More than three years after his wife's "green" burial, Lafayette's Tom Keiser continues to be comforted when he visits her final resting place.
Keiser's wife, Susan, who died in September 2008 at 61, was buried in The Preserve at Spring Vale Cemetery in Lafayette -- the first green cemetery in the state, according to the nonprofit Green Burial Council in Santa Fe, N.M.
Today, the 1.5-acre site off Indiana 25 North is the final resting place for 23 people, including Susan Keiser.
"This is what Susan wanted," Keiser said of his wife, who was a Marine veteran. "It was good closure for me and our family."
Green burials, which are eco-friendly, have been called a movement, not a fad. Advocates say green burials protect the environment and ecology by reducing use of toxic chemicals, non-biodegradable materials and fossil fuels.
In addition, the cost of green burials can be lower because unostentatious caskets are used -- sometimes no casket at all -- and there is no burial vault. The body truly goes back to the earth in a natural setting.
At Spring Vale, all green burials so far have been conducted by Hippensteel Funeral Service and Crematory, one of five Indiana funeral homes approved by the Green Burial Council.
The green burial process, although new to many, harkens back to a simpler time when people were placed in a pine box or wrapped in a shroud and placed into the ground, often without preserving the body with embalming fluids.
When the Civil War came along, formaldehyde came into widespread use to preserve soldiers for sending home for burial, according to Rich Groeber of Hahn-Groeber Funeral & Cremation Services in Lafayette.
Formaldehyde, a toxic chemical, also is a recognized carcinogen. Green burials are designed to be easy on the environment and ensure that the body naturally decomposes.
A green burial utilizes a casket that biodegrades completely and is held together without nails or screws or hinges. Animal glue is acceptable, but not synthetic adhesives, which rules out some plywoods. Cloth bags or woven baskets also are used, depending on the material.
There are no concrete grave vaults or liners, and crematory urns of cornstarch or mulberry bark are preferred over metal or stone.
In a green burial, open caskets are possible for the visitation because nontoxic embalming fluids are used.
Green burial sites typically are planted with natural grasses and wildflowers that require little or no mechanized maintenance, and natural stones are used to mark graves.
The stone markers at The Preserve in Spring Vale Cemetery are found on site. Engravings or plaques are on the stones. Some gravesites have an American flag or a wreath.
Susan Keiser's gravestone includes the Marine Corps insignia and the numeral one to recognize it as the first green burial at Spring Vale Cemetery.
Hippensteel was the first Indiana funeral home to be certified by the Green Burial Council. Flanner and Buchanan funeral homes in Indianapolis also are certified.
In 2011, there were 67 burials at Spring Vale Cemetery with seven being green burials. Hippensteel has sold more than 50 green burial plots at The Preserve, including some plots to people from Chicago and Indianapolis. Joe Canaday of Hippensteel said Spring Vale is the green burial closest to Chicago.
Since spring 2009, Flanner and Buchanan has had a 5-acre rustic area called Kessler Woods dedicated to green burials at Washington Park North Cemetery in Indianapolis. Barb Milton of Flanner and Buchanan said there are about 25 people buried at Kessler Woods. A few dozen green burial plots also have been sold.
"People are coming from Louisville and Ohio," Milton said. "I ask them why they want a green burial. Some are doing it because of their spiritual faith, while others can't embrace a traditional funeral."
The Green Burial Council has certified green cemeteries in 42 states and six Canadian provinces and is expanding internationally, said Joe Sehee, founder of the group.
"We are starting to grow internationally to share resources," Sehee said. "We're getting more calls from consumers. We're more on the radar screen of the environmental community."
Sehee visited Spring Vale before giving it a certification.
"You could see from the beginning that they care and did it the right way," he said of Hippensteel and Spring Vale.
Sehee said it is difficult to track all green burials nationwide. He said the market demand is there.
"One out of five seniors wants green burials. That's a conservative number," he said. "Someday, green burials will be the traditional burial like it was years ago and like it is worldwide."
Tom Keiser said memories of his wife's green burial continue to touch his heart. He remembers 25 to 30 people taking shovelfuls of dirt to fill in the grave.
"I was amazed at that. The (funeral) tent was about 100 feet away from the grave, but everybody went there together," Keiser said.
Keiser said when he married Susan he adopted her oldest son, David. The couple hadn't discussed Susan's burial choice with any of her or his children.
"My son and I went out there together and he said, 'Yes, this is Mom and this is what she would want,' " Keiser said.
"Two or three months went by and we visited the grave, and he said 'If we never do anything again, we know that we did this right.'"
Canaday and Paul Dunbar of Hippensteel said there are several advantages to a green burial besides its being eco-friendly.
"The family becomes more involved," Canaday said. "It gives them peace of mind. We even give them gloves and shovels to fill in the graves. Nine out of 10 graves are filled in by families.
"We're all about giving families options, whether it is traditional burials, cremations or green burials."
Sehee and the Green Burial Council believe many funeral homes refuse to commit to green burials because they are fearful of losing money.
Canaday said Hippensteel offers a direct green burial for $2,695. He said that price includes the services of the funeral director and staff, transfer of the remains, preparation of the body, necessary permits and transportation to the cemetery. It doesn't include the plot. A green burial plot at The Preserve costs $1,000, said Hippensteel's Dennis Horn.
Dunbar said green burials can be as expensive as traditional burials if a family wants a walnut casket, for example. The price depends on the family's choice of services and products.
"A traditional burial has an average price of $6,700 to $8,600," Dunbar said. "An immediate natural burial with a linen cloth can cost $3,800, not counting the cemetery cost, and doesn't have a service.
"We had a lady, 99, from Americus who spent a total of $6,000. Her grandkids filled in the grave."
The three other funeral homes in Tippecanoe County offer green burials as an option, but they have yet to bury anyone at The Preserve.
Scott Banes of Soller-Baker Funeral Homes said the green burials are more popular in certain areas of the country. The Green Burial Council reports that green burials are popular on the West Coast. There also are green cemeteries in Colorado, New York, Florida, New Jersey, Maine, South Carolina, Ohio and New Jersey.
"I don't see green burials taking over traditional burials in Tippecanoe County," Banes said.
Canaday said there are cemeteries that allow a green burial, but they haven't set aside a specific area for green burials like Spring Vale Cemetery.
Banes also said the cost of opening a grave at The Preserve is almost double that of a traditional funeral because it must be dug manually so as not to disturb the ecology around the gravesite.
Groeber, of Hahn-Groeber Funeral & Cremation Services, said he's had green burial inquiries but no services yet in the "traditional Midwest."
"Some people get excited when they hear 'green,' " he said.
Groeber wanted to remind people that there is no law that requires a family to purchase a vault or outside container for a burial.
"The cemetery sets its own standards because of maintenance," he said.
Sehee said a 2010 survey by the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association showed that 23 percent of people 50 and older preferred a green burial. A 2007 AARP survey reported that 21 percent of Americans older than 50 want a green burial.
The Preserve has wildflowers and a selection of savanna and prairie grasses. The green burial area was planted after consultation with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and from Megan Benage, a rural conservationist with the Tippecanoe County Soil & Water Conservation District.
Benage selected a variety of grasses and flowers, including black-eyed Susans, New England asters, purple cornflowers and Shasta daisies. Birds and butterflies are attracted to the flora.
"Over the years, we will be enhancing this as needed," she said. "Establishment takes approximately one to three years. The planting is expected to look very weedy, brushy in its first year of growth.
"As years pass, it will get progressively better, and soon, Spring Vale will have a beautiful stand of grass. The wildflowers will change in color and composition."
A burnoff is scheduled in the spring at The Preserve to allow the plants to renew themselves and get rid of noxious weeds.
"I am personally enthusiastic about this project because it is a great way to provide more unique habitat types out on the landscape while still providing a valuable human service," Benage said.
"Any time we can work with the land, instead of against it, and find unique solutions to existing problems related to living hand-in-hand with nature, I'm excited."
SOURCE: http://www.jconline.com/usatoday/article/38441241?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
Keiser's wife, Susan, who died in September 2008 at 61, was buried in The Preserve at Spring Vale Cemetery in Lafayette -- the first green cemetery in the state, according to the nonprofit Green Burial Council in Santa Fe, N.M.
Today, the 1.5-acre site off Indiana 25 North is the final resting place for 23 people, including Susan Keiser.
"This is what Susan wanted," Keiser said of his wife, who was a Marine veteran. "It was good closure for me and our family."
Green burials, which are eco-friendly, have been called a movement, not a fad. Advocates say green burials protect the environment and ecology by reducing use of toxic chemicals, non-biodegradable materials and fossil fuels.
In addition, the cost of green burials can be lower because unostentatious caskets are used -- sometimes no casket at all -- and there is no burial vault. The body truly goes back to the earth in a natural setting.
At Spring Vale, all green burials so far have been conducted by Hippensteel Funeral Service and Crematory, one of five Indiana funeral homes approved by the Green Burial Council.
The green burial process, although new to many, harkens back to a simpler time when people were placed in a pine box or wrapped in a shroud and placed into the ground, often without preserving the body with embalming fluids.
When the Civil War came along, formaldehyde came into widespread use to preserve soldiers for sending home for burial, according to Rich Groeber of Hahn-Groeber Funeral & Cremation Services in Lafayette.
Formaldehyde, a toxic chemical, also is a recognized carcinogen. Green burials are designed to be easy on the environment and ensure that the body naturally decomposes.
A green burial utilizes a casket that biodegrades completely and is held together without nails or screws or hinges. Animal glue is acceptable, but not synthetic adhesives, which rules out some plywoods. Cloth bags or woven baskets also are used, depending on the material.
There are no concrete grave vaults or liners, and crematory urns of cornstarch or mulberry bark are preferred over metal or stone.
In a green burial, open caskets are possible for the visitation because nontoxic embalming fluids are used.
Green burial sites typically are planted with natural grasses and wildflowers that require little or no mechanized maintenance, and natural stones are used to mark graves.
The stone markers at The Preserve in Spring Vale Cemetery are found on site. Engravings or plaques are on the stones. Some gravesites have an American flag or a wreath.
Susan Keiser's gravestone includes the Marine Corps insignia and the numeral one to recognize it as the first green burial at Spring Vale Cemetery.
Hippensteel was the first Indiana funeral home to be certified by the Green Burial Council. Flanner and Buchanan funeral homes in Indianapolis also are certified.
In 2011, there were 67 burials at Spring Vale Cemetery with seven being green burials. Hippensteel has sold more than 50 green burial plots at The Preserve, including some plots to people from Chicago and Indianapolis. Joe Canaday of Hippensteel said Spring Vale is the green burial closest to Chicago.
Since spring 2009, Flanner and Buchanan has had a 5-acre rustic area called Kessler Woods dedicated to green burials at Washington Park North Cemetery in Indianapolis. Barb Milton of Flanner and Buchanan said there are about 25 people buried at Kessler Woods. A few dozen green burial plots also have been sold.
"People are coming from Louisville and Ohio," Milton said. "I ask them why they want a green burial. Some are doing it because of their spiritual faith, while others can't embrace a traditional funeral."
The Green Burial Council has certified green cemeteries in 42 states and six Canadian provinces and is expanding internationally, said Joe Sehee, founder of the group.
"We are starting to grow internationally to share resources," Sehee said. "We're getting more calls from consumers. We're more on the radar screen of the environmental community."
Sehee visited Spring Vale before giving it a certification.
"You could see from the beginning that they care and did it the right way," he said of Hippensteel and Spring Vale.
Sehee said it is difficult to track all green burials nationwide. He said the market demand is there.
"One out of five seniors wants green burials. That's a conservative number," he said. "Someday, green burials will be the traditional burial like it was years ago and like it is worldwide."
Tom Keiser said memories of his wife's green burial continue to touch his heart. He remembers 25 to 30 people taking shovelfuls of dirt to fill in the grave.
"I was amazed at that. The (funeral) tent was about 100 feet away from the grave, but everybody went there together," Keiser said.
Keiser said when he married Susan he adopted her oldest son, David. The couple hadn't discussed Susan's burial choice with any of her or his children.
"My son and I went out there together and he said, 'Yes, this is Mom and this is what she would want,' " Keiser said.
"Two or three months went by and we visited the grave, and he said 'If we never do anything again, we know that we did this right.'"
Canaday and Paul Dunbar of Hippensteel said there are several advantages to a green burial besides its being eco-friendly.
"The family becomes more involved," Canaday said. "It gives them peace of mind. We even give them gloves and shovels to fill in the graves. Nine out of 10 graves are filled in by families.
"We're all about giving families options, whether it is traditional burials, cremations or green burials."
Sehee and the Green Burial Council believe many funeral homes refuse to commit to green burials because they are fearful of losing money.
Canaday said Hippensteel offers a direct green burial for $2,695. He said that price includes the services of the funeral director and staff, transfer of the remains, preparation of the body, necessary permits and transportation to the cemetery. It doesn't include the plot. A green burial plot at The Preserve costs $1,000, said Hippensteel's Dennis Horn.
Dunbar said green burials can be as expensive as traditional burials if a family wants a walnut casket, for example. The price depends on the family's choice of services and products.
"A traditional burial has an average price of $6,700 to $8,600," Dunbar said. "An immediate natural burial with a linen cloth can cost $3,800, not counting the cemetery cost, and doesn't have a service.
"We had a lady, 99, from Americus who spent a total of $6,000. Her grandkids filled in the grave."
The three other funeral homes in Tippecanoe County offer green burials as an option, but they have yet to bury anyone at The Preserve.
Scott Banes of Soller-Baker Funeral Homes said the green burials are more popular in certain areas of the country. The Green Burial Council reports that green burials are popular on the West Coast. There also are green cemeteries in Colorado, New York, Florida, New Jersey, Maine, South Carolina, Ohio and New Jersey.
"I don't see green burials taking over traditional burials in Tippecanoe County," Banes said.
Canaday said there are cemeteries that allow a green burial, but they haven't set aside a specific area for green burials like Spring Vale Cemetery.
Banes also said the cost of opening a grave at The Preserve is almost double that of a traditional funeral because it must be dug manually so as not to disturb the ecology around the gravesite.
Groeber, of Hahn-Groeber Funeral & Cremation Services, said he's had green burial inquiries but no services yet in the "traditional Midwest."
"Some people get excited when they hear 'green,' " he said.
Groeber wanted to remind people that there is no law that requires a family to purchase a vault or outside container for a burial.
"The cemetery sets its own standards because of maintenance," he said.
Sehee said a 2010 survey by the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association showed that 23 percent of people 50 and older preferred a green burial. A 2007 AARP survey reported that 21 percent of Americans older than 50 want a green burial.
The Preserve has wildflowers and a selection of savanna and prairie grasses. The green burial area was planted after consultation with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and from Megan Benage, a rural conservationist with the Tippecanoe County Soil & Water Conservation District.
Benage selected a variety of grasses and flowers, including black-eyed Susans, New England asters, purple cornflowers and Shasta daisies. Birds and butterflies are attracted to the flora.
"Over the years, we will be enhancing this as needed," she said. "Establishment takes approximately one to three years. The planting is expected to look very weedy, brushy in its first year of growth.
"As years pass, it will get progressively better, and soon, Spring Vale will have a beautiful stand of grass. The wildflowers will change in color and composition."
A burnoff is scheduled in the spring at The Preserve to allow the plants to renew themselves and get rid of noxious weeds.
"I am personally enthusiastic about this project because it is a great way to provide more unique habitat types out on the landscape while still providing a valuable human service," Benage said.
"Any time we can work with the land, instead of against it, and find unique solutions to existing problems related to living hand-in-hand with nature, I'm excited."
SOURCE: http://www.jconline.com/usatoday/article/38441241?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
1 comment:
I'm in, not yet but eventually!
The things I do wonder about are unnatural things that may also be in the body, like mercury tooth fillings, metal pins, joint replacements, pacemakers. . .
Is that of any concern or bring addressed?
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