Alternative Funeral Monitor

YouTube - Departures Movie Trailer

YouTube - Departures Movie Trailer.

"We'd like to recommend the 2009 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, currently in theaters. "Departures" is a moving, inspiring glimpse into Japan's cultural heritage of caring for a body after death. 

When a young Tokyo cellist loses his orchestra job, he and his wife move back to his hometown. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures," thinking it's a travel agency only to discover that the job involves washing and casketing bodies. Daigo overcomes his initial revulsion and comes to love the reverential ceremonies, which are transformational for the families involved  .  .  .  and eventually for him and his wife.

"Departures" beautifully depicts an approach to death that could teach our culture much.  It is midway between a mainstream funeral and caring for our own at home.  Although a professional washes and dresses the body, it happens in the deceased person's home with the family surrounding their loved one during the entire ritual. There is no embalming. Shocking, funny, and profoundly moving things happen during this process.

Anyone interested in threshold work, spiritual openings, emotional transformations, or exquisite filmmaking will enjoy "Departures." To see a trailer, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaFRCLAYEF0

Nancy Manahan & Becky Bohan
MT Threshold Network

The life and times of Bobby Ubangi | Atlanta | Music | Feature

The life and times of Bobby Ubangi | Atlanta | Music | Feature.

The life and times of Bobby Ubangi

How Atlanta's garage-rock mascot saved himself before dying

Published 06.30.09

By Chad Radford

"Following his diagnosis, B Jay developed a phobia of cremation, and the idea of being embalmed doesn't appeal to him, either. Instead, he's opting for a "green burial" at a monastery near Conyers."

The phone call interrupts dinner around 6 p.m. on a Thursday. It's my girlfriend's birthday and our meals have just been served up at her favorite Italian restaurant. Normally, I wouldn't answer at a time like this, not even for my own mother. But the picture of B Jay pops up on my phone's screen, his arms outstretched like Mr. Bill when he's about to get squashed. I have to answer.

The life and times of Bobby Ubangi | Atlanta | Music | Feature.

Illinois Funeral Scam- Government vs Association-YourFuneralGuy. « Yourfuneralguy’s Weblog

Illinois Funeral Scam- Government vs Association-YourFuneralGuy. « Yourfuneralguy’s Weblog.

In the Illinois Funeral Directors Association Scandal it has come down to the State Government verses the Illinois Funeral Directors Association. This does not place the odds in favor of the Funeral Directors Association. The Association does look like the bad guy for misappropiating, misusing, stealing, between 59 Million and 100 million dollars.

Bishop Alan’s Blog: So farewell, then: Jade Goody RIP

Bishop Alan’s Blog: So farewell, then: Jade Goody RIP.

Some may scoff at the considerable outpouring of warm feeling for Jade Goody, but her story has touched and inspired millions of people at a gut level. Why not respect love, courage and passion for life in someone else, just because they came to public attention as loud, brash and crude? The doctrines of the Incarnation and Grace, rightly understood, make it obvious that it is possible to be both.

Christians join pagans and humanists to open woodland burial site - Communities - Beaconsfield

Christians join pagans and humanists to open woodland burial site - Communities - Beaconsfield.

Christians join pagans and humanists to open woodland burial site Posted by Polly Manser on May 16, 09 12:01 AM in Beaconsfield News Leaders of 11 faiths travelled to Beaconsfield to dedicate the largest woodland burial park in the country yesterday. Set in ancient woodlands off the A40, the £3.2 million Chilterns Woodland Burial Park at Potkiln Lane opened in October and so far around 40 people are buried there.

By the time it is full around 2000 people will have been laid to rest there, as part of a growing trend away from traditional funerals.

License requirement keeps casket prices high

By Frank Mastropolo

June 16 — When a loved one dies, few people want to shop around for the best price on the casket. That’s why many people simply accept the price quoted by their funeral director.

     And that’s also why many people end up paying too much for a casket.

     To address the need to hold down funeral costs, over 300 retail casket stores have sprung up across the country. Consumers say they can save thousands of dollars on the price of a casket when buying from these stores. Customers choose the casket at the store, which then ships the casket to the funeral home.

     Federal law allows third-party casket sales; in fact, funeral homes are required to accept delivery of third-party caskets and not charge extra for their use. But in several states, only licensed funeral directors are permitted to sell caskets, and retail casket stores have been forced to close their doors. Those who violate the law risk fines and imprisonment.

     In Meridian, Miss., casket store owner Ricky Dancy learned the hard way that funeral directors in his state enjoy a monopoly on casket sales. Dancy was arrested after a funeral director complained that Dancy sold a casket to Mary Anderson, whose son had died. Anderson told 20/20 that she saved $2,000 — half the price of a comparable casket she was shown at the funeral home — by shopping at Dancy’s casket store.

     Later this year, a federal court may consider whether it is constitutional for Mississippi to require that only funeral directors sell caskets at the time of death. Dancy’s case will be considered after the constitutionality of the state law is decided.

     Casket store owners say that obtaining a funeral director’s license is an unnecessary burden because all they are doing is selling caskets. They are not handling the body or conducting funerals. The funeral industry stresses that it offers caring and compassionate service, while casket stores are only concerned with selling caskets. John Carmon, speaking for a funeral directors’ association, told 20/20 that funeral directors can meet or beat the prices offered by casket stores.

     Casket sales provide a big part of the profit in a funeral service. John Stossel, in his “Give Me A Break!” segment, asks why these states have created a cozy monopoly on casket sales for funeral directors.

     Instead of protecting the profits of the funeral industry, shouldn’t the politicians be looking out for the consumer? When it comes to money, they say you can’t take it with you, but must funeral directors get so much of what’s left?                

(from ABC News)
	License Requirement Keeps Casket Prices High Individual retailers often sell caskets considerably cheaper than funeral directors. In some states, however, retailers without a funeral director’s license can face fines and imprisonment. (ABCNEWS.com)

Austin Daily Herald | 'Solar' customers land rebate checks

Austin Daily Herald | 'Solar' customers land rebate checks.

By Lee Bonorden (Contact)
Austin Daily Herald
Published Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Kelly Lady was a happy energy services consultant for Austin Utilities Monday. Lady visited Good Earth Natural Foods, Jay C. Hormel Nature Center and Worlein Funeral Home and handed out rebate checks Monday for their participation in Austin Utilities’ Solar Choice program.

“As a municipal utility, we are here to provide a benefit to our customers,” Lady said. “If our customers are interested in installing renewable energy projects, we are here to support them and help them along the way.”

Every unit of electricity produced by solar is a unit that does not need to be produced by burning fossil fuels. Surveys have shown that most people prefer solar electricity over other forms of energy production and want to see solar energy used on a greater scale.

In Home Funerals, Families Care For Their Dead : NPR

In Home Funerals, Families Care For Their Dead : NPR.

In Home Funerals, Families Care For Their Dead

Listen Now [30 min 8 sec] add to playlist

Talk of the Nation, April 30, 2009 · When a loved one dies, most families look to professionals at funeral homes to help with the final arrangements.

But until the last century, most funerals took place at home. In home funerals, family members prepare the body for viewing and burial.

Guests:

Max Alexander, author and freelance journalist. His story, "The Surprising Satisfactions of a Home Funeral," appeared in the March issue of Smithsonian magazine

Lisa Carlson, executive director of the Funeral Ethics Organization, and author of Caring for the Dead

Glenn Taylor, president and owner of Glenn Funeral Home and Crematory in Owensboro, KY, and president of Selected Independent Funeral Homes

Two Arlington women preach environmentalism after death - The Boston Globe

Two Arlington women preach environmentalism after death - The Boston Globe.

Ruth Faas and Sue Cross watched attentively as the crimson ecopod decorated with the gold Aztec sun symbol was lowered into a grave at Mount Auburn Cemetery last May. Cemetery administrators had proposed a test run with an empty casket to see how its papier-mache material, shaped like an Egyptian mummy's sarcophagus, would work with the hydraulic equipment that typically handles heavy, oblong coffins. Despite a little wobble, the conventional lift handled the 40-pound ecopod just fine - good news for Faas and Cross.

Ashland, Oregon - Now you can go green all the way to the grave

MailTribune.com: Now you can go green all the way to the grave.

February 03, 2009

By JOHN DARLING

for the Mail Tribune

You create a big carbon footprint all your life — and you don't want to keep doing it in death, right?

If that's what you're thinking, then you might want to check out a "green burial," in which no embalming chemicals are used and you go to your final resting place in a casket made of woven willow, sea grass or pine, "so the body can do what it's designed to do, decompose," says Tim Simonsen of Litwiller-Simonsen Funeral Home in Ashland.

The idea goes against much conventional thinking, Simonsen acknowledges.

"A lot of people want a metal casket to keep the elements out," he says. "I hear it a lot that people don't want the body in contact with dirt and worms; they wantthe casket clean and dry. But that's changing."

Ann Arbor business notes - Ann Arbor Business – MLive.com

Ann Arbor business notes - Ann Arbor Business – MLive.com.

Ann Arbor business notes

by The Ann Arbor News

Tuesday February 03, 2009, 9:40 PM

Mike Mitchell, vice president of Staffan-Mitchell, Caskey-Mitchell Funeral Homes was appointed to the board of directors for The Green Burial Council, the first licensed funeral director and deathcare provider to serve on its board.

Visit Staffan-Mitchell's website for "Green Options":
http://www.mitchellfuneral.com/Merchandise.htm

Freethought San Marcos: In these economically tough times, a bit of relief | San Marcos Mercury

Freethought San Marcos: In these economically tough times, a bit of relief | San Marcos Mercury.

This is not information most people get excited about.

After all, no one likes to contemplate using the services of a funeral home. That’s one reason the funeral business is called the “dismal trade” by some. But in December, two long-time funeral directors at Pennington Funeral Home left to form a new funeral service for San Marcos families -– Goodnight & Snell Funeral Directors. The principals, John Goodnight and Jonathan Snell, are offering a full range of lower-cost funeral services to families in the San Marcos area from their location at 101-B Centerpoint Road, just west of the outlet malls, near Hunter Road, in the Centerpoint Business Park.

The new funeral service is next to an allergy clinic, adjacent to two churches (one of which is available for use for large funerals or memorial services), and near a construction company office. Goodnight & Snell’s prices are moderate, the lowest offered in San Marcos, based on the most recent funeral price survey done each year by the Austin Memorial Burial & Information Society, AMBIS.

Visit the site to read the post and comments

Death, dying, and disposal - On Line Opinion - 10/2/2009

Death, dying, and disposal - On Line Opinion - 10/2/2009.

[This is a good editorial by Zenith Verago, a very effective advocate for natural funerals in Australia -- ed]

Is death the final frontier? The last taboo? I don’t think so. Death and dying are a very natural part of our life cycle. It may be expected or sudden, long and slow, accidental and fast; we don’t know when or how, but we do know its coming.

Some people may find this a shocking revelation, others just a simple fact of life. Familiarity with death is something that has been slowly eroded from our modern lifestyles; it has been taken away from us and become big business.

Green funerals bring back old ideas - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Green funerals bring back old ideas - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

By William Loeffler, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, February 9, 2009

Some regard cemeteries as tranquil anterooms to the afterlife. Others see them as hazardous-waste sites, full of chemically treated wood and steel caskets, formaldehyde embalming fluid and concrete burial vaults.

The grass could be much greener on the other side; however, say advocates of green burial, an environmentally conscious exit strategy.

"The green burial involves no embalming whatsoever," says Daniel D'Alessandro, supervisor of Daniel D'Alessandro Funeral Home in Lawrenceville. "The caskets must be biodegradable with no steel, no burial vault."

Canberra, Australia - Cemetary's first sod to be turned 'next year' - Local News - News - General - The Canberra Times

Cemetary's first sod to be turned 'next year' - Local News - News - General - The Canberra Times.

The ACT Government expects the proposed southern Canberra cemetery and crematorium to cost more than $10million and wants to begin work next year. The Cemeteries Authority Board has identified 220ha of land near Fadden and Macarthur which could be used for the 50ha cemetery. It includes the former site of the controversial Tuggeranong data centre and power station. The board will carry out a feasibility study on the project, with community consultation to begin late this month.

ABC Local - New cemetery needs natural burial options: ACT Greens

ABC Local - New cemetery needs natural burial options: ACT Greens.

The ACT Greens are calling for any new cemetery in Canberra to include a broader range of burial options.

A site near Mugga Lane has been identified as a suitable location for a third cemetery and possible crematorium.

Greens MLA Caroline Le Couter says many Canberra residents are concerned about the environment in life and in death.

She say she would like to see a community discussion around natural burial options which involve biodegradable coffins and shrouds.

"Body is buried, you plant a tree on top of it as a memorial, rather than having a big headstone and a slab, it becomes a beautiful natural space to remember someone at," she said.

Bob Smeaton from the Cemeteries Board also says he hopes natural burials can be an option in the new cemetery.

"Naturally, the requirements of burial will have to be maintained but we are open-minded in terms of what options people wish to follow and we'll look to providing for those within reason," he said.

Mr Smeaton says with 70 per cent of locals now choosing cremation, there is a strong case for a crematorium to be co-located with any new cemetery.

He says community consultation will begin later this month and last for eight weeks.

"As part of the feasibility study Canberrans will be asked to give feedback on the suitability of this location, its design and the type of cemetery they would like to see built," he said.

New Zealand - Council to decide on proposal for natural burial plots - Local News - Taranaki Daily News

Council to decide on proposal for natural burial plots - Local News - Taranaki Daily News.

By MATT RILKOFF matt.rilkoff@tnl.co.nz - Taranaki Daily News | Wednesday, 04 February 2009

Oakura residents may soon have two choices of how they want their bodies laid to rest.

The Kaitake Community Board yesterday voted in favour of developing the Oakura cemetery to include both traditional plots and space for natural burials.

The proposed development would see the village's deceased right for more than 100 years with about 650 plots added to the 32 available now.

How we did it ... Alternative burials give hope to woodland areas - town planning case studies - PlanningResource

How we did it ... Alternative burials give hope to woodland areas - town planning case studies - PlanningResource.

With many cemeteries almost crammed to bursting point, one of the fastest growing environmental trends is for woodland burial sites. Last month Bidwells secured permission for a woodland burial park at Pitlands Wood near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, the third such site it has delivered for Colney Memorial Parks. The first, at Colney Wood near Norwich, opened in 2000 and the second is under development in the Epping Forest green belt.

Heritage cemeteries see the light with a renewed interest in forested settings, native plants and tourism – OregonLive.com

Heritage cemeteries see the light with a renewed interest in forested settings, native plants and tourism – OregonLive.com.

There were no musical concerts in the Eugene Masonic Cemetery 15 years ago. No art shows exploring grief and mourning inside the marble halls of the circa 1913 Hope Abbey Mausoleum, either. Certainly no interpretive signs telling stories about the dead or marking the 100 native plants and shrubs growing among the graves.

VIDEO CBC.ca News - Going Green

CBC.ca News - Going Green.

VIDEO on Canadian cemeteries adding natural options:
http://www.cbc.ca/video/popup.html?http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/news/features/greenburials080526.wmv

Metro Times - News+Views: Grave debate

Metro Times - News+Views: Grave debate.

Grave debate -  After-death disagreements spread to court 
January 21, 2009
By Sandra Svoboda

Thomas Lynch and Lisa Carlson have a lot in common.

Both are published authors, are popular among their peers and have public followings. Both are widely quoted "experts" in their field. Both seem to view their work as a calling as well as a profession. Both eloquently, rationally and convincingly address issues related to death, hoping to reach an American public that is often in denial, reluctant or ill-informed regarding end-of-life arrangements.

But Carlson, a watchdog of the funeral industry, and Lynch, a Milford funeral director whose family owns six funeral homes in southeast Michigan, have publicly disagreed for more than a decade, often discussing and debating their points of view in the media and at conferences. They know each other. They read each other's work. They disagree over numerous points, from the meaning of death to what ceremony and customs should accompany it. But, mainly, they clash over the extent to which the law should dictate the role of funeral directors play. Now their dispute has moved into the courtroom.

VISIT THE PAPER FOR THE ACTIVE LINK - ARCHIVED HERE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE ONLY

Margaret Krome: Natural burial is a better alternative

opinion: Margaret Krome: Natural burial is a better alternative.

The Capital Times
Margaret Krome: Natural burial is a better alternative
8/19/2008 5:18 am

Last month, I revisited my parents' close-to-nature weekend home in the Virginia Blue Ridge foothills. There was no place on earth that my father loved more, and in April my daughter, a sister, and I accompanied my mother there to place his ashes. When we held our memorial service in November, the stream on the property wasn't running, so it hadn't felt quite right to my mother.

We waited until spring. It was sprinkling slightly that day in April, but my mother did not want to ride to the remote part of the property where she wished to spread his ashes. Walking gave us all time to reflect on the many ways that my father, Jack, felt present to us as we proceeded. The engineering projects, the native trees he loved, the invasive ones he fought.

In July, when we visited again, it felt right to be there, even for my mother, even without my father. We appreciated having him memorialized nearby.

Eco-cemetery public presentation | Addison County Independent

Eco-cemetery public presentation | Addison County Independent.

Eco-cemetery public presentation

Submitted by Addison Independent on October 19, 2007 - 4:59pm Special for Sunday, Oct. 19 event

By CYRUS LEVESQUE BRISTOL —

For some, concern for the environment is a lifelong passion, but that doesn’t have to be the end of it. A local group is trying to start an eco-cemetery, where the interred are buried in biodegradable caskets without being embalmed, as an alternative to conventional burial methods.

 “It’s kind of an ecological alternative to being cremated or having their remains interred in a formal cemetery,” said David Brynn of Bristol. Brynn is chairman of the board of the Watershed Center, which owns the Waterworks Property on Plank Road in Bristol, the possible site of an eco-cemetery.

On Sunday, Oct. 21, beginning at 1 p.m. at the law offices of James Dumont, the Watershed Center will host a public presentation on eco-cemeteries and the feasibility of one in Bristol.

AARP Bulletin: Green Graveyards - A Natural Way to Go

At the Ramsey Creek Preserve in Westminster, S.C., graves are scattered discreetly among the tall pines and poplars marked with flat gravestones..

Date Posted: 2004-07-02 15:45:00-04:00

AARP Bulletin

In lovely woods just outside the tiny town of Westminster, S.C., discreetly scattered among the tall pines and poplars, are 20 graves, many hand-dug by Billy Campbell. The graves, mounds of earth dotted with wildflowers and bathed in dappled sunlight, are marked with flat stones engraved with the names of the dead—from a rock-ribbed Southern Baptist to a gentle New Age hippie.

Campbell, the town's only doctor, is an ardent environmentalist. He buries patients, friends and strangers—without embalming them—in biodegradable caskets, or in no caskets at all, in the nature preserve he created along Ramsey Creek. The burials are legal and meet all state regulations and health requirements. But in the beginning, many in this conservative town of 2,700 people were skeptical, even angry, about the Ramsey Creek Preserve, where the dead protect the land of the living.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust: Preserve brings green burials to Ohio | Farm and Dairy - The Auction Guide and Rural Marketplace

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust: Preserve brings green burials to Ohio | Farm and Dairy - The Auction Guide and Rural Marketplace.

Thursday, August 21, 2008 Ashes to ashes, dust to dust: Preserve brings green burials to Ohio by Andrea Zippay Get the Details Foxfield Preserve at The Wilderness Center Jennifer Quinn 9877 Alabama Ave. S.W. Wilmot, OH 44689-0202 330-763-1331 E-mail: jennifer@wildernesscenter.org Web site: www.foxfieldpreserve.org Learn more about green burial: www.greenburialcouncil.org www.memorialecosystems.com WILMOT, Ohio — Many a farmer has lived day in and day out in his or her blown-out leather work boots, holey blue jeans, and tattered shirts and hats that should have been retired long ago. And many of those same people have joked that their attire is so second-nature, so “them,” they’d be buried in their work clothes if they could. It’s a good option and downright encouraged at the new Foxfield Preserve, a nature preserve cemetery at the southwestern tip of Stark County, where green burial is the only way to go.

The Picayune Item - Alternative to traditional burial gains popularity

The Picayune Item - Alternative to traditional burial gains popularity.

Alternative to traditional burial gains popularity AP HERNANDO —

Dressed in jeans, Croc flip-flops, his favorite T-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt, Justin Borek was buried just like he lived. “Justin was not about the pomp and circumstance of life and that is why he wanted a green burial,” said his stepmother, Jennifer Borek of Hernando. “It was simple and peaceful just like Justin.”

Green burial can mean either cremation or a burial with no embalming, placing the deceased in a biodegradable wooden box or a shroud. No casket or vault are used. It is an alternative to traditional funerals that is gaining in popularity. Worldwide, many are choosing green burials as more personal and environmentally friendly goodbyes.

Demand up for Earth-friendly options - MLive.com

Demand up for Earth-friendly options - MLive.com.

Demand up for Earth-friendly options Sunday, September 21, 2008 BY TRACY DAVIS The Ann Arbor News It makes sense that a person with environmental sensibilities would want their last wishes to reflect a green-conscious lifestyle.

City Room™ - Chicago Matters - Chicago Matters: Death on the Green Plan

City Room™ - Chicago Matters - Chicago Matters: Death on the Green Plan.

Nine million of us live in the Chicago area. And one thing’s for sure: we are all going to die. What you may not know is what happens to all those bodies, and the effect they have on the environment. Chicagoland cemeteries take up thousands of acres.

FEATURE ARTICLE ON FRONT PAGE OF JANUARY, 2008 YB NEWS

FEATURE ARTICLE ON FRONT PAGE OF JANUARY, 2008 YB NEWS.

Davis Cemetery’s Historic Gate DAVIS,CA— These days the word “green” is on everybody’s lips. How does it relate to cemetery practices and what would green practices do to the bottom line? The Davis Cemetery District, a public cemetery in Davis, California, has been experimenting with green practices that include solar power, integrated pest management/native plantings, green burials, and using general “green sense”.

Green burials becoming more popular | WSBT South Bend - Your Local News Leader | Consumer News

Green burials becoming more popular | WSBT South Bend - Your Local News Leader | Consumer News.

NDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Environmental-friendly burial services are being offered across the country and are drawing attention from some Indiana funeral planners.

Local News | Cemetery a pioneer in green burial trend | Seattle Times Newspaper

Cemetery a pioneer in green burial trend

One of Clark County's oldest cemeteries is reviving a pioneer-era style of burial, in the hopes of appealing to modern environmental sensibilities.

By Erik Robinson

The Columbian, November 9, 2008

Local News | Cemetery a pioneer in green burial trend | Seattle Times Newspaper.

FERN PRAIRIE — One of Clark County's oldest cemeteries is reviving a pioneer-era style of burial, in the hopes of appealing to modern environmental sensibilities. Near the shadow of a grove of towering oaks, two graves stand out among hundreds of others scattered throughout the bucolic setting north of Camas. Each of those graves is topped by a mound of bare dirt surrounded by a frame of 2-by-6-inch boards. As the coffins and their contents decompose, the mound will settle.

"As soon as it goes down, I'll smooth it out and plant it just like everything else around here," said William Zalpys, the cemetery district commissioner who introduced the idea and began offering the service earlier this year.

Georgia natural cemetery approved

'Green' cemetery would help departed get back to nature | ajc.com.

Landowner Jim Bell will present his plan in a community meeting By DOUG NURSE The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday, August 18, 2008

Jim Bell of Milton envisions a way to keep his pasture green and enhance city efforts to buy and develop park land — only it involves a different approach to dealing with dead people.

Carroll County Times: Westminster, Maryland

Carroll County Times: Westminster, Maryland.

The newest trend in funerary services is green funerals. According to stopglobal warming.org, 89 percent of coffins currently sold are made of chipboard that is manufactured using formaldehyde. When such coffins are cremated, they can release toxic gases. They disrupt local ecosystems if burned, as the formaldehyde is released into the soil and groundwater.

 “Cremation also releases toxins such as dioxin, furans and mercury into the atmosphere,” said Kevin Harrison, associate professor of environmental policy and science at McDaniel College. “Buried bodies that contain embalming fluids will also eventually release the toxins to the environment.”

Biodegradable Coffins - New York Times

Biodegradable Coffins - New York Times.

This July, when Jorgi Wu was laid to rest in central California, she became the first American to be buried in an Ecopod — a 100 percent biodegradable coffin made of recycled paper. The seedpod-shaped coffin is designed to be planted in the ground, dissolve and replenish the earth with its nutrient-rich contents. Who needs embalming, cement vaults or herbicide-based lawn care?

Back to the earth - Faith & Values - Kentucky.com

'Green burials' don't preserve remains with enbalming, metal coffins

By Jay Levin - THE RECORD (HACKENSACK N.J.) - January 26, 2008

Back to the earth - Faith & Values - Kentucky.com.

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Genevieve Maiberger is excited about her burial. When the time arrives, the retired schoolteacher from Teaneck, N.J., will be placed in a linen shroud and planted in the earth of a hilltop in a lovely meadow, along with the ashes of her husband, Leo, now on the bedroom dresser. Golden daffodils will mark the grave in the spring

Grave Matters - A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial: Green Burial: The Visual Tour

Grave Matters - A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial: Green Burial: The Visual Tour.

Ireland - Muslim community in plea for more burial grounds - The Irish Times - Sat, Aug 30, 2008

Muslim community in plea for more burial grounds - The Irish Times - Sat, Aug 30, 2008.

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

LOCAL AUTHORITIES throughout the State should make more burial spaces available for Muslims as, currently, there is just one graveyard in the Republic where they can be buried, a spokesman for the community in Ireland has said. Ali Selim, secretary of the Irish Council of Imams and based at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Dublin's Clonskeagh, said: "If a Muslim dies in Cork or Galway he or she has to be brought to Newlands Cross cemetery in Dublin for burial." He noted that Muslims are regular visitors to the graves of relatives, arising from their belief that "the soul of a dead person can feel your presence at the graveside".

Salt Lake, UT -- Eco-friendly burial now an option - Salt Lake Tribune

By Stephen Hunt

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 12/26/2008 05:43:58 PM MST

Eco-friendly burial now an option - Salt Lake Tribune.

Imagine you or your loved one buried simply, in a plain pine box without the use of toxic embalming fluid and laid to rest in a place in harmony with the native landscape. Memorial Cemeteries and Mortuaries -- the first funeral company in the state to offer a "green burial" option -- can make it happen. They promise an eco-friendly funeral with a biodegradable casket. So far, Memorial has set aside one area, in the foothills above Bountiful, which meets the criteria for a green burial ground. However, a green funeral may be followed by burial in a conventional cemetery at any of memorial's seven locations including Redwood Memorial Mortuary at 650 S. Redwood Road.

Waukesha, WI - Waukesha cemetery might soon offer 'green' burials without coffins - JSOnline

Waukesha cemetery might soon offer 'green' burials without coffins - JSOnline.

By Darryl Enriquez of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Dec. 23, 2008

Waukesha - Part of the city-owned Prairie Home
Cemetery could become a nature preserve of woodland and meadows serving as a final resting place for people who want a natural burial free of metal caskets and chemicals. If plans for spending $40,000 on landscaping move ahead, the service could be offered by summer or fall, with landscaping to create woodland and meadow settings emerging in future years, cemetery manager David Brenner said Tuesday.

Natural Burials - First Southern Hemisphere Natural Ground in Wellington, Australia

Natural Burials - AOL Video.

Kinghorn Loch, UK -- Busy year ahead for Kinghorn - Fife Today

Busy year ahead for Kinghorn - Fife Today.

Published Date: 07 January 2009

By Tanya Scoon

• Number of projects planned for 2009 to improve life in village

KINGHORN Community Council is set for a busy year in 2009.

Several projects which will improve the village are set to be achieved, including the distribution of the Kinghorn Pathways Booklet, a viewpoint and picnic area at the Kinghorn cemetery steps, and a possible Rural Blue Flag award for Kinghorn Harbour Beach.

Steps are also being taken towards a possible Woodlands burial site at Kinghorn Loch and more recycling facilities for the village, which is meeting with mixed reaction....

http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/Busy-year-ahead-for-.4852943.jp

Macon, GA - Cemetery ordinance draws large crowd at meeting - Local & State - Macon

Wednesday, Jan. 07, 2009

Cemetery ordinance draws large crowd at meeting

By Jennifer Burk - jburk@macon.com

Cemetery ordinance draws large crowd at meeting - Local & State - Macon.

At least 40 people packed the Bibb County Commission board room Tuesday night as many came in protest and support of an ordinance regulating cemeteries. Beth Collins, CEO of Summerland Natural Cemetery, asked the commission to repeal an ordinance it passed in November that prohibits her from building a “green” cemetery in east Bibb County near the Twiggs County line.

Victoria, BC - Green Beyond the Grave

Green Beyond the Grave

Kerry Banks, Financial Post Magazine Published: Monday, January 05, 2009

Green Beyond the Grave.

If you go to pay your respects to someone buried at Royal Oak Burial Park's green cemetery in Victoria, you won't see any tombstones. In the park-like glade bordered by pines, you'll locate the grave with a GPS device. The dead haven't been buried in coffins, but instead were put into the ground - without being embalmed - in caskets made of biodegradable materials such as wicker, bamboo or even cardboard. Families can plant trees and wildflowers over the grave, and as the site fills up, it will gradually return to a forest. Royal Oak is the first cemetery in Canada to respond to the interest in green burials.

Indianapolis: "Green" burial options gaining popularity - News- msnbc.com

"Green" burial options gaining popularity - News- msnbc.com.

January 7, 2009

Indianapolis - There's a new way to bury a loved one in Indiana as the green movement is now affecting even the final resting place. It's the one experience everyone will face someday.

'Death midwife' as funeral alternative - Los Angeles Times

'Death midwife' as funeral alternative - Los Angeles Times.

With money tight, many families are holding funerals -- even burials -- at home. Specialists help out with the paperwork and other details.

By Cynthia Dizikes
December 26, 2008

Reporting from Washington -- When Jerrigrace Lyons goes out on a case, she carries a basic set of tools: makeup kit, cardboard caskets and a handbook with practical instructions for icing and transporting bodies.

Lyons is a "death midwife," a specialist in the little-known field of helping people manage the passing of a loved one -- outside the traditional funeral industry. As the nation reels through its worst economic crisis in decades, her business is booming.

Institute for Justice: Litigating for Liberty - Tennessee Caskets - Background

HISTORIC ARTICLE - 1999

Institute for Justice: Litigating for Liberty - Tennessee Caskets - Background.

As a pastor, Reverend Nathaniel Craigmiles counsels his parishioners through many tough times, including the deaths of loved ones. But when he tried to help his parishioners and the rest of Chattanooga simply by offering caskets at a retail store for a fraction of what funeral establishments charge, he met an unexpected foe. The state of Tennessee threatened him with criminal prosecution because he is not a licensed funeral director. Under similar duress, enterprising entrepreneurs Angela Brent and Jerry Harwood were forced to curtail operation of their new Knoxville-based business, The Casket Store.

Green Revolution Hits Dead End In Georgia Cemetery Proposal - WSJ.com

Green Revolution Hits Dead End In Georgia Cemetery Proposal - WSJ.com.

By PHILIP SHISHKIN

MACON, Ga. -- Elizabeth Collins, a gardener, birdwatcher and a self-described "renaissance woman," wanted to start a "natural" cemetery where bodies would be buried without embalming, coffins or vaults.

She and a partner bought a plot of land here and wrote a business plan that identified pagans, "old hippies," penny pinchers, environmentalists and Muslims -- who traditionally bury the dead without caskets -- as their target market. There would be room for 7,500 customers. Dead pets would be welcome, too.

The idea didn't sit well with the living.

Many residents in this socially conservative rural patch of central Georgia worried the cemetery would contaminate their water supply. Some also objected in principle to unconventional burial practices.

So on Nov. 4, the Macon-Bibb County commissioners killed the cemetery plan by voting in a new ordinance that requires a "leak-proof casket or vault" for burials. It became one of the first legal moves against a growing brand of environmentalism that is entering the graveyard.

Advocates of natural, or "green," cemeteries say conventional burials pollute the earth with embalming chemicals, disturb the land and waste energy in the production and transport of coffins and vaults.

"People who go to Whole Foods or Wild Oats are going to expect to have green offerings in a funeral home," says Darren Crouch, whose company, Passages International, makes biodegradable funeral supplies. Mr. Crouch says sales in 2008 were up 40% from 2007.

In the U.S., there are about 14 environmentally friendly cemeteries, up from just one a decade ago, and a few dozen more are in development, according to the Green Burial Council, a nonprofit that was established in 2005 and certifies sustainable cemeteries.

"I get a lot of calls from people thinking it's a groovy alternative to opening a bed-and-breakfast," says council director Joe Sehee.

Traditional funeral directors, who make money selling coffins and embalming services, have been ambivalent about green burials. But some say they don't want to miss out on the opportunity, as many in the business did when cremation took off a generation ago. In 2007, The Director, the monthly magazine of the National Funeral Directors Association, featured a cover story titled "Margins lean? Consider green."

Utahns can go green to the grave - Salt Lake Tribune

Utahns can go green to the grave - Salt Lake Tribune.

Bountiful » Imagine you or your loved one buried simply, in a plain pine box without the use of toxic embalming fluid and laid to rest in a place in harmony with the native landscape. It can happen at Lakeview Memorial Cemetery and Mortuary -- the first funeral home in the state to offer a "green burial" option. They promise an eco-friendly funeral with a biodegradable casket and interment in a natural setting in the foothills above Bountiful. "Violet, blue, yellow, silver, green -- the kaleidoscope of colors from Utah wildflowers -- paints a scene of untouched beauty," according to Lakeview's Web site. "Deer and other wildlife freely roam. This is pure nature. This is a pure burial."

5 Questions: One final green deed | argusleader.com | Argus Leader

5 Questions: One final green deed | argusleader.com | Argus Leader.

Chapel Hill Funeral Home & Crematory has been offering green burials for only a month, but Doug Houseman already has had three dozen inquiries about it.

"We've had a pretty fair amount of interest," Houseman said.

"The green burial has been something that's been discussed in our industry a little bit. ... The basic idea is to be as green as possible."

Northfield couple considers a 'dust to dust' greener burial

Northfield couple considers a 'dust to dust' greener burial.

After her father suffered a stroke, Robin Nash invited him to come to live at her Northfield home. Nash and hospice nurses cared for him at the house as an alternative to a nursing home.

“He died here at home, and I felt that was his la st gift to me,” Robin Nash said. “This was the first time I had been present when someone had died. This was such a revelation to me.”