New York State's First Natural Cemetery

At the end of May, I spoke at the dedication of the Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve. The fifth natural cemetery in this country, Greensprings takes root on 100 acres of rolling meadowland that adjoins thousands of additional acres of protected forest just outside Ithaca, New York. Like its inspiration, Ramsey Creek, Greensprings offers the best of natural return: a green burial (vaultless and embalming-free) in a green setting, with plans to use the woodland cemetery scheme to not only protect this bucolic site from development but to restore it to ecological health.

At the dedication, I spoke with Michael d'Estries, managing editor of GroovyGreen.com, a vibrant web outlet for environmental issues. The video he shot that day -- above -- offers a compelling, inside look at the genesis of Greensprings and the growing green burial movement it's giving rise to.

For more information on Greensprings, visit the group's web site: www.naturalburial.org

I'm on vacation through next week, back with a post on January 3rd. Happy holidays!