuries; and thus continue to have potential for improvement. These present as a fluid
system rather that a static one. Although our burial practices create our own American
experiences, they draw heavily on European influences. I will delve into European
influences only where needed to illuminate a point. Green burial gained popularity in
England before it did in the United States, so there will be some examination of examples
in this region simply because there is a longer time frame in which to follow them. The
first green burial took place in England in 1993. My work will mainly focus on the last
200 years in America’s predominant cemetery plot purchasing culture. I examine what
we do now and how we may be able to slightly alter current practices for a greater
benefit.

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Grief occurs as a natural on-going process, which may persist, evolve and change
over time. This work will look at the multiple purposes a cemetery serves, and by
examining those, find ways to better serve today’s needs as well as potentially benefiting
the future. I will briefly examine other options for the disposal of remains available to
consumers. The most popular choice is cremation. Many other options are available,
although most of these require cremation first. These options may have significant
localized economic, social, or environmental benefits, but these choices are usually
constrained geographically, technologically, or by some other factor that makes
widespread adoption of the practice less feasible. We must always consider the
consumer’s personal choices for themselves and their families.
This work is important because it examines the most widely available burial
practices that are followed in the United States, and how with changes may provide
benefits beyond the material need of burial. This literature review examines burial
practices in America and how green cemeteries can be applied to the many problems
facing us today. Academic journals, books, trade journals, state law, websites, and other
media sources were employed in the research of this topic.
Currently, our world faces problems such as pollution, environmental
fragmentation, loss of ecosystem services, loss of open space and natural areas. Although
changing our burial practices may not address these problems in their entirety, some
changes may address aspects of these problems. Now, more than ever, we need to find
ways to maximize benefits with the least amount of costs, because those costs get higher
every day. The cost of mitigating for these losses increases with decreasing resources and
over time. New approaches to secure sustainable futures for cemeteries are being
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formulated (Francis et al., 2000). Green cemeteries give a simple but striking example of
providing multiple benefits, some of which are not even directly associated with the
initial purpose.

Green Burial Practices
Green burial is essentially the way that burial has been practiced across the ages
until the nineteenth century (Green Burial Council, 2010). Green burial, also called
natural burial, eco-burial, or woodland burial, is the act of burying remains without the
use of chemicals, concrete, ores, or tropical hardwoods. This usually requires a simple
wood box, preferably locally and sustainably harvested, or a shroud of biodegradable
materials, precluding toxic embalming or concrete liner (Rabideau-Silvers, 2009)
(Kerrigan, p. 185). If one wishes for burial to take place more than 24 hours after death,
botanical embalming fluids may be used in some places to prepare the body for visitation
purposes (Vyhnak, 2009).
Green burials occur in a green cemetery. Often the cemetery operator chooses to
mark the gravesite with a native tree or shrub (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 185). They may also be
marked with a low stone from the surrounding area or with Global Positioning System
(GPS) coordinates (O’Connell, 2010; Rabideau-Silvers, 2009). They tend to be less
regimented than traditional cemeteries (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 185).
Green cemeteries create less environmental pollution than cremation and the
graves require less maintenance than traditional options (Francis, 2000). Green burial
indicates a trend towards a reciprocal relationship with nature. Bounded ecological areas
within cemeteries are managed with an enhanced understanding of natural processes.

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Research conducted in the United Kingdom found increased decomposition when
cadaveric materials were repeatedly reburied on the same site (Carter & Tibbett, 2008).
Decomposition was enhanced through soil microbe activity with increasing efficiency
with each burial of ovine (sheep) muscle tissue. Soil microbes did not increase in total
amount, but the site favored zymogenous soil microbes able to enhance rapid
decomposition (Carter & Tibbett, 2008). The importance of this information for green
cemeteries concerns site efficiency rather than reburial in the same plot as is available in
the United Kingdom.
Green cemetery practices nourish and foster life through enhanced habitat and
provide an alternative to current burial practices (Plumwood, 2008). The burial
commemorates the way one lived, and the act of giving one’s body back to the earth
expresses hope and commitment to the future (Feagan, 2008). Green cemeteries provide
an opportunity for people to reconnect with the biotic community, literally embedded and
embodied. Experiences come together to create culture, which is passed to the next
generation (Feagan, 2007), and it is a relatively short leap from traditional burial to green
burial. Green cemeteries create an ecosystem and the deceased becomes an integral part
(Kerrigan, 2007, p. 185). Return and connection resonates with clients as well as with
proprietors of green cemeteries.
Multiple positive outcomes become available by participating in a green cemetery
project. In some instances, green burial can also facilitate ecological restoration and
landscape-level conservation. Green cemeteries preserve ecosystem function by taking
land out of circulation for other resource use, such as forestry or development.
Educational opportunities exist for all ages, and everyone who participates in the place
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has a stake in it. This creates a renewed sense of community, regional restorative
thinking, and even possibly becoming a source of plants for other regional projects
(Tummons, 2007). Green cemeteries, as a cultural practice or that of an individual, have
a secular pragmatic orientation (Feagan, 2007), common across the globe.

A History in American Burial Practice
“Now there is a society whose funeral industry got completely out of control”
-Jessica Mitford quote at an Egyptian embalming museum exhibit

There is diversity in death, and in the words of the sage Lily Tomlin, “We’re all in
this alone”. As a rite of passage or impending threat that helps us focus, death gives
definition to our lives (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 187). In dying we are alone, but the practices
that occur after death have more to do with sustaining the community. People all around
the world commemorate death by some sort of ceremony or rite (Feagan, 2007). Each
person will have their process, each community their ritual. Each culture will have
tradition. Understanding how burial practices have changed throughout American history
will help us understand our current practices and shape the future. The living must
dispose of the dead, and therefore the funeral and burial practices become embedded in
cultural traditions (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 43).
My purpose in writing this history is not to gloss over these rituals and traditions,
but to provide a basic framework of how things are done now in America. I do not mean
to deny any regional or local importance to any cemetery or group, but simply to focus on
my point at hand.

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The largely agrarian, pre-modern world, labeled “the period of the Tame Death”
with dying and death characterized by acceptance and tranquility. Family and
community surrounded the dying or the dead, goodbyes and prayers said, and final
instructions given to the family (Feagan, 2007). Colonial American funerals generally
offered a service at the church, with mourners participating in the service by carrying the
casket to the grave, saying brief prayers, and filling the grave. Communal work valued
personal service (Pine, 1975, p. 15).
American undertaking changed slowly, becoming more professionalized at the
end of the eighteenth century in larger cities. The urbanizing eastern cities of the United
States followed European trends (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 157) in regards to burial practices
and professionalization. The nineteenth century American undertaker unified the
occupation, taking over functions formerly provided by the family and community (Pine,
1975, p.16) especially women (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 157). Upon someone’s death, the
undertaker was called to the home to direct the funeral. Embalming techniques were
performed in the home (Pine, 1975, p. 16). The undertaker prepared the dead for
immediate and local burial (Troyer, 2007).
In 1851 Thomas Bridgeman crusaded for the preservation of Boston’s early burial
grounds, arguing that they demonstrated the cultural and historic values of American
burial grounds and thus should be protected. The Rural-Cemetery movement established
cemeteries as places for contemplation and recreation (Matero & Peters, 2003). These
cemeteries often took advantage of hilly locales and followed European designs (Potter et
al., 1992).

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During the Civil War many soldiers died far from home increasing the popularity
of embalming (Pine, 1975, p. 16; Kerrigan, 2007, p. 159). Often, the remains were sent
back to their families in other parts of the country. It was the first conflict to have
embalmers working in the camps, hospitals, and rail lines to serve the fallen and their
families (Troyer, 2007). Regulations became needed at train depots to inspect for
improperly embalmed bodies, broken caskets, and infectious diseases, and enforcement
fell mainly to state and local government. The lack of funds and political will severely
restricted the regulatory ability of the National Board of Health (Troyer, 2007).
The mechanically preserved body became a new consumer product for the
American public, allowing a body to be on display without requiring a quick burial
(Troyer, 2007). Historically embalming consisted of essentially a pickling process of
opening the cadaver, removing and washing the organs in preservatives and bathing or
immersing the body in preservatives. The mechanical method left most of the body
intact, using mechanical means to pump preservatives through the body’s own systems.
After the assassination of President Lincoln, the public viewing of his funeral procession
which traveled for two weeks by train from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, also
increased public enthusiasm for embalming (Pine, 1975, p. 16).
Nineteenth century death photography captured the deceased at a moment of still
looking vital. The embalmer could slow the biological processes and thus at least
visually, standardize the American corpse (Troyer, 2007). In the time before embalming
or death photographs, viewing the body had to take place before nature took her course.
A fundamental shift to a standardized embalmed vision of the corpse affected how the
observer viewed the deceased (Troyer, 2007). Biology no longer controlled death
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processes; they became under human control. The modern embalmed corpse became a
product, with human control exerted over inner chemistry (Troyer, 2007). American
funeral directors gained power as licensed embalmers and produced a standardized vision
of the dead body. The work of funeral directors gained legitimacy through the
implementation of transportation rules (Troyer, 2007).
In the post Civil War period, funeral practices started taking on a distinctly
American quality (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 157). Headstones increased in size and became
more ornate and laid out in regular grid style (Francaviglia, 1971). In American
cemeteries analysis of plot costs, location and stone size indicated a reflection of social
status in life and peaked during the 1880s and 90s (Francaviglia, 1971). Minority
exclusions reflected the times and often separate facilities were established (Francaviglia,
1971).
In 1883 Dr. Alexis Julian lectured before the New York Academy of Sciences,
describing no better test by material means to test longevity and decay on stone and metal
as a cemetery (Matero & Peters, 2003). Dr. Julian recognized the interdisciplinary
aspects to cemeteries for education and crafts people long before it became fashionable.
The Art and Science of Embalming, written as a textbook for embalmers in 1896
gave four reasons for embalming: to prevent putrefaction of the body until the body
viewing, disinfection, preservation for identification, and to look lifelike (Troyer, 2007).
This same text claimed that the embalmer prevents the corruption of the grave, keeping
the body entire for religious resurrection and giving death no more power over us than a
long sleep (Troyer, 2007).

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Towards the end of the nineteenth century all aspects of the disposition of the
dead came under new legislation and licensing from states. Death certificates became
required by state laws (Pine, 1975, p. 16). Attitudes toward death and the body changed
radically in the nineteenth century, creating the expected image of the dead body in the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries (Troyer, 2007). The technological advancements
and legal requirements helped reinforce undertaking as a specialty occupation (Pine,
1975, p. 16).
Dead bodies that resist decomposition become an opportunity for the sale of
consumer goods, such as funeral objects and accessories, thereby making the industry
more profitable (Troyer, 2007). Headstones and caskets became catalog items
(Francaviglia, 1971). During this time, undertakers traveled to the home of the deceased
and set up gear in the parlor. Religious services held in the home of the deceased or at
church preceded a procession to the cemetery. The undertaker removed all signs of the
funeral from the home so when the family returned, none of these tasks remained (Pine,
1975, p. 17).
Urbanization changed family living situations, spreading people over wider
geographic areas with often smaller dwellings. These new housing situations were not
always equipped with appropriate space for laying out of the dead or holding large
gatherings. Undertakers started to use their own homes for these purposes, usually the
large parlor rooms. Specialty stores arose from this practice, usually with a home like
setting for the undertaker to keep his wares and equipment, becoming known as a funeral
parlor (Pine, 1975, p. 17). This provided a permanent and specialized site where it
became possible to increase the merchandise and services offered. Larger and less
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mobile embalming equipment required space and the funeral parlor allowed room for a
laboratory. The parlor, laboratory, and chapel-like facility evolved over time to become
modern funeral homes (Pine, 1975, p. 18). Through this process, the undertaker evolved
into the “funeral director” who provided a necessary service to society as well as the
merchandise connected to this service. The funeral director developed managerial and
administrative skills as well as provided counseling services. This encouraged the
growth of the professional occupational orientation of this work (Pine, 1975, p. 18). By
the beginning of the twentieth century many families and communities no longer sewed
shrouds, laid out the dead, or any of the other direct responsibilities relating to the death
of a family member (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 159); funeral homes assumed the tasks, plying
consumers with products and services.
Cemeteries changed during this time as well. Lawn cemeteries appeared at the
end of the nineteenth century, with styles that eschewed the regimented forms of the past.
Instead of tombs, statues and monuments, the lawn cemetery offered a park-like setting
with low grave markers (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 159). People were choosing lower
headstones all across America at this time (Francaviglia, 1971). It has been suggested
that headstone heights in the modern era lowered because they ruined the landscape
(Francaviglia, 1971). Maintenance became easier with the mowers able to go over stones
instead of around them (Francaviglia, 1971). Streets established in these lawn cemeteries
reflected suburban developments, and often follow the land contours (Francaviglia,
1971). There is little visual monument to remind the viewer of death in the pastoral
garden-like cemetery (Francaviglia, 1971). These reflect changing values, though forms

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in cemeteries may persist as they may pertain to cultural values or symbolize a group
(Jean et al., 1972).
A conference of the organizations most involved with the problems of shipping
bodies across state lines convened in 1906. The National General Baggage Agents’
Association, the National Conference of Health Officers and the National Funeral
Directors Association (founded in 1881) created a set of nine rules for overseeing
standardization of licensing for embalmers who prepare the dead for interstate shipping
(Troyer, 2007). These rules disallowed the shipping of bodies with certain
communicable diseases and created a protocol for other issues (Troyer, 2007). The 4th
Annual Joint Conference of the Embalmers’ Examining Board of North America
(EEBNA) met in 1907 to discuss issues of inadequately embalmed bodies being shipped
across America. The age of travel and migration turned the undertaker into the embalmer
(Troyer, 2007)
In 1963 Jessica Mitford wrote a book called “The American Way of Death”,
accusing the industry of aggressive marketing, false claims, and preying on people when
they were vulnerable. Many people had been persuaded that embalming would keep the
body in perpetuity and was required by United States law (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 160).
Embalming preserved the body through the funeral and is only required in certain cases
(Troyer, 2007). In post-war America eager consumers spent money on the latest
technological “advancements”, practices and processes (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 160).
Although none of these processes were required by law they were culturally embraced.

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America worked hard for racial and cultural integration and funeral practices
reflected this. Many funeral providers started offering a wider array of services reflecting
the needs of their customer base after the 1960s. Until this point, often each cultural
community would have their own service provider, but these rites became part the
melting pot of selections available to all consumers.
Fred Kniffen coined the term “necrogeography” in 1967 to describe spatial and
cultural dimensions of mortuary landscapes ranging from simple burial or tombstone to
complex landscaped cemetery sites (Matero & Peters, 2003). Necrogeographies provide
important information, such as birth and death dates, ethnicity, sex, life span, migration,
occupation, social status, religion, and other demographic information. The materials
used for tombs and markers, especially stone and metal, provide information for
scientists, conservators, architects, and sculptors (Matero & Peters, 2003).
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) passed the Funeral Trade Rule in 1984.
This prohibited funeral care providers from engaging in unfair or deceptive practices.
This act required a complete, itemized price list and permission for embalming for a fee.
Consumers were not required to purchase a casket for cremation nor could the purchase
of products be contingent upon the purchase of other goods and services. This allowed
the consumer to choose the appropriate offerings from one or more providers. Providers
clearly had to abide by laws and were not allowed to misrepresent the legal requirements
in such places as crematoria or cemeteries. Amended in 1994, the Funeral Rule expanded
the definition of funeral providers (Federal Trade Commission, 1999).

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By 2007 there were over 100,000 Americans employed in the funeral industry,
with nearly $12 billion in business annually. Corporations now see cemeteries as big
business, with the top four publicly traded companies accounting for 10% of the overall
market share (National Funeral Directors Association, 2010). Casket use steadily
declined from 79% of all deaths in 1998 to 71% in 2008. The average price of an
American funeral in 1960 was $708 and in 2010 it was $6,550, with an additional cost of
$1,195 if a vault is desired (National Funeral Directors Association, 2010). Each year
America uses over 827,000 gallons of embalming fluid, 1.6 million tons of reinforced
concrete, 20 million board feet of wood, and thousands of tons of metals for traditional
burial (Feagan, 2007).
Cremation gained popularity throughout the twentieth century in the United States
(Kerrigan, 2007, p. 174). The belief in resurrection of the body kept many Christians
from this option, but even the Catholic Church dropped its objections during the Second
Vatican Council in 1963, and a common practice among their group today (Kerrigan,
2007, p. 174). In 2005 the United States cremated an average of 30.88% of all
dispositions, with the highest cremation rates being in Nevada and The District of
Columbia of over 65%. The lowest rate occurred in Mississippi with 9.59%.
Washington State consumers chose this option over 64% of the time in 2005. Cremation
accounted for 38.15 % of dispositions nationally in 2010 and 51.12% in 2025 projections
(National Funeral Directors Association, 2010; Appendix I).
Cremation has numerous environmental downsides (Green Burial Council, 2010).
It consumes fossil fuels, requiring 27 liters of natural gas to cremate a 150-pound body
(Vyhnak, 2009). Older crematoria are not as fuel efficient (Green Burial Council, 2010).
14

If present, mercury emits from the burning of dental amalgam (Kerrigan, p. 185),
although new facilities that can fully mitigate mercury pollution are planned to be
available on the market as early as 2011 (Green Burial Council, 2010). The Cremation
Association of North America (CANA) works towards greener cremation systems
through recycling medical parts, adopting fuel-efficient cremation containers, and
supporting dispositions with positive environmental purposes (Green Burial Council,
2010), although these practices will take time to implement fully.
The act of sprinkling cremated remains in natural areas can have consequences.
The Mountaineering Council of Scotland asks people to avoid sprinkling on the most
popular summit sites because worries that the volume of ash was changing soil
composition (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 184). Conservation officers on Snowden, Wales’s
highest mountain, ask people to consider the ecological effects on the vegetation and
spread their ashes elsewhere (Kerrigan, 2007, p. 184).

The American Way of Death, Currently
The entropy of an open system must increase. Since we are all open systems, this means that all
of us are doomed to die. Yet it is so often ignored or deliberately forgotten that the unending
death-roll of all creatures, including ourselves, is the essential complement to the unceasing
renewal of life (Lovelock, 1987, p. 125).

In twentieth century America, most models for death, burial and grieving echo
medical, industrial and scientific thinking, reflecting the dominant discourse of society
(Feagan, 2007; Howarth, 2000). Death certificates, appropriate disposal legislation and
the designation for places of burial and cremation became formalized (Howarth, 2000).

15

The 1960s brought ideological leanings towards individualism (Howarth, 2000). An
enterprise culture focused on individual survival, anonymous situations of shared
experience replaced the community (Howarth, 2000). People construct their own worlds,
filled with their own self-identity and meaning.
Human exceptionalism and individualism influence heavily our culture, our views
of ourselves, and even our deaths (Plumwood, 2008). People display a defining
modernist quality of a desire to control mortality (Howarth, 2000). American cemeteries
express an exceptionalist view of death with strong caskets interred deep below the soil
activity. A concrete slab placed over a plot slows decomposition (Feagan, 2007) and
essentially prevents one from becoming food (Plumwood, 2008). The cosmetic-concretecasket complex embraces the modernist ideals of professionalization and sanitation
(Feagan, 2007). These practices encourage detachment, privatization, commodification
and remove death from the lives of the living (Feagan, 2007).
The “Finality Thesis” claims that death is the end of the story (Plumwood, 2008).
We try to evade death through transcendence, privilege and technological mastery
(Plumwood, 2008). Modernist liberal individualism tells us that we own our lives and
dominant concepts of this identity place us outside of the food chain. We believe we can
partake but never need to give to the “feast in a chain of reciprocity” (Plumwood, 2008).
The cemetery itself may be viewed sacred in contrast to the profane area for daily life
beyond the gates (Plumwood, 2008). The sacredness eschews the need of the living to be
part of the food chain, not allowing our decay to nourish other forms of life (Plumwood,
2008).

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Some feel that society constructs the life-death boundary (Howarth, 2000). In
1909, Gennep created the concept of liminality, describing the time and experiences
between statuses, between becoming and the rite of passage, such as between death and
the completion of the funeral ceremonies (Howarth, 2000). Wife to widow exemplifies
this status change. Extended mental or physical illness can create a “social death” long
before physical death occurs (Howarth, 2000). This extends the period of liminality for
the family living with the ill person. Medical technology extends life longer than what
constituted the life-death boundary in the past (Howarth, 2000). The crisis in loss
becomes a loss of self (Howarth, 2000) and the change of status that may not be easily
removed, such as “parent” at the loss of a child (Howarth, 2000). Increasingly in
contemporary Western societies, grieving people continue relationships with their
deceased friends and loved ones (Howarth, 2000).
The shift to modern burial practices in North America as well as our fragmented
ideas of place brings us to where we are (Feagan, 2007). We face social and
environmental fragmentation resulting in isolation. We cannot simply construct a new
model for grief (Howarth, 2000). By being aware of the issues that have brought us to our
current state of affairs, we can choose how best to direct our efforts for future benefit.

The Cemetery: An Overview
The dead have always left us material and spiritual legacies (Howarth, 2000).
The idea of burial space is mutable; it does not carry the same significance in a uniform
way across all cultures and the meaning does not remain static over time (Rugg, 2000).
Cemeteries provide a created and purposeful cultural landscape made to serve the
functional and material purposes of disposing of corpses (Francaviglia, 1971).
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Designed and used by people (Francaviglia, 1971), cemeteries become cultural
entities, rich and complex, with meaning socially constructed over time (Matero &
Peters, 2002). They offer memorials for the individual as well as society (Francis et al.,
2000) creating opportunity for appreciation over a long-term period. Past and current
meanings beyond the primary purpose of burial require recognizing their importance and
potential as cultural, historical, scientific and scenic resources (Matero & Peters, 2008).
Landscapes mature over time and communities and customs change (Rugg, 2000).
Cemeteries record and reflect cultural inclusion and assimilation within communities at
different times (Francis, et al., 2000). Wide ranges exist among different communities
concerning the underlying purposes and meanings held by a cemetery (Francis et al.,
2000; Rugg, 2000).
A common American practice sites cemeteries on hilly land. It is less prone to
flooding and in the past considered less desirable for agriculture or town expansion.
Settlements located cemeteries near but not necessarily within their boundaries (Rugg,
2000; Northway, 2005). A very old cemetery may maintain the original soil profile or
native plants providing an ecological link to the past (Wexler, 2008). Removing
cemeteries for residential development in America is not a common practice. The
sentiment expressed is “That’s where we laid them, that’s where they should stay”
(Francis et al., 2000).
Cemetery development generally occurred with similar historical pattern, and
most did not originally have a regular plot layout (Francaviglia, 1971). The earliest
graves cluster in the center, very similar to city settlement patterns (Francaviglia, 1971).
If the cemetery sits on a hilltop, there may be even, concentric rings of burial down the
18

sides. Usually, cemeteries develop into a more sprawling, suburban type expansion, with
the oldest portion located on the highest ground (Francaviglia, 1971). Large family plots
evolve over a long period of time and may be a microcosm of the larger cemetery
(Francaviglia, 1971).
Definable visual markers make the cemetery distinct from other types of
landscape (Francaviglia, 1971). A defined entrance states the purpose of the site literally
and symbolically. The perimeter fence serves two purposes, to keep the living from the
dead and the dead from the living (Rugg, 2000). A specific perimeter encloses an area
demarcated for burial and maintains an ordered layout within (Rugg, 2000) expressing
spatial and architectural preferences of the time. Variations of time and location create
recognizable trends (Francaviglia, 1971).
Early cemetery plots were offered in perpetuity, giving the plot eternally to that
person, and their remains were never to be disturbed (Rugg, 2000). Families claim
control over their plots and conduct culturally appropriate funerary rituals (Francis et al.,
2000; Rugg, 2000). They serve and sustain families, the whole community, town or
district and become part of their history (Francis et al., 2000; Rugg, 2000). The cemetery
reflects the social and economic stratification of the times (Francaviglia, 1971). This in
turn reflects the community over many generations, all in the same place, each in their
own space (Rugg, 2000). Cemeteries record the changes in culture, religion and wide
social influences (Francis et al., 2000). They record the intra-generational information as
well as longer term inter-generational kinship relationships (Francis et al., 2000). There
is an ongoing and changing story paying tribute to the past and turning to the future to
carry on tradition and values (Francis et al., 2000).
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Cemeteries may serve a function as a place of joy and remembrance (Huang,
2007), as well as enshrine the deceased placed within (Rugg, 2000). Society protects
cemeteries from inappropriate or disrespectful activities (Francis et al., 2000; Rugg,
2000). A cemetery is a sacred space, a place for friends and family to return. Sacredness
can be seen in religious terms, but also can include other meanings for cemeteries. These
interpretations may be for permanence, visitation, and as a context for grief (Rugg, 2000).
These spaces may become more or less sacred over time due to shifting attitudes (Rugg,
2000). The functionality of the site as well as providing an emotional context for grief
makes them both sacred and profane locations (Francaviglia, 1971).
Many cemeteries are primarily secular, privately or governmentally owned and
operated. These quasi-public facilities accommodate limited public access (Northway,
2005). Often located near population centers cemeteries compete with other development
for the same desirable land (Francaviglia, 1971; Northway, 2005). Many people may not
want to live near a cemetery, adding complications (Northway, 2005).
Ownership and management practices change over time, as each generation
defines their own appropriate landscape for grief (Rugg, 2000). In many western
countries, cemeteries incorporate into the park system or become tourist attractions
(Huang, 2007). Older cemeteries may transform into heritage sites, bringing new
problems such as commercialization, looting, vandalism, and inappropriate restoration.
These problems can lead to diminished function for venerating the dead (Matero &
Peters, 2003).

20

Generally a cemetery operator can expect approximately 1,000 plots per acre
(Northway, 2005). Managers and planners must consider different ways of using limited
available space for burial (Francis et al., 2000). Double depth plots, the practice of
layering one body atop another, increases interments per acre, creating revenue
opportunities. This saves space and allows the customer to save money (Northway,
2005), although it has not caught on in the United States (Rugg, 2000). Mausoleums
offer another value added plan for cemeteries, allowing families to pay a premium for a
smaller but more visible location that can hold several deceased (Northway, 2005). The
increasing size of the average American requires design changes in new mausoleum
construction.

It is impossible to retrofit existing mausoleums for larger bodies and not

uncommon for cemetery operators to receive requests for oversized plots (Northway,
2005).Vaults made of concrete and metal can be used above a casket and below the soil,
or may be used above and below the casket. Required by many traditional cemeteries
they prevent settling, allowing the ease of use of large lawn maintaining machinery.
Created off-site and transported to cemeteries, the concrete and metal vaults have a large
carbon footprint. Each vault requires 1.6 tons of reinforced concrete (Green Burial
Council, 2010).
Our architectural forms and life patterns affect the cemetery and may be a result
of complementary or competing influences. These interests may include cultural
practices, propriety, time, ownership and responsibility (Francis et al., 2000). Cemetery
operators provide upkeep to older portions of the cemetery while still turning a profit,
although limited resources can inhibit success (Francis et al., 2000). They provide us an

21

opportunity to explore our preferred and resulting landscapes as important and valued
public resources.

Ideals of Green Burials
A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the
biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise (Leopold, 1970, p. 262).

We need to look for new ways for the creation of abundance: economically,
environmentally, and socially and to conserve that value for future generations (Moore &
Manring, 2009) and we hope to leave a positive legacy. Concrete liners separate us from
life and cremation removes us entirely. Green Burial offers an opportunity to reaffirm
our connection with life (Feagan, 2007). Green burial may not be for everyone, but it is
an option that is gaining popularity, just as cremation gained popularity throughout the
last century (Rabideau-Silver, 2009).
On a personal level, death ends what we know, but can serve as an affirmation of
our part of the ecological cycle (Plumwood, 2008). But the body does not just end; it
decomposes. It loses the organization as we knew it and incorporates into other life
forms (Plumwood, 2008). Usually static images dominate our thinking about the body
after burial. Composed of the earth’s constituent elements, our corporeal body transitions
back into these elements actively. Feagan desires for his own burial a green interment, a
social and festive celebration for family, friends, and community, appreciating the
ecological values embodied in the choice of burial rite. It embraces an environmentally
sensitive practice to work with a human-centered need (Feagan, 2007).

22

Some people choose green burial for reasons such as less cost, a spiritual connection, or
for land conservation and preservation. Muslim and Jewish traditions use this type of
burial (Rabideau-Silvers, 2009), others prefer “dust to dust” as in Genesis 3:19. Some see
it as a way to not contribute to further environmental degradation with the overuse of
water, pesticides and herbicides, soil and water pollution, wood harvesting and mining
practices for use in caskets (Feagan, 2007). It does not require fossil fuels as used for
cremation. Other factors leading the green burial movement are the need for people such
as farmers to find ways to diversify their incomes (Feagan, 2007). One farmer echoes the
sentiments expressed by many farmers before him, wishing after death his burial be
simple and his family farm be protected from development (Feagan, 2007).
The tree of life universally symbolizes immortality and nourishment (Feagan,
2007), especially the evergreen (Francaviglia, 1971). The adoption of trees as grave
markers creates an object of memory as well as environmental benefit (Clayden & Dixon,
2007). Trees may embody personal and cultural memories, perceived as permanent, and
facilitate a relationship beyond the separation of death. Green cemeteries provide an
ecological link to the future by preserving and fostering nature.
Still in the early stages in this country, green burial initiates rituals with a more
comprehensive environmental ethic (Feagan, 2007). Whatever we hope to achieve by
satisfying our social and cultural needs through the ritual of burial, we can also assist the
living to be more conscious of our ecological selves. Green burial offers us a way to
express concern and address ecosystemic needs, our integral ties to the world, our
spiritual and personal tributes and our human social needs (Feagan, 2007). Connection,
continuity and responsibility express truths about appropriate values orientation. Ethical
23

positions can expand our moral sense of the critical need to think about intergenerational
equity.
Green cemeteries offer the consumer the opportunity to participate in long-term
land holding that may serve multiple purposes, such as urban open space, arboretum,
buffer, nature area, in addition to a place for burial. The green cemetery gives another
choice of many that allows the consumer to act upon their values and appropriately
venerate the dead. It reflects a preference for a personalized non-religious funeral, and
returning to nature when one dies (Feagan, 2007). This is about more than a headstone
(O’Connell, 2010).

The Green Cemetery as an Economic Enterprise
Funeral care solved a persistent problem -decomposing corpses- and turned it into
an economic opportunity (Troyer, 2007). As a pragmatic environmental orientation,
green burial providers, called entrepreneurs, explicitly utilize business aspects. This
essentially illustrates the commodification of conservation, creating a status symbol of
conspicuous non-consumption (Feagan, 2007).
In the 1990s enterprises of every size used environmental and social factors as
strategic considerations. A connection between business and the environment provides
opportunities to help stave off the threat of inevitable collapse of society. Ecological
overshoot means “depleting the natural environmental capital instead of living off the
interest” (Moore & Manring, 2009). An enterprise gains greater profitability through
sustainable practices and can optimize their rate of sustainable change (Moore &

24

Manring, 2009). Green cemeteries exemplify a simple solution to replenishing some of
our environmental capital.
Right now customers fit a particular demographic for green cemeteries (Feagan,
2007). Typical customers are over fifty, pre-planning and environmentally conscious for
years (Vyhnak, 2009). The baby boomers look for alternatives in death as they look for
alternatives in their lives (Feagan, 2007). Younger people also pre-plan with their ideals
in mind, appreciating the ease of the conversation about green burial (Rabideau-Silvers,
2009). The need for a less expensive form of burial factors into customer choice and
natural burial provides this (Feagan, 2007; O’Connell, 2010).
Citizenry pay directly for the beneficial effects of green cemeteries, public or
private, through the purchase of plots. Cemeteries, often owned and operated by
municipalities or counties, can become an asset through green or hybrid cemetery
practices. These perform all of the functions of traditional cemeteries as well as provide
ecological and social benefits with increased green space. In urban areas, green
cemeteries may offer a link between larger green spaces or simply be a refuge of green in
the concrete jungle. In many places, city parks departments maintain cemeteries. These
departments already have tools and structures in place for the minimal care needed, such
as litter and weed removal and the staff people to do the work. Land trusts work in
concert with cemeteries that offer green burial. Communities benefit from non-profit
entities starting natural cemeteries, since often the local authorities need to use resources
to maintain existing cemeteries (O’Connell, 2010). Every plot a non-profit creates means
one less that the public has to maintain.

25

Green cemeteries may manifest in many ways depending upon the needs of the
community and the skills of the entrepreneur, in either private or public works. If a
special piece of land needs conservation or preservation, such as an historic farm, a wild
place, a special community space, it may take the form of a calculated minimum number
of burials needed at what price to save it. In this way, it is preserved not only as a
cemetery in name and income, it can continue to function as it has with little disturbance,
and if well thought out, may increase the functionality of the environmental services
provided.
Conservation value depends upon size location and type of land (RabideauSilvers, 2009). Carefully and thoughtfully sited, green cemeteries can maximize positive
benefits. Each community will have their own location, needs, desired benefits, and
ways to establish. Remote sites may offer beauty and environmental importance, buffers
or corridors between other natural areas. Ideal urban sites may be within walking
distance of population centers or sites that can be accessed by public transportation
(O’Connell, 2010). A green cemetery that followed natural contours may provide a
property edge ideal for walking and biking, providing many benefits to the public and the
environment.
In another form, a green cemetery may provide a buffer from other human
activities. An example: areas experiencing an environmental clean-up. In cases where
noisy machinery will be used over a long-term period, a cemetery buffer could start
before the project. After the site has been cleaned the cemetery would eventually fill in
the space it had buffered. The benefits from the clean-up become part of an ongoing,
living restoration project.
26

Another example: A tree farm that is a member of a timber certification
cooperative for sustainable wood production. Depending on law, a given stream buffer is
maintained for health of habitat. A tree farmer could double the size of the buffer bay
creating green cemetery along the upper edge. The upper edge of the cemetery requires
an added demarcation to provide obvious visual separation from the tree farm, such as
fence and path. This would provide the tree farm with added income and a hedge against
future increases in legal changes in stream buffer size. It also maintains stream buffer
integrity.
Tactics used in other historical preservations are used with old and new
cemeteries, and should be used with green cemeteries as well. The basic principles
include documentation, surveying site conditions, developing an emergency program, and
allocating resources based on historical and cultural values (Matero & Peters, 2008).
Documentation includes recording and analysis of site conditions and surrounding area,
archival field work, recording past and present practices, ethnographies and other such
information in an organized fashion. An emergency program develops protocols for
temporary protection programs, inventory and treatments (Matero & Peters, 2008).
These should lead the organization to allocate funds according to current and ongoing
threats and opportunities for the greatest return on investment. These tenets should
inform all preservation work, with the standards for documentation and treatment aiding
in analysis and planning (Matero & Peters, 2008).
Hand dug graves take approximately four to six hours each, depending upon soil
quality, compared to 30 minutes for a machine dug grave. Hand digging preserves the
peacefulness of the sanctuary for humans and animals (Wexler, 2008), and if done well
27

causes much less disturbance to the soil profile. Green cemeteries require very little
upkeep to achieve their goals.
Limitations exist with the concept of green burials. Federal regulation requires
concrete liners at military facilities. Lowering a body into a double depth plot needs
sturdier material than a shroud can offer (Marino, 2009). If needed, exhumation poses an
issue as green burial allows much faster decomposition than traditional burial (Marino,
2009). Remote locations require access by automobile which creates a downside
(O’Connell, 2010), although no different than that which any other cemetery faces.
Opponents feel it provides very little for a cultural movement other than simulated
woodland (Clayden & Dixon, 2007).

Organizations Offering Certification
Green cemeteries must abide by all local and state laws. They may also wish to
participate in certification programs to enhance their profiles and credibility. Both
organizations featured represent major certification programs. The National Funeral
Directors Association (NFDA) provides expertise for all facets of the funeral industry,
while The Green Burial Council exists for green cemetery practices only.
NFDA created a green certification for members who wish to participate. This
program gives recognition to funeral care providers that offer sustainable practices to
support their business, clients, employees and communities. They must abide by legal
and programmatic rules set forth in their Green Funeral Practices certification program,
such as one or more green service package or itemized option, one or more sustainable or
biodegradable casket or urn with no metal or harsh chemicals, offer a formaldehyde-free
28

option for short term preservation, education requirements in green burials for at least
two employees within the last 18 months, and create and submit a green practices plan to
the NFDA (National Funeral Directors Association, 2010). The NFDA identifies many
reasons for a business to go green, such as positive media exposure, positive consumer
reaction, reduced overhead, and bringing in new families. They clearly state, “There is
no downside to going green” (National Funeral Directors Association, 2010).
The Green Burial Council (GBC), founded in 2005 as an independent non-profit
organization, works to encourage environmentally sustainable funeral care and burial as a
way of protecting natural areas. They see themselves as a conduit for conservation,
collecting representatives from environmental and conservation backgrounds, consumer
organizations, and academia (Green Burial Council, 2010). The GBC organizes a diverse
group of stakeholders through extensive outreach campaigns, including stakeholders such
as land trusts, parks, religious organizations, government entities, schools, and death care
providers (Green Burial Council, 2010). There are over 300 GBC approved providers for
green burial services in the United States and Canada. They cross constituencies for the
common goal of inter-generational land conservation.
The vision statement for the Green Burial Council states a desire for eco-friendly
end-of-life rituals as a viable option for honoring the dead, healing the living and inviting
the divine. Legitimate benefits exist to environmentally sustainable death-care, such as
reduction of emissions, toxification and waste. This provides way to acquire, restore and
steward natural areas. This vision also desires that these values bring about a new ethic
in funeral care rooted in transparency, accountability and ecological responsibility. The

29

culmination of this vision means that each of our deaths makes a difference (Green Burial
Council, 2010).
They quickly came to understand that this issue needed a credible entity for thirdparty oversight. By encouraging the sharing of open source information and science
behind green burial, the discussion and development of best practices can take place with
the widest participation. The GBC provides certifiable and legally enforceable standards.
They sought out traditional funeral homes and suppliers for green burial products and
established standards for these. By creating language, protocols, and enforceable
instruments, the GBC innovates new ways of protecting and creating habitat to lower the
environmental impact of the burial process (GBC, 2010).

Green Burial Council Categories
GBC certification allows consumers the ability to distinguish between four levels
of green burial ground. The four levels are: Hybrid, Low-Impact, Natural and
Conservation. The listing of these categories reflects increasing requirements to meet the
particular standard, with each level meeting the previous standards. It requires cemetery
operators commit to a certain degree of transparency, accountability and third party
oversight. It prevents future owners from reneging on ecological or aesthetic promises
made in the past, from limitations on burial density that protect a local ecosystem to
prohibitions against the use of monuments that would negatively impact a vista.
Hybrid Burial Grounds commonly appeal to existing cemetery operations because
they offer a new way to utilize portions of their land by extending the business model. A
portion of the existing cemetery land set aside for hybrid use allows the practices
30

employed on the existing cemetery to remain unaltered. The standards for a hybrid
cemetery preclude use of vaults, concrete liners or embalming, and allow for use of a
variety of eco-friendly burial containers (Green Burial Council, 2010).
Low-Impact Burial Grounds (LIBG) must meet the standards for Hybrid Burial
Grounds as well as adopting practices that are non-toxic and conserve energy. A LIBG
may lie within a dedicated portion of an existing cemetery or exist as an entirely separate
facility. Prohibitions exist against vault use and traditional embalming although the GBC
allows approved non-toxic embalming products. Burial containers must be made from
natural/plant-derived materials. The grounds must have Integrated Pest Management
procedures in place (Green Burial Council, 2010).
Natural Burial Grounds (NBG) use plants and materials native to the applicable
region and require use patterns of the landscape compatible with the regional ecosystems.
They fulfill the requirements of the categories before them. Designed, operated, and
maintained with a natural appearance as a goal, NBG do not need to fulfill full restoration
standards at this level. Before opening a NBG, an independent professional in the fields
of biology or restoration ecology must prepare a report addressing any impact to
endangered plants or animals, cultural resources, and hydrology. Development of a plan
for operations and a declaration of ideals employees, contractors and volunteers share the
guidelines and vision. Procedures place limited visitation to sensitive areas, preserve
scenic vistas, and prescribe appropriate memorial markers and the corrective action for
those found inappropriate. An endowment established and maintained with 5% of all plot
sales funds site upkeep (Green Burial Council, 2010).

31

Conservation Burial Grounds (CBG) meet all of the requirements set out for the
levels listed above as well as further legitimizing land preservation. CBG establish a
relationship with an existing conservation organization that will hold an easement
specifically for conservation on the site or will place a deed of restriction guaranteeing
long-term protection and stewardship (Green Burial Council, 2010).
All categories of certification must abide by rules. Any representations made to
the public must not mislead or “blur the lines” between the different levels of
certification. Families and friends must be allowed to participate in the burial ritual short
of that prohibited by law or in conflict with the GBC standards. Funeral homes operating
on GBC certified burial grounds require certification by the GBC. All levels of GBC
certification excepting Hybrid Burial Grounds must adhere to requirements of deed
restriction, conservation easement, or other legally binding and irrevocable instrument for
the conservation and maintenance of the cemetery. These equate to requirements
necessary for perpetual care in traditional cemeteries (Green Burial Council, 2010).

Green Burial in Action
Green burial took root as a viable public option in Western countries in 1993,
when an established Victorian cemetery in Carlisle, Cumbria, United Kingdom created an
extension of their grounds for natural burial. Trees marked the graves, no headstones
allowed (Clayden & Dixon, 2007). It provided a solution to the problems of upkeep for
graves as they age as well as lessened future liability of dangerous headstones with the
added benefit of creating habitat (Clayden & Dixon, 2007). Between 1993 and 2007 over
200 green cemeteries were created in the United Kingdom. Most of these cemeteries

32

extend from existing local cemeteries, but also include privately managed sites and
charitable trusts (Clayden & Dixon, 2007). The first green cemetery in Ireland had 80-90
presales before they opened their doors for burial and several hundred requests for
information (O’Connell, 2010). Many people express a preference of a garden burial
under a tree, although different landscape types, such as wildflower meadows carry great
appeal.
White Eagle Preserve’s 20 acres sits amid protected oak and pine forest, meadow,
and steppe overlooking the Columbia River in Benton County, Washington State. They
received GBC Conservation Burial Ground certification in 2008. The Sacred Earth
Foundation owns and manages the 1,300 acre site surrounding the cemetery, including on
it an “off the grid” ranch and horse camp for children. The proprietors feel a deep
connection with the land and share it with their customers. Their website clearly states
their policies, procedures, price list, and personal values. They offer services for both
green burial and cremated remains. One may also have their pet buried on site. A child’s
death affects everyone and White Eagle Preserve offers plots for free to those less than 12
years old (White Eagle Preserve, 2011) .
Moles Family Funeral Home celebrated the grand opening of The Meadow at
Moles Greenacres, Washington State’s first GBC certified Natural Burial Ground in
2009. This fourth generation family business operates a funeral home and crematoria.
They own the cemetery, the only funeral home in Whatcom County to do so, as well as a
cremation cemetery named Stillwater. Distinct boundaries exist between types of burial
grounds.

33

Forever Fernwood describes itself as a leader in the green burial movement in the
United States. Hills make up a large portion of 32-acre Fernwood in Marin County,
California. Located near the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, native trees serve as
grave markers and invasive weeds are removed (Wexler, 2008). Oak and bay trees ring
the historic cemetery founded in the late 1880s. This site contains not only the historic
and green cemeteries, but offers funeral home services and state of the art crematoria
(Forever Fernwood, 2011). The National Wildlife Federation registered it as a Certified
Wildlife Habitat because it provides food, water and shelter for wild animals (Wexler,
2008).
Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sold 25 plots for green burial
within the first nine months of offering them (Rabideau-Silver, 2009), attracting
customers from several surrounding states. Established in the 1850s it operates as a nonprofit held in public trust and holds approximately 200 acres (Forest Home Cemetery,
2011).
Services provided by these cemeteries vary in style and location, organization
type and age. Common themes among all of them include connectivity to community
and place. Each cemetery chooses the appropriate certifying body as well as level of
certification.

The Rethinking of Current Practices
We live necessarily through our bodies, and these bodies, in turn, necessarily live through
the bodies of others- wheat, rice, steer, fish, microorganisms, bees, chickens (Wirzba,
2003, p. 86)

What sort of rethinking needs to happen to move toward the adoption of green
burial practices? Is an eco-centric view needed or are humans able to find reason looking
34

beyond the here and now? Ecological connection, place and continuity, and a heightened
level of responsibility should result from green burial (Feagan, 2007). Although leaving
one’s body for reintegration after the life-force leaves is a minor act, the moral content of
a change in practice may bring critical changes in consciousness (Feagan, 2007).
The scale of anthropogenic effects upon the landscape seems insurmountable,
especially in the form of a single green burial. The power of the act is symbolic, as a
gesture to inform future values and help reshape them. A generation that has more
interest in their own well-being and a general lack of interest in the future will engender
those values to ones’ children. Intergenerational equity means thinking and acting across
generations for the preservation of the environment. De-centering ourselves as the sole
arbiters of value, we become a part of nature, rather than apart from nature (Feagan,
2007). We need a rethinking in modernist society of continuity of life after death as it
relates to the basic functions of the biosphere. This would result in a comprehensive and
responsible ethical norm of returning our bodies to the environment as a conscious act
and practice, recognizing intrinsic value of nature (Feagan, 2007).
We must acknowledge our social, cultural, and economic structures as they relate
to our values and morals (Feagan, 2007). Re-conception of identity can re-imagine death
in terms of reciprocity; an ethic of mutual nurturance (Plumwood, 2008). By placing
ourselves and the future in an ecological framework through a rethinking of our
narratives and practices, we see ourselves acting as part of continuity, rather than at war
between life and death (Plumwood, 2008). This requires us to look to continuity for
comfort, for our context in the future.

35

Cemeteries, long-standing, culturally important landscapes, serve a variety of
purposes beyond the initial burial. We cannot simply create a new way of doing this out
of context with social and cultural norms. Green cemeteries offer an opportunity for an
alteration of practices for the purpose of a more bountiful outcome. Important to us now,
cemeteries continue in importance into the future, even though styles change. Instead of
being separated from life, cemeteries can become a place that fosters life.
The acceptance of the idea of green cemeteries will happen in its own way in each
community, with each community deciding what their needs are and how green
cemeteries can address them. The iterations of green cemeteries have the potential to
address issues unique to those communities, and thus the potential to be expressed in
their unique ways. Our connection to place through emotional ties helps to create our
personal identity in concerns to culture and ecological connection. Geographic change of
location has decreased our connections and feelings of responsibility to place even
though people and place are interdependent (Feagan, 2007).
Advanced planning may give rise to personal and cultural apprehensions
anticipating death (Francis, 2000), although not unusual and often a great relief to family
and friends. Green cemeteries offer plots pre-need and can plant a tree for immediate
ecological advantage. This allows a person to create something life affirming while still
alive. Imagine having a family tree.
Feagan argues that we need a shift in our moral valuation away from
anthropocentric to bio-centric. My assertion: using our anthropocentric values create care
for these places, and because of their very anthropocentric value will easily show intrinsic

36

value. Ergo, the very fact that there are people buried under that forest will keep the
forest in place and keep it sacred. Our dead are venerated here. The results provide a
multitude of services valued by humans. Thus through our own desires and values,
placing ourselves at the center of the universe, we have actually affected positive change
through maximizing a slight alteration in something we are already doing. Landscapes
emerge where the emotions of grief and nature are once again linked as symbolic
partners.

37

References:
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(Ovis aries) in soil affect subsequent decomposition? Applied Soil Ecology, 40,
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Clayden, Andrew, & Katie Dixon. (2007). Woodland burial: Memorial arboretum versus
native woodland? Mortality, 12(3), 240-260.
Feagan, Robert. (2007). Death to life: Towards my green burial. Ethics, Place, and
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Howarth, Glennys. (2000). Dismantling the boundaries between life and death.
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Marino, Mike. (2009, January 14). What is old is new again. Prosser Record-Bulletin, p.
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Matero, Frank G., & Judy Peters. (2003). Survey methodology for the preservation of
historic burial grounds and cemeteries. APT Bulletin, 34(2/3), 37-45.
The Meadow at Greenacres. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2011 from Moles Family Funeral
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41

Appendix I
These cremation statistics compiled by the Cremation Association of North
America (cremationassociation.org) and presented on the National Funeral Directors
Association’s website chart American interest in cremation and projected into the future
(National Funeral Directors Association, 2010). This illuminates contextual information
about the changing nature of dispositions in America. Information concerning data
source is detailed at the end of this projection.
2025 Projections based on past 5 years’ average percent change and
Cremations to Deaths Projections-2010 and 2025
State
Alabama *
Alaska *
Arizona *
Arkansas *
California ****
Colorado *
Connecticut **
Delaware **
District of Columbia
**
Florida **
Georgia **
Hawaii *
Idaho **
Illinois *
Indiana **
Iowa **
Kansas **
Kentucky **
Louisiana **
Maine *
Maryland **
Massachusetts **
Michigan **

2005
2005
Cremations
Deaths
4,679
48,106
1,764
3,058
26,603
44,562
5,457
27,654
120,883
232,211
16,486
29,563
10,240
29,515
2,279
7,675
2,454
82,004
13,794
5,961
4,910
26,162
11,925
5,908
6,280
4,880
6,346
6,844
12,662
14,448
32,158

5,391
170,050
65,683
9,329
10,665
102,922
54,874
27,875
24,774
40,386
42,012
12,806
44,044
53,447
86,933

%
9.73
57.68
59.7
19.73
52.06
55.77
34.69
29.69

Projections 2010
%
24.75
63.54
65+
23.98
55.88
62.43
39.66
34.27

45.53
48.22
21
63.9
46.04
25.42
21.73
21.19
25.35
12.08
15.1
53.44
28.75
27.03
36.99

65+
50.47
27.52
65+
52.42
29.67
47.12
26.65
34.59
18.41
21.31
62
35.46
30.29
45.21

Projections 2025
%

42

Minnesota *
Mississippi **
Missouri **
Montana *
Nebraska **
Nevada *
New Hampshire **
New Jersey *
New Mexico *
New York *
North Carolina **
North Dakota *
Ohio **
Oklahoma **
Oregon **
Pennsylvania **
Rhode Island ²
South Carolina **
South Dakota **
Tennessee ¹
Texas **
Utah **
Vermont **
Virginia **
Washington **
West Virginia **
Wisconsin **
Wyoming **
United States

State

14,38
2,806
12,746
5,050
3,980
12,815
5,187
12,868
6,767
36,841
16,715
632
27,414
7,257
19,667
34,830
3,022
6,386
1,555
5,998
35,001
2,946
1,886
15,057
29,412
4,318
15,944
1,863
778,025
2005
Cremations

37,594
38.25
29,257
9.59
54,692
23.3
8,554
59.04
14,882
26.74
19,692
65+
9,985
51.95
71,955
17.88
14,722
45.97
154,147
23.9
74,693
22.38
6,143
10.29
108,088
25.36
36,278
20
31,120
63.2
128,401
27.13
10,177
29.69
37,167
17.18
7,042
22.08
57,129
10.5
154,994
22.58
13,356
22.06
4,889
38.58
57,715
26.09
45,951
64.01
20,649
20.91
46,699
34.14
4,062
45.86
2,432,000 30.88%
2005
Deaths

45.5
14.69
32.05
65+
36.71
65+
57.45
30.01
52.63
28.13
29.65
11.58
30.91
27.73
65+
33.71
NA
20.21
31.69
NA
30.79
27.24
36.17
33.33
65+
65+
42.05
65+
38.15%

51.12%

Projections 2010
%
%

Projections 2025
%

*Official 2005 preliminary figure from National Vital Statistics, State Health Department or
similar entity. Fifteen states reported their numbers.
**Estimated using official 00-04 state data and 2004 confirmed death count from National Vital
Statistics.
***2005 United States death total from the National Vital Statistics.
****California cremation total collected from the Association of California Cremationists.

43

1-TN cremations derived from surveying state crematories and 2004 confirmed death count from
National Vital Statistics.
2-The state of Rhode Island began collecting cremation figures in 2005.

44

45