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When your life comes to its end, do you want your body to be embalmed and left to decay inside a synthetic casket in a cemetery run by a corporation? Or do you want to return your body to the planet simply, in a biodegradable vessel, giving yourself back, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, to the Earth that gave you life? In the process you create a nature sanctuary for plants and animals nourished by your gift, run by a nonprofit dedicated to honoring the Earth.
Join the Green Cemetery Project spearheaded by Earth Rhythms. Create a legacy that will impact North Texas forever and bring comfort to so many who want to give to the Earth that gave so much to them.
We need:
~ publicity professionals to promote the project in rural publications and web sites through press releases and small ads
~ legal professionals familiar with real estate, nonprofit and county laws
~ project managers to take a portion of the project
~ people who can find, write and pursue grants
~ explorers to find potential properties
~ tax and investment professionals
MOSTLY WE NEED LAND! Somewhere in North Texas is someone who wants their land to be a legacy, preserved in perpetuity in its natural state. It can be given outright, done as a living trust, or retained but deeded as a conservation easement.
PLEASE bring this topic up when you talk to people. HELP us manifest this land donor. We need at least 20 acres within an hour’s drive of downtown Dallas or open land for burials with some wooded areas for contemplative walks. A creek and/or pond would be optimal. Preferable would be 50 to 100 acres, enough to serve as a true nature preserve.
Once we have the land we’ll need:
~ construction savvy people to create the infrastructure of fencing, roads, water and electricity service, outbuildings, and so on
~ naturalists willing to learn wildlife habitat restoration to turn the property into a nature preserve
~ and much more
We have good support for this. The green Ethican Family Cemetery outside Houston has opened the way in Texas. By adhering to the rigorous standards of the national Green Burial Council, all legal, safety and health concerns will be handled to the satisfaction of all.
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More About Our Green Cemetery
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Grave Matters
Graves in a green cemetery are unmarked, though locations are recorded on GPS records. A central monument is provided instead to not the interred. A 6-foot deep slot is dug by backhoe. The body is lowered and the grave is filled. A specially made fiber mesh is laid over the resting place so that no human or wildlife can disturb the body. Sod is removed and then replaced so that there is no obvious gravesite. Decomposition of the body is rapid, keeping unfavorable microbes to a minimum. As a public safety precaution, graves are located at least 50 feet away from any body of water.
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The Nature Preserve
The land in a green cemetery is kept in its natural state, providing habitat for wildlife as a nature preserve. But to keep the land healthy takes an active hand called wildlife habitat restoration. The emphasis will be on attracting birds though native plants, trees and prairie grasses, the making of homes and safe places, and the control of erosion and invasive plants and animals. No hunting will be allowed. The caretaker and volunteers will be trained though online and continuing education offered by Texas Master Naturalists, USDA Natural Resource Defense Council, Texas Extension Service, and the Private Lands program of the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife.
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Grieving Park
The cemetery will also operate as an interfaith grieving park, with contemplative aids such as a memorial grotto and meditation chapel. Walking paths with reflective pause-points will enhance contemplation.
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Cremation
Green burial is far more environmentally sound than cremation, an energy-intensive process that produces a non-nutritive ash. But the strewing of remains will be allowed at the cemetery.
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Infrastructure
Cemeteries are required to have secure fencing and gates. A small building with electrical service will house the computer with the GPS records and other necessary files. Graveled parking and an open-air covered structure for funerals completes the cemetery. A visitors pavilion with lighting, bathroom and water will be provided if feasible.
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Access
Operation hours would be from sunrise to sunset with hours of access and a contact number posted. Loved ones of those interred in the cemetery and cemetery project members would have the gate combination. Others would be allowed in by making a request to the caretaker via the contact number. The main elements of the cemetery will be wheelchair accessible, though may not be paved.
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Maintenance
A perpetual care trust would be established and a caretaker assigned. Community days would be held monthly in good weather to allow volunteers to perform wildlife habitat restoration.
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