By Margaret Price, New York Daily News
Young as he may be for it, Matthew Pearson, 44, has found his final resting place: Greengsprings Natural Cemetery. The bucolic site in the Finger Lakes region entails 93 acres of meadow, high grasses and trees. A one-time farm located atop Irish Hill, it is one of the highest points in Tompkins County.
Opened in May, Greensprings is the state’s first “green” burial ground. In this eco-cemetery, bodies of the deceased cannot be embalmed before burial; nor can their graves get a standup headstone or have a cement or steel burial vault.
Instead, bodies are buried in a shroud or biodegradable coffin. The cemetery also accepts cremated remains.In time, “we hope this land will become a natural park,” said Pearson, a New York City investment banker who “works with a number of the country’s leading nonprofit land conservation groups.”
To Pearson, Greensprings has two main attractions: It protects and conserves land.
And it “provides a low-cost burial alternative,” said Pearson, a board member of the Greensprings Natural Cemetery Association.
Funeral costs average $6,500 nationwide, excluding cemetery costs, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. The Federal Trade Commission has dubbed funeral costs the third biggest single purchase many people will make.
No wonder, experts say, more people are seeking options to the traditional funeral that includes casket, wake, funeral service, vault and burial with headstone. So far, “green” burials, which began 10 years ago in the U.S., are still relatively unfamiliar to many people. But some experts foresee their popularity rising, especially among the environmentally conscious.
Meanwhile, cremations have been rapidly gaining favor and may become the leading way of handling a deceased’s remains in the future. A Wirthlin Report from last year underscores the growing appeal of cremations. In that survey, 46% of Americans polled in late 2004 said they would select cremation, up from 31% in 1990. As their reasonfor preferring cremation, the largest percentage cited saving money, up from 19% in 1990.
What kind of savings are possible? According to Neil Lewis, of Lansing Funeral Home in Lansing, N.Y., cremations can save $3,000 to $4,000 over the cost of a traditional full-service funeral.
Moreover, burials at Greensprings Natural Cemetery provide similar savings over traditional funeral costs, said Lewis, whose funeral home has handled several burials at that cemetery.
So far, Greensprings is the least expensive of the five eco-burial U.S. cemeteries, according to Joe Sehee, executive director of Green Burial Council.
At Greensprings, burials cost $500 for the plot and $450 for the grave digging. On top of those charges, the state requires the services of a licensed funeral director.
The cost of direct burial in the Finger Lakes region of New York range from $2,000 to $2,900, excluding casket cost, according to David Penepent, president of the Finger Lakes Funeral Directors Association.
Penepent, a licensed funeral director, said these local price ranges are similar to average cost ranges nationwide.
Another option increasingly sought: burial at sea. This method doesn’t have to cost a fortune, either.
For instance, at Babylon, L.I.-based Sea Services, charges include $195 ($175 for veterans) for scattering cremated remains off the coast of Fire Island without family or friends attending.
The cost averages $650 when family members accompany the boat and disperse the cremains. (These fees do not include funeral home and cremation charges.)
Source - http://www.nydailynews.com