Green Burial Ottawa Valley held an Information Session in Killaloe on Thursday, November 15. They are an informal group (at present) and are working to make Green Burial available to residents of the Ottawa Valley.
Green Burial is an environmentally sensitive option to standard burial practice or cremation. In Green Burial, the body is not embalmed and is buried directly in the earth. It could be contained in a bio-degradable wooden casket, or one made of woven material like a basket, or even just wrapped in a shroud; but there is no metal lining or concrete vault to keep the body away from the earth. Burial is usually a little less deep than standard burial, so that the body is deep enough to be protected from animals, but exposed to microbes and insects in the soil and so decomposes naturally.
Green Burial infographic: Stephen J. Beard, Indianapolis Star
A Green Burial cemetery will usually resemble a park, with pathways wild plants, animal habitat, and even bee hives. Graves might be marked by low stones, sourced locally, or there could be a communal memorial for all people buried there. In either case, there would be no standard upright stones on concrete foundations.
While Green Burial was common practice for thousands of years, since the American Civil War it has been increasing replaced by embalming and standard burial practice. In recent years, Green Burial has become more popular as an alternative to standard practice, which results in huge amounts of embalming fluid, wood, metal and concrete being buried each year. Cremation has been seen as an environmentally friendly alternative, but it consumes large amounts of energy and releases carbon into the atmosphere. Green Burial, on the other hand, simply allows the Earth to break down the body in a gentle and natural way.
Green Burial Ottawa Valley is presently working to establish a Green Burial site, and deal with the many issues that must be addressed before an actual cemetery can be set up. For more information, click HERE to visit their website greenburialottawavalley.ca
Featured photo: Green Burial Ottawa Valley
