Minimize the environmental impact
About Green Burial
Traditional burial with a coffin and especially with a vault uses 2.3 billion tons of concrete, 115 million tons of steel, and enough wood to be equivalent to 4 million acres of forest each year. In addition to reducing environmental impacts by not using these materials, green burial allows the body to return to the earth quickly. It eliminates the use of toxic embalming fluids and the burial of the metals in traditional caskets. Instead of being embalmed, the body may be washed and prepared, then wrapped in a sheet of simple fabric (often called a shroud). Alternatively, green burial may also involve use of a biodegradable casket. Cardboard or wicker caskets are two examples of green caskets that many people choose.
During a green shroud burial, we hand-dig our graves with a built-in earthen ‘niche’ that acts as a natural coffin. After digging 2.5 feet down we create a ledge that acts as both footing for family and friends who may wish to lower their loved one into the ground as well as a platform to support wooden boards that are laid across the ledge. In this way, the body is beneath the boards and no soil is directly placed onto the body. Instead, the body lies below the boards in a rectangular earthen ‘coffin.’ However, if loved ones desire this, the soil can go directly onto the body instead. Natural items may be placed in the grave with the body, for example, rose petals or other flowers. Shovels are available so that family and friends can fill the grave if they should wish.
Opening Cost
The opening cost pays for the preparation that is necessary to set up for and clean up after the day of the burial. This covers the cost of digging the grave, setting up chairs etc., before the burial, staff helping to fill in the dirt after the burial (if that is needed or desired) and aiding in the clean-up of leftover dirt after the burial. We arrange these elements for a simple burial. We can provide folding chairs and a pop-up canopy tent, if needed.
Plot Cost
The plot cost is the charge for using the land itself. When you buy a grave plot you are not purchasing the piece of land but rather paying for the right to bury someone in that specific plot. Only one green burial or coffin burial is possible within each plot; we cannot do double depth burials due to the fact that we dig the graves by hand, without machinery. Up to two cremains burials can be done in one plot. The plot cost also includes a contribution to the perpetual care fund. This fund is set aside so that the overhead costs associated with the maintenance of the burial ground can be guaranteed in perpetuity.