When it comes to burying our dearly departed, most of us know what
to expect: embalming chemicals, expensive coffins, concrete vaults, and other things that may not be so good for the environment.
But is all that really necessary?
If you ask Stephanie Bonney, the answer’s a hard no. Green burial is “a more responsible way to take care of the Earth—the planet we live on,” says Panorama Natural Burial’s general manager.
During a Panorama green burial, no toxic embalming chemicals are used, and bodies return to the earth in biodegradable boxes or burial shrouds, because “we are only introducing materials that nature can use to nurture new life.” Bodies are buried at three-and-a-half feet, where “soil is more nutrient rich, and organisms are better at doing their jobs.” (And in case you’re wondering, there’s never been a reported case of a naturally buried body being dug up by predatory animals—the farthest they dig into soil is 12 inches.) Simple river rocks, set flush to the ground with a name and birth and death years, marks the graves.
“We’re essentially going back to that principle in Judeo-Christian tradition, which is literally ‘dust to dust,’” says Chris Murray, whose family has owned Panorama Farms in Earlysville for 70 years. With the “current conventional funeral burial practices, the body basically never turns to dust.”