While cycling past multi-million-dollar homes and upwards of million-dollar landscapes in Henlopen Acres, Delaware, I came upon this multi-acre cemetery in their midst and it just made me sad. Not for the dearly departed but for the waste of the precious resource that is land, especially in cities.
Another sign read: “Animals, Plantings, Loitering Prohibited. Police Patrolled.”
And dammit, there’s nothing there but hardscape and turfgrass. I guess it’s technically an “open space” but the minimal ecological services it performs are probably offset by all the mowing, blowing, feeding and weed-killing that’s done to make it look like that.
I DO wonder what would be done with this land if the church that owns it had to pay taxes on it. Probably sold off for more homes (with extensive landscaping) that would yield a hefty boost to city coffers.
But enough about tax policy. How about just BETTER church-owned cemeteries? Maybe something like this:
I found that photo on the home page of a group called the Conservation Burial Alliance. And here’s lots more information about eco-friendly burial sites.
Human Composting on CBS
Coincidentally, “CBS Sunday Morning” had a feature the same week called “Human composting: The rising interest in natural burial.” You can watch it here:
An avid gardener and lover of Japanese maples in Bellingham, WA chose “natural organic reduction” – composting of his body. His sister compares it to traditional burial involving “embalming a body, putting it inside a lead-lined coffin, and putting it into a concrete vault in the ground as though we were pretending the person is not dead.” That, to her, is creepier than “becoming part of the soil again.” Instead, her brother is now “all over Seattle under many, many Japanese maple trees.” She finds comfort in knowing that he’s “helping create new life.”
We’re shown the composting facility Recompose in Seattle – the “first human composting facility in the country.” Loved ones are covered in organic plant material such as straw and wood chips. Bones are mechanically turned into the consistency of sand, so after just 30 to 40 days inside the vessel, soil is created – enough to fill the bed of a pick-up truck, which delivers the soil to the family or to a forest conservation effort chosen by the family. The price is about $7,000.
Cremation, which is now the most popular choice in the U.S., can be cheaper (currently $4,000 to $7,000 in the U.S.) but it emits highly toxic chemicals.
My family has been in the cremation camp for a generation or so but that’s stopping with me. I’ll be adding this to the “Notes to my Executor” attached to my will: “Y’all just compost me and donate the truckload of beautiful soil to…” I haven’t figured that part out yet but I’m working on it.
Or maybe, in case there’s still no human composting facility near me when the time comes, my family can find a nice meadow or forest to welcome this old gardener’s body.
More Human Composting on GardenRant
In researching this post I discovered “Compost your Loved Ones,” a 2019 guest post by Barbara Dumesnil, Master Gardener and compost specialist in Eugene, Oregon. She wrote:
Cemeteries take up a lot of land that could become gardens or forests. Just think how many homes could be built from the metal, concrete, and wood if these resources were not used in traditional burials. Cremation makes some sense, but it is energy-intensive, and the byproducts contribute to climate change.
Washington State is currently considering legislation to allow a fast, hot composting process whereby human remains are broken down and become finished compost in about one month.
Now we know that the legislation passed and the service is available – at least there in Washington State. I hope it’s coming soon to enlightened states closer to me.
Couldn’t help but think about John Prine’s “Please Don’t Bury Me.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM9FQIvX8l0
For the church to convert the cemetery to another use is VERY time consuming and expensive. And the bodies there have to go somewhere. Families get very irate if you want to move grandma. Legal nightmare. And you would be taking up land somewhere else.
The reason it is not a beautifully landscaped cemetery is it costs too much to maintain. Mow and blow companies are cheap compared to real gardeners.
There are some gorgeous cemeteries left over from the Victorian age. One in Cleveland where people have wedding pictures taken. Popular place to walk.
My rural family cemetery is beautiful. It is maintained by the township. They have a levy to help pay for costs. When a church goes defunct, the cemetery has to be maintained by the township. Least that’s how it works in Ohio.
Good luck with changing the American attitude toward death. As I get older and contemplate my own mortality, it increasingly appears to me that this country is held hostage by a bunch of people afraid of their own deaths. The rules they dream up and fight to impose on the rest of us are sad attempts at bargaining with their gods and cheating death.
Something is very, very wrong with that “church,” imo. Have you tried contacting them or the relevant municipality directly?
“Police-patrolled?”
Saddest thing I’ve read in ages.
And some of those mini-mansions are just grotesque. (Aside from the fabulous hydrangeas you featured recently).
Didn’t Rehoboth used to be an affordable, family-friendly little beach community? #sad
You can’t require churches to pay tax unless you do the same for all 503c non-profits. To single out churches would be unconstitutional.
Referring to real estate taxes only.
I think states can decide laws about property tax, but again, if you make religious institutions pay property tax, you would have to do the same for hospitals, universities & other nonprofits. Otherwise, it’s discrimination.
Actually, I just read that Delaware only grants property tax exemptions to nonprofits on a case by case basis, which is very weird and unusual.
Prolly related to the fact that DE has no sales tax and no personal income tax
What about the old pine box method? That’s still legal, right? Doesn’t solve the problem of wasted space, but it’s cheaper and greener than cremation and embalming nonsense.
And legally, can you bury a body on private land, wherever you want?
Depends on your state. Some require vaults, some embalming, unless religious reasons not to. Most incorporated communities do not allow burying in your backyard. You can in unincorporated places unless zoned out. You have to include it in deed and have a survey of it so next owners don’t get a surprise. And include a right of way easement so you can go visit your loved ones. A funeral home can tell you all you need to know. Use to work in govt planning and got questions on this all the time.
Totally agree with you! Thank you
Compost me or roll me up in a shroud (natural fabric only), no embalming, no headstone, bury me and plant a (native) tree over my body!
I hate to throw a shadow over this delightful idea but is there any method to deal with forever chemicals in human tissue? what about pharmaceuticals in the deceased? are these going into the earth.? maybe some entrapreneur will come up with an organic human compost–otherwise what is the benefit over sreading ashes which is routinely done.
Husband and I have bemoaned the toxic waste site that is the modern cemetery for a while now. I’m on-board with the human composting for myself, or with its in-between relative, the natural burial (just your body, some shrouds, and plant you in earth set aside just for this reason). I can’t get him to talk about it, as if not discussing it means one of us won’t be left to make these decisions at the worst time of our lives. Or worse … the kids will.
I’d chalk it up to his attempt to stay true to our religion which tells us our bodies should remain in a single vessel when buried (no scattering of ashes – into an urn with you!), except he won’t talk about any burial preferences.
Part of what appeals to me about the natural burial is the possibility of planting a tree over your remains. Imagine if everyone did that, imagine the memorial forests that would spring up! Imagine visiting graveyards in the future that are shaded forests full of life instead bland lawns full of sadness.
I love that image!
The South Carolina Native Plant Society had a wonderful speaker a few years ago from a “conservation burial preserve” called Memorial Ecosystems in Westminster, SC. From their website: “Conservation burial preserves are nature preserves that allow for the sacred burial of human remains. These protected lands … are specifically designed to save and restore significant wildlands and habitat for plants and animals. Burial on conserved land provides a deep connection to the land for friends and families whose loved ones are there.” To me, much more meaningful, natural, and environmentally useful than mechanical composting…
You would probably get a kick out of touring this place: https://www.serenityridgemd.com/about/
Thx Melissa ! I just booked a tour.
I walk every day in a beautiful cemetery that was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and built shortly after the Civil War. It is beautifully landscaped with a variety of trees and a lawn that is composed almost entirely of flowering weeds such as dandelions, oxalis, clover, alfalfa, self-heal, etc. The lawn is mowed, but not closely. There is no need to spray herbicides because the weeds are accepted as part of the lawn. The lawn is watered infrequently during dry summer months in California. It is possible to have a lawn without damaging the environment.
I plan to be cremated and I agree that building new cemeteries in densely populated places is hard to justify, but I defend historic cemeteries that tell the story of our country. I make it a point to visit cemeteries wherever I travel, because they also reflect a culture.
I can read the simple gravestones of Irish and Italian immigrants in the pre-Civil War Catholic cemetery. Many of these older gravestones proudly display their birth places. We can see the trail of the deadly pandemic of 1918. There are also elaborate mausoleums built by the robber barons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are unique gravestones of academic scientists from UC Berkeley, such as the huge granite stone with no identification on the gravesite of Joseph LeConte, a famous geologist. LeConte’s name was recently removed from the Earth Sciences Building at UC Berkeley because of his racist views, but the granite stone that marks his grave remains on the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.
If we think of cemeteries as parks, they need not be considered wasted space. The oldest cemeteries in the country, especially on the East Coast, predate public parks and were substitutes for them. And if we take care of them in responsible ways, they needn’t damage the environment. Where I live, the cemeteries are the homes of birds and wild animals, such as deer, coyotes, foxes, and wild turkeys. On the weekends and holidays, they are full of picnicking families honoring their loved ones, while enjoy the view in a peaceful place.
Friends in Europe chose a “Serenity Forest” as their final resting place. It’s a dedicated forest out in the countryside with beautiful, centuries-old trees, little creeks, walking paths, and some benches. They picked the tree their urns would be buried under, and now there is (and only if you wish so) just a tiny plaque, relatively high up in the tree with their names and their dates of birth and death. No flowers, no concrete, no landscaping, no pressure for remaining relatives to care for the graves. The “Serenity Forest” is a lovely, tranquil place to take a walk, and to find peace in nature. I love going there, and I find peace and solace in visiting my friends’ resting sites, surrounded by these amazing old trees, the murmur of creeks and the singing of birds. This kind of burial has become increasingly popular in Europe. No need to embalm people, cover them with sand and concrete and then run a lawn mower over them…
Great topic, Susan. But I guess that cemetery you found must have been absolutely thought-provoking. Sounds to me rather like a prison (“police-patrolled”) than a cemetery!
We have this (https://naturalpathsanctuary.org/) in Dane County, WI. When I was younger I always thought there were no other options besides cremation (I didn’t care for the typical funeral model), and it gives me hope that we can have more green burials, composting, and peaceful places. Thank you for bringing this up.
Thank you for the links, Susan, you’ve given me one more reason to be happy with moving back to Washington (the Olympic Peninsula has what is probably the current-best climate, IMHO, in the States, especially if you really don’t do Hot Weather). I’ve been thinking about this for a while . . . like, since FIL died in 1986, and MIL did an open-casket funeral for him. That was *not* *Sir* in that box. Then there was a book by a woman who restored a garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll (Rosamond or Rosemary . .. something) who said [paraphrasing], “I plan to come back as a peony, just bury me under the long border. They’re greedy feeders and will love the fertilizer.” Or St. Paul: We die in corruption, and are raised uncorrupted . . . what happens to my body will no longer concern me; let it benefit whoever or whatever is left behind.