GREEN BURIALS

Story and photos by Shannon Beach

In 2009, Brian Flowers came to Greenacres Memorial Park in Ferndale to develop The Meadow, western Washington’s first certified green burial cemetery.

“It was the right thing to do for our community and this company and as an option that needs to be made available,” Flowers said.

Flowers helps families realize that green burials were the right choice to suit their values, he said.

Three-tenths of a hectare of the Meadow has been developed, but over one and a half hectares have been set aside from Greenacres Memorial Park for green burial. Once the land has been designated for green burial, it cannot be reverted to traditional cemetery purposes.

Only 26 people have been buried at the Meadow, but 110 plots have been purchased. About 1,400 plots are expected to fit within the designated area, but plans for expansion will need to be made, Flowers said.

Families can engage in the burial process by choosing three native plants they would like planted over the grave.

“It’s more about the relationship with the land than the ecological benefits,” Flowers said.

Unlike publicly-funded restoration efforts that need to show results within five to 10 years, the Meadow allows for gradual restoration over a long period of time, which results in more successful establishment of native plants, Flowers said.

Throughout development, groundskeepers work to eradicate invasive plants like Himalayan blackberry, common tansy and pasture grasses.

Traditional caskets put foreign hard woods and metals into the earth and delay the decomposition process. Metal and concrete stabilize the earth as the body and organic matter decay, he said.

“We bury every year in North America enough steel in caskets to build the Golden Gate Bridge about one and a half times,” Flowers said.

The Meadow uses materials that allow for more natural decomposition, including biodegradable shrouds and caskets made by the Lummi Nation. Burial products are made within 60 miles, reducing the carbon footprint of Greenacres, he said.

Pacific Coast Memorials, located in Everett, Washington, engraves sustainably sourced rocks from the Stillaguamish River for tombstones and site markers. Headstones are traditionally sourced from quarries in China or Pakistan, Flowers said.

Green burials give people the opportunity to naturally return to the earth. The Meadow staff works toward supporting healthy decay, moving away from methods that typically turn bodies into a corrosive sludge.

“[With green burial practices] we scientifically become soil and our nutrient signature returns to the earth and reenters the nitrogen cycle,” Flowers said.

By rejoining a healthy ecosystem, people strengthen their bonds with the land and with nature, he said.

“What we find is that people approach green burial for the ecological benefits, but what they come away with is amazing, meaning-making opportunities that have helped them engage the healing and the grief process,” Flowers said.