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This is a new concept for my husband and myself. Our plans in the past have always been cremation but things are changing with some recent information we've read about natural burials that conserve land use. The idea of being laid to rest in a cemetery have never appealed to me but a preserve without headstones set among nature sounds quite nice.
We're presently in FL and know of at least one site where green burials are done here and have read about a few others in CA, SC, Maine, and Colorado, some already active and more in the planning stages.
Are you planning a green burial for yourself or someone in your family and if so where?
Thanks for sharing.
Not sure about that. I've gone about as far as I want with my wishes. I simply want a very small headstone and to be laid to rest in a simple pine box. Closed casket, no need to fill me up with chemicals so I can look sort of normal for an hour. Just closed casket pine box with photos of me and my family on top at the funeral. Then my body can return to dust without sitting in a chemical casket for 1000 years.
Carolinadreamin, I'm guessing you're talking about Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve, over in DeFuniak Springs, which is not too far from me, here in Northwest Florida. I've been on their website, and it has a great deal of information, though I've not yet made a trip over there to take a look. I've always made it clear to my crew that when I'm gone, I only want a plain pine box, no embalming, (it's disgusting, and bad for the environment), no funeral, just a quiet, simple memorial and/or a graveside service, and no big headstone. I don't need the big fanfare, I want my body to go into the ground, naturally, and I certainly don't want scads of money spent, just to plant me in the ground!
Then, when I started reading about green burials about a year or two ago, I knew I was on the right track. I don't know about the other green burial sites, across the country, (by the way, I've read that there is also one in New Mexico, as well as the places you mentioned), but the one here is very reasonable on their prices for that little plot of land, (they even sell caskets), and I like the idea of giving something back to the environment, and being buried in a quiet wooded area. Who wants to be buried in a crowded cemetery, surrounded by strangers, for eternity, especially when you're definitely not a people person??!!
Carolinadreamin, I'm guessing you're talking about Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve, over in DeFuniak Springs, which is not too far from me, here in Northwest Florida. I've been on their website, and it has a great deal of information, though I've not yet made a trip over there to take a look.
Then, when I started reading about green burials about a year or two ago, I knew I was on the right track. I don't know about the other green burial sites, across the country, (by the way, I've read that there is also one in New Mexico, as well as the places you mentioned), but the one here is very reasonable on their prices for that little plot of land, (they even sell caskets), and I like the idea of giving something back to the environment, and being buried in a quiet wooded area. Who wants to be buried in a crowded cemetery, surrounded by strangers, for eternity, especially when you're definitely not a people person??!!
LOL!
I don't mind people but maybe other deceased people would get on my nerves if I had to spend eternity as their neighbors. After all there could be more than a few who aren't happy about being there and would make lousy friends. heh heh
You and the previous poster are talking about exactly what appeals to us about natural, simple burials sans the embalming. I was traumatized seeing my beloved grandfather in the coffin.
It was ghoulish and looked nothing like him even with embalming, so the idea of open caskets for us is OUT!
We will be living in SC in the future and loved the looks of Ramsey Creek which sounds like the one by you. I really hope they catch on! An idea whose time has come...
I'm curious as to what exactly is a "green burial?" Is one's body supposed to decompose naturally and be used for fertilizer? How long will you or your family 'own' the land - into perpetuity (sp?)? Who would have right to the land, and for how long, etc.
The whole idea sounds like a suspicious sales pitch to me. So, one dies, get buried with no embalming in a pine casket (or wrapped in a linen shroud), then put into the ground. It's a great, simple idea, but before you do anything like PAY them, please check things thoroughly.
Are these "green burial" sites designated as a cemetery, or a 'nature preserve'? If they do not allow for the plot to be grandfathered to a descedant - and it would not in a nature preserve - then I'm probably right about it being a lousy sales pitch. You will pay to be buried in a plot on a nature preserve - you will not own the land. And that will lead to a host of problems.
Take care - this is a non-profit organization, yet only 25% of its revenue goes towards upkeep of the "preserve". That leave 75%, for what? They've got to be kidding with those figures.
Every other non-profit organization I've come across, posts its tax records on site, as well as its board of directors and how much they earn. The lack of that information on their site should be cause for concern.
Do what you will, and be happy, but please know what you're getting into. Non-profit only means they are tax-exempt; again, someone is making money, and a lot of it.
Hey SeeBee thanks for the reality check. I have done no in-depth research along those lines and would definitely check every aspect of anything before I paid.
All I'm referring to is the "concept" at this point, which as compared to the usual way to be laid to rest seems much better on several levels especialy the high cost of dying in this funeral-home oriented society.
But yes, as always, buyer beware.
Hey SeeBee thanks for the reality check. I have done no in-depth research along those lines and would definitely check every aspect of anything before I paid.
All I'm referring to is the "concept" at this point, which as compared to the usual way to be laid to rest seems much better on several levels especialy the high cost of dying in this funeral-home oriented society.
But yes, as always, buyer beware.
Absolutely! I certainly would not buy anything from them, or any of the other places until I had thoroughly researched them, but that is true of anything. I am still quite interested in the concept though, and think it is worthy of further investigation, (just because any one place might be a sham, doesn't necessarily negate the entire concept). I really don't want to be buried in a "regular" graveyard, if at all possible. But, I know that I still will not be embalmed, (it's not required by law, except in rare cases, or if the body is being transported long distances). I will be using a plain wood casket, (and I've already informed my family that I will come back and haunt them, if they have an open casket!), a very small stone, if any, and it will be a very simple service, nothing long and drawn-out. I can do at least that much, even if the green burial concept was a con, (though, from what I have read thus far, I'm not convinced that it is, but certainly caution is the word of the day, just as with any purchase).
I've always assumed cremation and scatter or ditch the ashes. It's good enough for my dogs (ashes in the rock garden with a name tag), it's good enough for me.
My father wants to be cremated but ashes buried at a VA cemetary with a small headstone (I think they all get the same kind of flat stone). He says he doesn't care what's on the stone as long as a big honkin Jewish star is on it, to show that Jews fought in every war, and he in Europe. He said he didn't want any of the military stuff, and he specifically told me "Don't let your sister do any of her praying over me. If anyone is going to pray, I want a rabbi." "So, Dad, do you want a rabbi?" "NO. I just don't want your sister."
I think burial is psychologically weird, besides not-green. Then, if you don't happen to have people to pay attention to your stone, then it's pathetic. I can do without all of it, and my will says so.
I think burial is psychologically weird, besides not-green. Then, if you don't happen to have people to pay attention to your stone, then it's pathetic. I can do without all of it, and my will says so.
Personally, while I'm not against cremation, I'm not really too enthusiastic about it, either. Also, though traditional burial is not "green", we can make it green, or at least more so, simply by utilizing some of the ideas put forth in earlier posts, (even one's costs for a burial can be reined in, if one keeps things simple. The funeral industry, as a whole, is certainly not above using a family's grief to take advantage of their wallet,). And, cremation may not be as green as we've been previously led to believe, due to the fuel that must be used, and the pollutants released into the air, etc., (based on what I've read thus far, about this issue), although it one of the less costly ways of doing things.
Frankly, I think the concept of a green burial is actually a good one, (so long as precautions are taken, such as those mentioned before, in SeeBee's post), and it's certainly nothing new, (and the U.S. isn't the first one to think of it, in this day, and age. They've been doing it for awhile, over in Britain, from what I've read). Up until the Civil War, embalming wasn't used in the U.S. During the War, so many young men were so far from home, when they died in battle, and their families desperately wanted them brought home, for burial. Ice was costly, and not always effective for long distances, so a doctor, (I don't remember his name, or what side he was on), came up with the concoction for embalming, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So, here we are, 150 years later, looking at "green" burials as though they are the newest things since sliced bread, (indeed, many are even suspicious of it), when, instead, it's merely the idea of returning to a simpler way of doing things, (discounting those who want to have a major send-off, for themselves, or a family member, of course). Ultimately, we each have to choose what we believe is the best thing, for ourselves, and our families. Some folks want cremation, some want the big costly funeral, some want a burial at sea, or to be sent up into space. And some of us would be just as happy, rolled up in a blanket, and stuck in a tree, or placed in a wood box, and planted in the ground!
As far as the stone goes, if I have one, (I haven't decided), it would only be a very small one, though it really isn't all that important to me to have one, at all. But, I know what you are saying. Sometimes, it is kind of sad to see old, broken-down stones in a graveyard, but time has a way of getting in the way of things. Sometimes, other family members and descendants move; sometimes they all die off, and sometimes they just simply forget after a few generations. My ancestors are scattered all over this country, from the eastern seaboard, to the Pacific coast, and all points in between, and I don't know where most of them are. Time just marches on, and most of us will be eventually forgotten, whether it's in 50 years, 100 years, or a 1000 years. Now, how's that for a cheerful thought!
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After all there could be more than a few who aren't happy about being there and would make lousy friends. heh heh 
RE: Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve
). And, cremation may not be as green as we've been previously led to believe, due to the fuel that must be used, and the pollutants released into the air, etc., (based on what I've read thus far, about this issue), although it one of the less costly ways of doing things.
