“They want to do something different — something that not many other people are doing,” says Ryan Helfenbein, funeral director at Bestgate Memorial Park in Annapolis, Md., which turned a wooded corner of its cemetery into a green burial ground eight years ago. There, graves are dug by hand to reduce the carbon footprint, and plots are marked by engraved river rocks rather than traditional headstones.
At Washington’s Congressional Cemetery, where Castaño bought a plot two years ago, most of the 20 to 30 burials carried out each year are green or “natural burials,” according to Margaret Puglisi, the cemetery’s vice president. It’s the only cemetery in Washington that allows the practice. Bodies are not embalmed, there are no cement grave liners and the caskets — if they’re used — are made of biodegradable materials such as pine and wicker.
“It has a lot to do with giving back to the Earth — the circle of life,” Puglisi says.
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