By Lisa Carlson, Burlington Free Press
As the author of “I Died Laughing: Funeral Education with a Light Touch,” I enjoy funeral humor — it’s a great way to break the ice for a sometimes difficult discussion. (Don’t knock on death’s door. Ring the bell and run. He hates that).
But Ed Shamy missed the boat if he thought H.356 was a frivolous, funny bill. That’s the bill that would delete the statutory requirement to bury an adult “coffin” five feet under. Written in the language of the times when vaults were rarely used, the five-foot requirement is routinely ignored by Vermont cemeteries these days. There may be a high water table or ledge, and with the casket vault to protect the burial, a minimum amount of earth can be used for covering graves in a typical modern cemetery.
There is a growing interest, however, in “green” burials — no embalming, no metal caskets or vaults to interfere with the body’s natural return to the earth. In this region, New York, Massachusetts, and Maine either have or are in the process of setting up green burial grounds, but the interest is nationwide, as one more way to combat global warming. A simple burial in the earth in a cloth shroud or biodegradable box is the least energy-intensive, most environmentally-friendly funeral practice. It is also the least expensive.
Yes, Vermont has a high cremation rate (nearly 50 percent), and with the ground frozen six months of the year, cremation is sometimes the most practical choice. For the rest of the year, Vermonters are beginning to ask for green burial options.
Green burial practices are also consistent with many of the world’s religious funeral traditions. Reports from several frustrated Vermonters — told they needed coffins and vaults, among other things — prompted Reps. William Lippert and Scott Orr to introduce H.356.
As one who is actively looking for land to start a garden park and green burial ground, I want the most progressive practices to operate it. In order to make the park inviting for public use — for nature trails, out-door concert gatherings, weddings and picnics — fruit trees and perennial plantings will be used for memorials, rather than monuments. (Genealogical information will still be available on an office computer and Web site, far more than ever fit on a tombstone.) As a garden park, the space where we can lay to rest our dead will be designed to serve the living, not a forgotten and seldom-used cemetery.
What does all this have to do with five feet under? The microorganisms that speed decomposition are most active in the top three feet of soil. It’s also the top three feet of soil that will benefit most from the nutriments being recycled as we decompose. Our garden park could ignore the law, I suppose, but I’d rather not worry about who might start enforcing the old law.
Most people don’t know that cartoonist Gary Larson had a background in biology. If you want a delightful read to explain some of the concepts behind green burials to children (and adults), get his book, “There’s a Hair in My Dirt.” And ask your local legislator to support H. 356, to get rid of the five-feet-under requirement so we can start setting up ecologically efficient green burial parks in Vermont.
Lisa Carlson of Hinesburg is the author of “Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love.”