ENVIRONMENT

A new green trend: Natural burial

Akiko Matsuda
amatsuda@lohud.com

You've switched to energy efficient light bulbs. You've installed solar panels. But you probably have not taken the green-living lifestyle as far as it can go. Talk about greener pastures.

Among those who are attuned to environmental sustainability, some look for a way to be greener, even after death. Natural burial — the interment of the dead in a simple coffin or shroud without the use of embalming fluids, allowing natural decomposition of the body — is gaining traction.

"It was just obvious that it was the right thing to do with my daughter, with her body," said Susanna Gilbert, a former Westchester resident who recently buried her 26-year-old daughter, Antonia, in a municipal natural burial site in Rhinebeck, in Dutchess County. “There was something so beautiful about it."

Susanna Gilbert, a former Croton-on-Hudson resident, buries her 26-year-old daughter, Antonia Gilbert, in the municipal natural burial site in Rhinebeck, Dutchess County.

Gilbert, 69, was a caretaker for Teatown's Cliffdale Farm in Croton-on-Hudson until 2002. Growing up on the farm, Antonia — who died in August from a long illness and an injury sustained during service in the National Guard — loved nature and animals, the mother said.

Statistics show more people are becoming interested in a greener burial method. In 2015, 64 percent of adults 40 and older said they would be interested in green funeral options — options designed to have a lower impact on the environment, such as using biodegradable caskets and less chemicals in preparing the body for burial. That's up from 43 percent in 2010, according to the Funeral and Memorial Information Council's "Study of American Attitudes Toward Ritualization and Memorialization," released in 2015.

Death-care professionals — funeral homes and cemeteries — in the region have started accommodating the new demand, but options are still limited. In Rhinebeck, the town's municipal cemetery opened up a natural burial site last year, thanks to a five-year effort of the town's cemetery committee.

The Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is the only green burial site in the Lower Hudson Valley certified by the Green Burial Council, a nonprofit that sets standards for green burial funeral homes and cemeteries.

About 20 people have been interred in the half-acre section on a hillside overlooking the Pocatico River, said Jim Logan, superintendent for the historic cemetery.

"We’ve certainly seen the increase in interest," Logan said. "Compared to the total cemetery business, it’s still a small percentage, but the interest has increased since we established (the section)."

Ramon Acosta and Helio De Moraes plant perennial flowers in the natural burial section of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Aug. 20, 2015.

The Ballard-Durand funeral homes located in Elmsford and White Plains have also been assisting greener funeral services.

"(Green burial) is becoming more and more popular," said Matthew Fiorillo, Ballard-Durand's owner/funeral director, adding that some of his clients prearranged their green burial services. "I believe it's more of a lifestyle thing — the idea of going back to nature is appealing to them. I can't speak for everybody, but I believe that's what it is."

An initiative to establish a green cemetery in Rockland is being led by Kerry Potter of Suffern, who hosts a monthly radio show called "Dying to Bloom" on WRCR AM 1700.

"We are becoming more and more environmentally conscious, and to choose not to be treated with formaldehyde, skip the high-end wooden caskets and skip the concrete vaults — all things that inhibit decomposition of the body — it seems so much more natural," Potter said. "To be buried in a biodegradable coffin or shroud and to disturb the earth as minimally as possible, that's what green cemeteries do."

While no state forbids a backyard burial, there are some municipal regulations to consider, and the New York State Sanitary code does restrict the allowable distances between burial sites and water sources. New York is one of only eight states that require the use of a funeral director in caring for the dead, so most people do choose to use a cemetery.

Green cemeteries are managed by municipalities, religious organizations or nonprofits. It would be easier to start green burial cemeteries "if you have a cemetery that’s already in place, you already have the administrative infrastructure, and you can just open up green burial ground that's connected to the cemetery," said Suzanne Kelly, a Hudson Valley writer whose recent book "Greening Death" explores natural burial.

"New York State has quite a few of them compared to other states. A number of them are religions, a few of them are Catholic," Kelly said.

Starting an independent natural cemetery from scratch would be the most challenging path, Kelly said, and Jennifer Johnson, one of the founders of Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve in Newfield, New York, can't agree more.

"It takes a lot. Had we known, we might have thought twice about it," said Johnson, co-director and burial coordinator of the cemetery, covering 130 acres of rolling hilltop meadows just southwest of Ithaca. "But I love it. I love that we have this. People love it. It’s a beautiful thing. It really is."

Elijah Kruh died at his birth in 2011. His parents, Ivan and Miral Kruh interred his body at Greensprings. His is one of about 220 graves at the Newfield cemetery.

"We lost our son in the middle of the night. The whole experience was really, really shocking. We were so far in the pregnancy and never thought that we would lose him," said Ivan Kruh, 46, who was living in Ossining when the tragedy occurred.

The couple had to quickly decide how to care for Elijah's body, while dealing with overwhelming grief, Ivan Kruh said. Their desire to bury their son under a beautiful tree led to Greensprings, he said.

"I think grief is so personal. Everybody has to find a way what’s healing for them in that moment," said Kruh, who now lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. "At that moment, we felt so healing to know that he’s returning to the earth. It was an organic process."

Twitter: @LohudAkiko 

Things to know:

  • New York is one of only eight states that require the use of a funeral director in caring for the dead, along with Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey.
  • New York has no embalming requirements. A body must be buried or cremated within a "reasonable time after death." If the person died of a contagious disease, the doctor in attendance should be consulted. 
  • You have the right to purchase a casket from a place other than the funeral home and can even use a homemade one.
  • You have the right to refuse a casket for cremation.  All funeral homes must provide a minimum "alternative container." The least expensive would be a cardboard container for as low as $50, but as high as $395 or more. By law, you have a right to supply your own.
  • Cement vaults may be a requirement by the cemetery but it is not a legal requirement.

(Source: The National Funeral Consumers Alliance and Kerry Potter's "Dying Green" presentation.)