I don't know how I started looking this up today but somehow I saw something about home funerals and that lead to the term green funerals and then I found a great documentary film about a doctor down in South Carolina that has a goal of helping to save a million acres of forest by burying people in the woods.
http://naturalheroes.org/videos/dying-green/
Dr. Billy Campbell has started with a 38 acre preserve, helping people bury their loved ones in burlap sacks. I could paraphrase the process but the
video describes it so well.
I was watching Dr. Campbell talking about how he had gotten the inspiration from a teacher talking about being buried in a burlap sack and having a tree planted above him. I was thinking this would sure be a great way to do
hugelkultur. If you're buried 6 feet down you probably wont need to worry about anyone digging you up with the potatoes.
If you want to buy the film there was this link
http://www.greenplanetfilms.org/product/dying-green-natural-burial-and-land-conservation/?gclid=CKiU-M7G0r8CFRJk7AodWAIAeg
Here is a link to the group "Memorial Ecosystems" talking about Dr. Campbell's
non profit and what they hope to accomplish. (Seems they are designing a new business model that people in 42 states would love to know more about. I say 42 states because 8 of the states have some restrictive burial regulation.)
http://www.memorialecosystems.com/
There is an organization to help you learn more of this in your area and to help with the process.
http://homefuneralalliance.org/greenburial/
Bob Butz talking about "Going out Green"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnWallr3RP0 Bob wrote a book using humor to discuss his "Going Out Green", amazon.com has it (I think).
On a personal note I had always wanted to be cremated because of being claustrophobic, my wife found out about that and said. "No, your being buried in the ground." I feel this would be a much happier way to make her happy(sounds like the wrong to say if she is burying her husband... or does it?) When my dad died we had the regular casket burial and my mom said, "If I dye in Iowa put me in a casket, but if I dye while living in Arizona for the Winter, cremate me and bury my ashes next to your dad." (She ended up dying while spending her Winter in Arizona.) I'm not sure of all my sisters but I think some wish we would have gotten her body to Iowa, I know I do.
So what are your thoughts?
I know we all are here because we love the whole
permie revolution, I think this would be a great way to help our causes. Help grow woodlands and possibly allow groups to help people become memorialized through preserves with their names on the place. Help families save on burial expenses. My sister-in-law died at 39, she was quite obese and her parents had to buy two plots and a special casket and vault. They racked up over $12,000 on her burial. She died in Arizona, I saw a place while searching for information on this topic that claim an average funeral costs around $10,000 and they would do it for a third of that cost.
http://www.arizonagreenburial.com/faq/