Where does one start? What questions need to be answered? These books will help start the conversation and answer many of your questions.
From the authors of Grave Expectations, Carmen Flowers and Sue Bailey:
"Life is such a rich, complicated, joyous, mysterious wild ride. Everyone has stories to tell and lessons to pass on, and what better way to do that than when you're alive? It was your life; your funeral is the one time you can do and say absolutely whatever you want.
As of this writing, there is no alternative to dying. Since there's no getting out of it, why not go ahead and plan your fantasy going "away" party?"
Carmen Flowers and Sue Bailey will be the guest speakers at the Annual Meeting on 10/31/2009 of the Consumers Funeral Alliance of Maine at The Highlands in Topsham, Maine. The meeting is open to the public at a cost of $10/person.
There will be an outstanding panel of people who have done home funerals and natural burials. They will share their stories and answer questions. Resources available include information about Maine's two natural cemeteries and Chuck Lakin's display of his alternative wood caskets. Peter McHugh of Cedar Brook Burial Ground will be available to answer questions.
Grave Matters by Mark Harris is also an excellent source of information.
"Whatever Happened to ‘Dust to Dust’?
You Can Still Find It in Green Burial.
By the time Nate Fisher was laid to rest in a woodland grave sans coffin in the final season of Six Feet Under, Americans all across the country were starting to look outside the box when death came calling.
Grave Matters follows a dozen such families who found in “green” burial a more natural, more economic and ultimately more meaningful alternative to the tired and toxic send-off on offer at the local funeral parlor."
Showing posts with label grave matters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grave matters. Show all posts
Monday, March 8, 2010
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Whatever Happened to ‘Dust to Dust’?
You Can Still Find It in Green Burial
By the time Nate Fisher was laid to rest in a woodland grave sans coffin in the final season of Six Feet Under, Americans all across the country were starting to look outside the box when death came calling.
Grave Matters follows a dozen such families who found in “green” burial a more natural, more economic and ultimately more meaningful alternative to the tired and toxic send-off on offer at the local funeral parlor.
Listen to the interview with Mark Harris on Fresh Air by host, Terry Gross.
By the time Nate Fisher was laid to rest in a woodland grave sans coffin in the final season of Six Feet Under, Americans all across the country were starting to look outside the box when death came calling.
Grave Matters follows a dozen such families who found in “green” burial a more natural, more economic and ultimately more meaningful alternative to the tired and toxic send-off on offer at the local funeral parlor.
Listen to the interview with Mark Harris on Fresh Air by host, Terry Gross.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Dust to dust (and no more) Limington’s green cemetery
by Cliff White, Staff Writer, Gorham Westbrook Gazette, November 16, 2007
Peter McHugh rides his all-terrain vehicle across the 2.1 acres of 150-acre property he has recently devoted to creating Maine’s first green cemetery.
He points out prospective locations for burial sites – little spaces of cleared land marked only by brown fallen leaves amidst a forest of mostly bare trees. . . .
Maine law allows small family graveyards no larger than a quarter-acre without the need for a permit, as long as no bodies are buried within 25 rods (413 feet) from the nearest land used for public recreation or potable water source. However, some years ago, McHugh decided he wanted to create a cemetery that gives others the option to be buried in a more natural fashion than otherwise available.
“I wanted to give people the option to be buried in the way they prefer,” McHugh says. “If they prefer a more environmentally friendly, less costly method of burial, then they should have that option.”
The town of Limington has no local ordinances regarding the development of commercial cemeteries, so McHugh needed only to apply to the state. In September, McHugh registered his cemetery – named the Cedar Brook Burial Ground after a local topographical feature – with the Department of Health and Human Services. McHugh says it took only about 10 days after the submission of his application to receive notice of his registration as a cemetery. . . .
McHugh allows customers to choose their own space in his cemetery, and to mark the spot with any local stone, which he says he will allow to be engraved. He says he will allow unlimited visitations by anyone interested. . . .
“Last year 22,500 cemeteries across the US buried 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid, 104,272 tons of steel, 2,700 tons of copper and bronze, 30-plus million board feet of hardwoods and 1.6 million tons of concrete,” Christensen says. “In purely ecological terms, how we bury our dead is unsustainable.”
Mark Harris, author of the book “Grave Matters,” an examination of alternative methods of burial, said green cemeteries are becoming more popular in America because they are easier on the environment. . . .
Green burials can also help save a different kind of green – the kind found in people’s wallets.
“Between charges for embalming, a metal casket, a vault, a headstone, the cemetery charges for a plot and the opening and closing of a grave, and the fee for perpetual care and maintenance of the gravesite, funeral costs today can easily run $10,000 or more,” Harris said. “Green burials, in contrast, run in the low thousands of dollars, and can be less depending on personal choices. So the cost differential is huge.”
McHugh says saving on funeral costs is a significant factor in choosing a green burial ground.
“It’s a simpler, less costly way to bury your loved one,” McHugh says. “Traditional funerals can get very expensive. I wanted to give people another option.”
For complete article
Peter McHugh rides his all-terrain vehicle across the 2.1 acres of 150-acre property he has recently devoted to creating Maine’s first green cemetery.
He points out prospective locations for burial sites – little spaces of cleared land marked only by brown fallen leaves amidst a forest of mostly bare trees. . . .
Maine law allows small family graveyards no larger than a quarter-acre without the need for a permit, as long as no bodies are buried within 25 rods (413 feet) from the nearest land used for public recreation or potable water source. However, some years ago, McHugh decided he wanted to create a cemetery that gives others the option to be buried in a more natural fashion than otherwise available.
“I wanted to give people the option to be buried in the way they prefer,” McHugh says. “If they prefer a more environmentally friendly, less costly method of burial, then they should have that option.”
The town of Limington has no local ordinances regarding the development of commercial cemeteries, so McHugh needed only to apply to the state. In September, McHugh registered his cemetery – named the Cedar Brook Burial Ground after a local topographical feature – with the Department of Health and Human Services. McHugh says it took only about 10 days after the submission of his application to receive notice of his registration as a cemetery. . . .
McHugh allows customers to choose their own space in his cemetery, and to mark the spot with any local stone, which he says he will allow to be engraved. He says he will allow unlimited visitations by anyone interested. . . .
“Last year 22,500 cemeteries across the US buried 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid, 104,272 tons of steel, 2,700 tons of copper and bronze, 30-plus million board feet of hardwoods and 1.6 million tons of concrete,” Christensen says. “In purely ecological terms, how we bury our dead is unsustainable.”
Mark Harris, author of the book “Grave Matters,” an examination of alternative methods of burial, said green cemeteries are becoming more popular in America because they are easier on the environment. . . .
Green burials can also help save a different kind of green – the kind found in people’s wallets.
“Between charges for embalming, a metal casket, a vault, a headstone, the cemetery charges for a plot and the opening and closing of a grave, and the fee for perpetual care and maintenance of the gravesite, funeral costs today can easily run $10,000 or more,” Harris said. “Green burials, in contrast, run in the low thousands of dollars, and can be less depending on personal choices. So the cost differential is huge.”
McHugh says saving on funeral costs is a significant factor in choosing a green burial ground.
“It’s a simpler, less costly way to bury your loved one,” McHugh says. “Traditional funerals can get very expensive. I wanted to give people another option.”
For complete article
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