It was the moment when Todd Wallace’s parents committed to green burial. They had always loved the deer wandering in their backyard, and when Wallace took his parents to see his plots at Paxtang Cemetery’s green burial section, deer came through the wooded setting.
“My parents were really excited,” Wallace says. “They decided it made sense for them, too.”
As Lucy and Victor Wallace learned, green burials go easy on the earth, dispensing with the resource-consuming elements of traditional funerals. Sooner than he might have hoped, Todd Wallace buried both his parents there in The Wood’s Edge, as Paxtang Cemetery’s green section is known, but he bid goodbye through understated services and with the knowledge that they were resting in eco-friendly peace.
Green burials are not new, note funeral directors. For centuries, families have committed their loved ones directly to earth and sea. Even today, some religious traditions call for swift burials without embalming or elaborate trappings.
Today’s green burials encompass a range of choices. Some are as green as possible. Others incorporate a few eco-friendly options. Ever-changing funeral trends mean that more choices emerge every year.
Here, we answer your questions:
What is green burial? Green burials care for the dead with minimal environmental impact, according to the Green Burial Council. They conserve resources, reduce carbon emissions, protect worker health, and preserve habitat. Caskets, shrouds, and urns are non-toxic and biodegradable. Alesia Skinner, owner and CEO of the Harrisburg-area Paxtang Cemetery, transformed 12 acres into The Wood’s Edge to preserve existing greenery and enhance it with native trees and plants (paxtangcemetery.com/green-burial). “Green burial is like returning to what once was,” she says. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
What is a green cemetery? Cemeteries approved by the Green Burial Council commit to transparency and third-party oversight, while future owners cannot renege on ecological and esthetic promises. Paxtang Cemetery is southcentral Pennsylvania’s only Green Burial Council-certified cemetery and, with Epler’s Glenwood Glen in Berks County, one of only two between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. A master gardener designed The Wood’s Edge for cohesiveness and year-round color. There, engraved stones are river rock or naturally harvested boulders. Families do gravesite plantings that can include trees on some plots. The native plants attract wildlife, including foxes and, last fall, a flock of turkeys drawn to a bee balm patch. “They were in there every morning, kind of having breakfast,” says Skinner.
Can green burials be done in traditional cemeteries? Traditional cemeteries rarely allow direct committals, because, they almost universally require concrete burial vaults to encase caskets and prevent the ground from sinking. However, the Green Burial Council approves vault-optional “hybrid burial grounds.” In hybrid burials, a vault can cover the coffin in butter-dish style while the casket stays in direct contact with the earth, says Charles “Chad” Snyder III, of Charles F. Snyder Funeral Homes & Crematory, Lancaster (Green Burial Council-approved provider, snyderfunderalhome.com).
Isn’t cremation green? Cremation uses fewer resources than other options, but it burns fossil fuels—at high rates in older crematories, according to the Green Burial Council. Consider, too, that burial can preserve green space by preventing land from being developed, says Snyder.
Must a green burial be rushed? No. Bodies can be refrigerated, although Skinner recommends committal within five to seven days. Non-toxic “ecobalming” fluids are available, although not every funeral director keeps them in stock. Besides, notes Skinner, most people who choose green burial forego embalming to promote natural decomposition. Families can also opt for private viewings, without embalming, before visitations and services, says Snyder.
How much does a green burial cost? By dispensing with embalming, vaults, and elaborate caskets, green burials can cost 50 to 60 percent less than traditional arrangements, says Skinner. The average cost of a traditional funeral is $10,000 to $12,000, while a green funeral averages $5,600 to $7,200, she says. However, remember that supply and demand affect costs while green burials remain outside the norm, says Shannon Etzweiler, licensed funeral director at Etzweiler Family Funeral Service, York (etzweilerfuneralhome.com). One family under time constraints opted for cremation rather than bearing the high cost of overnight shipping an eco-friendly casket, she notes.
Will my religion support green burials? Skinner has hosted services of all faiths without encountering objections.
The green-burial decision is a very personal one. To Wallace, simply returning to the earth “seemed very natural to me.” He remembers standing with his parents on the verdant hilltop at The Wood’s Edge and sharing their satisfaction at “knowing that someday, that’s where they would be laid to rest.”
“I love the idea that they’re there,” he says. “It’s a very beautiful spot.”
Three tips to going green
Green burial is new to many people, so funeral professionals advise taking time to consider the options:
Making the decision: How green are you? That’s the question to ask, says Snyder. Is your daily life all-out eco-friendly, or do you lighten your environmental footprint in small steps? Wallace and his wife determined that they “aren’t complete tree huggers, but we have a great appreciation for our environment and the natural world around us.”
Consider the green spectrum: “You can go as green as you like, or you can go somewhere in between a traditional burial and a green burial,” says Gilbert J. “Gib” Parthemore, licensed supervisor at Parthemore Funeral Home & Cremation Services, New Cumberland (parthemore.com). Cremated remains can be committed to eco-friendly urns that biodegrade in the earth or sea. Memorial folders can be printed on recycled paper, or guests can register via iPad. Keepsakes might be seed packets for guests to plant. While options remain limited in the region, “if someone says they want as close to a green burial as possible, we’ll accommodate,” says Ashlee Etzweiler, licensed funeral director. “But we also want to make it as economical as they need. That’s the reality of green burial in our area.”
Pre-plan: Because green burials can be time-sensitive, pre-planning can help funeral directors gather in advance the vital statistics they’ll need to obtain burial permits and death certificates after death, so “the wheels can start turning immediately,” says Parthemore. Preplanning can also help family members get accustomed to the green-burial idea. “Once they understand why, and what it’s doing for the environment, and the legacy it leaves, it’s easier to get behind it,” says Skinner. Etzweiler Funeral Home’s pre-need specialist keeps in touch as years pass, assuring that plans remain relevant and, in the case of green burials, sharing new options that weren’t available when families sat down to pre-plan.
The first time Parthemore conducted a green burial at The Wood’s Edge, the shrouded body was transferred from the hearse to a custom-made cart. After the service, pallbearers manipulated straps to gently hand-lower their loved one into the earth. It was, Parthemore says, “really neat to watch,” and guests commented positively.
“I think once people are exposed to green burials, the numbers will go up,” he says.
And as Ashlee Etzweiler says, “If you have any questions, just ask. Most funeral directors will make it work somehow, so that you are happy with it. That’s our job.”
Find resources
Find approved cemeteries and funeral homes—plus certified providers of caskets, shrouds, and urns—at Green Burial Council, greenburialcouncil.org.
