Our friend Michelle Acciavatti, who works with people at the end of their lives to help them find their own good death, is hosting an event at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library this coming Wednesday on Green Burials in Vermont. Here's more on the event and why it's important, in her own words:
"My calling in life is working with people at the end of life- helping them find their own good death. For many this includes not only dying, but being buried in accordance with the ethics and values that have guided them in living. Most of the people I work with express a desire to forgo more conventional burial practices (such as embalming) and 'return to the land.'
Unfortunately, currently Vermont law does not allow for a true return to the land. While people can, and are, buried unembalmed and in natural containers that do not harm the environment, they must be buried at least 5 feet deep. Meaning their bodies are below the active layers of the soil where the oxygen and microbial environment would allow for the body to decompose aerobically and its elements taken up by the soil around it.
Because of this I recently helped the Calais Cemetery Commission write a bill that proposed to change the burial depth to at least 3.5 feet. This is the burial depths used by nearly 200 green burial cemeteries in the US (and indeed hundreds more in Canada, the UK, and Europe). This depth allows for the body to be in the active layers of the soil while ensuring it is too deep to be at risk of mammalian scavengers or exposure.
I believe this is an issue of environmental justice. We are nurtured by the land and spend most of lives taking from it, often in harmful ways. Green burial is a small step towards restoring a more natural balance with our ecosystem by allowing our bodies to become a part of it after death. Green burial cemeteries, whether a separate part of an existing town cemetery or an independent conservation cemetery, are managed without pesticides and needless mowing. They are used to restore and protect forest land, rehabilitate and restore prairie habitat, and my vision in Vermont is to replenish pollinator habitats with native wildflower meadows in addition to protecting and preserving our forests.
Over 150 green cemeteries in 41 states have adopted this practice and it's time Vermont joined them. This bill needs public support to get out of committee and onto the house floor. If you're curious about the bill please join us at the Montpelier Public Library on Wednesday, February 1st from 6-7:30pm. This event will include a screening of a short documentary 'Dying Green' about green burial and a brief presentation about the new bill and what green burial could look like in Vermont."
Hosted by green burial advocate Michelle Acciavatti and wildlife biologist Carl Anderson there will be plenty of time for discussion and questions. This event is free and open to all.
Find a link to the event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/green-burial-and-the-vermont-law-tickets-31545930728
or email michelle@ending-well.com with any questions.
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