There are natural burial grounds around the world-- I know the UK has several. You can find out more pretty easily on the Internet--
looking for "green" or "natural" burial. I would imagine there must be some kind of regulations about how and where it is done.
Here are a couple of Internet sites, fyi:
http://www.greenburials.org/
http://www.deathforbeginners.com/greenburialva.html
It's not mainstream, but it appears to be growing along with the cremation option. With either option people can still have markers
or monuments or other ways to memorialize the person. I can understand why some people (and genealogists) may hate these options when family does not opt to have a gravestone; and I, too, really like old cemeteries and certainly think we need to continue to protect and safeguard them, as we would for historic architectural structures.
In this day and age, I think it makes sense to do things differently... perhaps because my (very traditional, Hollywood Cemetery, "old Virginia") family did that two generations before me when my surgeon grandfather was cremated.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Huffstutler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, September 8, 2014 5:51:12 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Cemeteries and Burial question
Melinda, this is the first I have heard of “natural” disposal. Wouldn’t that be governed by state and local laws concerning proper disposal and burial for if nothing more that health issues for those in the area and water tables? I do know that some people still prefer traditional burials along with upright markers and private mausoleums. But these cemeteries are older and many not maintained with perpetual care. The more modern "memorial" gardens with flat on the ground markers will eventually be lost as well. One local city run cemetery which was established basically in the 1850's, has many of these markers which have sunk into the ground from weather and grass mulch over the years to a point that no one is uncovering them so the graves are essentially "unmarked" now. And I see that the majority have disappeared since the 1950s and earlier.
I hope to hear more of these trends from readers here especially the younger crowds.
Thanks!
Eric
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of mcpsrichmond
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2014 3:40 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Cemeteries and Burial question
For myself, I think the whole burial thing is environmentally awful and see no need for it. Along with cremation, there is a growing movement for a "natural" disposal of the dead-- with woodsy or park-like spaces taking the place of cemeteries where bodies are given the chance to deteriorate and return to the earth.
(Also, the expense of the embalming, casket, plot, etc. is pretty awful.) Of course, much of this depends on beliefs-- religious or spiritual; and, with the growing numbers of those who call themselves atheist or non-affiliated, the whole funeral event becomes a different thing.
Sent from Melinda's iPhone (with apologies for any weird typos)
> On Sep 8, 2014, at 12:10 PM, Eric Huffstutler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Let me pose this question to the group for a poll sampling.
>
> This ties into my involvement to try and save a large abandoned cemetery. The question is:
>
> There is a trend for cremation today. Society as a whole has turned away from traditions in general for a no fuss life.
>
> Other than cost factors, are traditional burials now out of vogue because no one wants to go through all of the Pomp and Circumstance of the funeral then bother with driving to a grave for visits and grounds keeping? That it is easier to scatter the ashes and be done with it or simply dust an urn? Could this be why so many cemeteries are becoming overgrown and turning into jungles like Evergreen here in Richmond?
>
> Eric
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