Ecosensual Cemeteries

Preserving Mother Nature with our Choice of Final Resting Place

Death takes a terrible toll on family and friends. But it also takes a toll on the environment.  

Each year, 22,500 cemeteries across the United States bury approximately:

• 30 million board feet (70,000 m³) of hardwoods (caskets)
• 90,272 tons of steel (caskets)
• 14,000 tons of steel (vaults)
• 2,700 tons of copper and bronze (caskets)
• 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete (vaults)
• 827,060 US gallons (3,130 m³) of embalming fluid, which most commonly includes formaldehyde.

(Compiled from statistics by Casket and Funeral Association of America, Cremation Association of North America, Doric Inc., The Rainforest Action Network, and Mary Woodsen, Pre-Posthumous Society)

We believe that the money and resources put towards burying our dead should be redirected in a more eco-concious and spiritual manner.

Ecosensual Cemeteries: 8 Step Checklist for creating an Ecosensual Cemetery:

1. Ecosensual cemeteries should either be positioned on threatened land adjacent to national parks or other eco-sensitive areas or be large enough to serve as an effect nature preserve themselves.
2. The Ecosensual cemetery serves as a transitional ecosystem which buffers the park from development. Rangers should protect the property from poaching and access to the site should be limited.
3. An endowment is established to ensure maintenance of the property indefinitely. Also, conservation easements may be obtainable and if so, would result in tax assistance; however, our concept relies primarily on the sanctity of the site as burial grounds for indefinite protection.
4. The purchase of a burial site within the Ecosensual cemetery will buy the lifetime of a tree and its canopy, access trail maintenance, and gps markers and locating devices for loved ones to locate the resting site.
5. Only green burial are permitted in the Ecosensual cemetery. No vaults or liners will be buried. No embalming fluid is allowed. The casket or shroud should be of natural materials. The cemetery should have a very low density of gravesites.
6. Ecosensual cemeteries should be nondenominational. All funeral and burial customs should be respected and allowed as long as they are eco-neutral.
7. Ecosensual cemeteries should be involved in the local community. Many jobs such as Grounds Maintenance, Gravesite Preparation and so on can be sourced from members of the local community. Areas for other rituals and celebrations, such as marriage should be provided. The Ecosensual cemetery could work with programs for education, art, scientific research.
8. A biological survey should be done prior to purchase of the land and frequent continued surveys should be done to document changes to site ecology.  Ecosensual cemeteries have great potential to help endangered species by providing land as sanctuaries oriented towards helping them make a comeback.

This is a profitable business model.

We encourage anyone and everyone to use this idea to conserve land and provide a more meaningful burial experience for their loved ones.

External Resources:

Examples of Conservation Cemetery standards can be found here.

Eco-Burial Organizations:

• Forest of Memories
• Memorial Ecosystems
• Green Burial Council
• Trust for Natural Legacies
• Centre for Natural Burial
• Association of Natural Burial Grounds

Existing U.S. Conservation Cemeteries:

• Fernwood Burial Ground - Mill Valley, CA
• Ramsey Creek Preserve - Westminster, SC
• Honey Creek Woodlands - Conyers, GA
• Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve - DeFuniak Springs, FL
• Cedar Brook Burial Ground - Limington, ME
• The Commonweal Conservancy - Santa Fe, NM
• Greenspring Natural Cemetery Preserve- Newfield, NY
• The Ethician Family Cemetery - TX
• Foxfield Preserve - Wilmot, OH
• White Eagle Memorial Preserve - Goldendale, WA
• Rainbow's End - South Orrington, ME
• Mother Rest Sacred Grove (proposed) - Blaine, WA
• Prairie Wilderness Cemetery (proposed) - Denver, CO