9 Substitutions For Traditional Cemetery Markers

When you think about a cemetery, what's the firstnatural and nondestructive. Remember, a green burial
image you see in your mind? More than likely it's ais a celebration of life.
picture of a sprawling, manicured expanse of acresOf course, we can't minimize the importance of
cluttered with tombstones, statuary, follies,having a marker on the grave-something to tell us
monuments and mausoleums. It's this rather Victorian"our loved one is buried here," something to say,
image of the cemetery that pervades most images"We remember you."
of the traditional final resting place. In later years,But, a monument doesn't need to be costly
some cemeteries have opted to remove the clutterstone-stone that was stolen from other land; it
and architecture afforded by headstones in favor ofdoesn't have to be a bronze plaque rendered at
a more streamlined and modern look with metal orgreat expense. To truly celebrate life, the marker for
stone plaques flush with the ground. Other specializedthe grave in a green burial is something enduring,
cemeteries prefer all graves to be marked withsomething that wasn't harmful to the earth, and,
matching monuments-a line of identical crosses ormost importantly, something befitting the person
Stars of David, etc.buried beneath it.
Yes, there's a certain nostalgia and comfort in theseEach green cemetery will have recommendations
familiar images from the plinths and obelisks of theabout what kinds of markers are acceptable.
Victorian era to the Spartan look of the "modern"However, here are some ideas of green markers and
cemetery.monuments that will serve as a lasting reminder of
However, upon closer examination, what do wethe life you are honoring.
have? We have stone which has been quarried from1. A tree native to the area, planted in honor of the
other areas and brought in at great expense. Thedeceased, a tree that will be nourished by the loving
quarrying process strips perfectly good land, digginggesture of returning the body to the Earth.
irreparable holes and caverns into earth which would2. Native plants.
be better used in other ways. We have a landscape3. A rock or stone found on the site itself which has
trenched by machinery which uses valuablebeen engraved with the name of the deceased.
petroleum, we have an earth filled with unnatural4. A plant that had a special meaning or symbolism
chemicals, an eco-system interrupted by concretefor the deceased.
and plastic vaults designed to unnaturally elevate the5. A tree stump or log found in the area, uprooted
land and keep the natural processes of erosion atby nature itself which can be inscribed with the name
bay.of your loved one.
In green burial, the land is often left to grow6. A marker made from re-claimed or salvaged wood
naturally-free of pesticides to control weeds, free ofwhich, in time, will also deteriorate.
unnatural materials, free to grow and evolve as it7. A cluster or design made-up of small stones native
was intended. More often than not, graves for greento the area.
burial are dug by hand, not by dangerous and8. A natural-wood bird feeder made from reclaimed
expensive machinery.wood.
As I have pointed out, the goal of eco-friendly burial9. Nothing at all.
is to preserve the earth, to give the body back toThat last option may seem surprising, but many who
the land where it will serve as nutrition for the plantsare proponents of green burial would rather see
that grow on the Earth and the organisms that livenature take its course uninterrupted. Simply knowing
below it.the general area in which their loved one is buried is
So, in looking at a green cemetery in that light, it'senough for them. They take comfort in seeing the
only proper that the monuments we leave to markland grow free and unencumbered.
the place of a loved one's burial should be equally