Green Grows the Grave

More people are planning a so-called green burial when they die . Some want to
be laid to rest in a more natural setting called a conservation cemetery. Chuck
Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

More people are planning a so-called green burial when they die . Some want to
be laid to rest in a more natural setting called a conservation cemetery. Chuck
Quirmbach reports:


Green burials don’t use environmentally harmful chemicals to preserve the body
and avoid elaborate caskets or concrete burial vaults. In a few cities around the
US, the burials take place in conservation cemeteries. Those sites don’t mow
the grass or use lawn chemicals, and have grave markers that fit in with the
landscape.


Dave Drapac is with the Trust for Natural Legacies. He says despite the non-traditional process, green
burials are not a threat to public health:


“You know, if the person had a disease when they died, you’re gonna have to
take precautions, but you’d have to do that either way… and then the other issue with
burial, you have to make sure the cemetery is sited properly, just like any
cemetery does now, not near groundwater.”


Some funeral directors already offer a more environmentally-sensitive burial at
traditional graveyards.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach

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