Funeral industry goes green, Lawrence part of the trend

Drastic change in the seemingly unchanging business of burial may seem unlikely. Indeed, much has remained the same since the development of embalmment following the Civil War. But now, the funeral industry appears to be on the cusp of a shift in its operation - and Lawrence has become part of the trend.
        After months of research and consultation with local funeral home directors, The city commission approved on Tuesday a proposal to designate a portion of Oak Hill Cemetery as an approved "natural" burial site. The site, due to open for business on Jan. 1, 2009, will comprise what commission members said will be the first municipally owned natural burial site in the country.
    Natural, or "green," burial, "ensures the burial site remains as natural as possible in all respects," the proposal to the city commission stated.
    The aim is to have as little negative impact on the environment as possible - even after death.
    To be approved by the Green Burial Council, as the Oak Hill site intends to be, a cemetery must not use concrete grave liners (as conventional cemeteries do) and all bodies must not be preserved with any chemicals or buried in any container that is not biodegradable. In addition, the site must be kept in its natural state, meaning no mowing or landscaping.
    Only ten cemeteries in the U.S. are approved as natural burial sites, but demand is increasing. Four sites more sites are under construction, according to the Green Burial Council.
    Funeral arrangements being very rarely the talk of the town, many consumers are unaware of green burial. Its proponents, however, see it as the future of the industry and as surpassing cremation, the current leading competitor to conventional burial.
    "It's an industry that's very consumer-driven," said Mitch Young, cemeteries supervisor for Lawrence Parks and Recreation, "and a lot of people are looking forward to doing this in the future - well, not quite 'looking forward to it,' of course, but they're happy to have it as an option."
    Larry McElwain, co-owner of Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W. 13th St., suggested city commissioner Boog Highberger look into green burial after he received several inquiries from consumers about offering a more environmentally friendly and natural departure.
    Highberger then asked Ernie Shaw, the director of Lawrence Parks and Recreation, to research and write the proposal.
    Highberger said McElwain predicted natural burial would eventually surpass cremation in popularity because of the high cost of cremation, both in terms of money spent and energy used.

    Shaw took on the proposal project, he said, because he predicted strong approval for it from the Lawrence community.
    "Being in Lawrence for thirty some years, knowing how positive people are about going green, I knew, with that culture, there's going to be a number of people who are interested," he said.
    Some see natural burial as little more than a jump on the "green bandwagon" - a repackaging of an age-old concept to fit in with the vogue, especially since direct burial, which is effectively natural burial, but with a required concrete grave liner, is permitted and often practiced throughout Kansas.
    "Natural burial is taking something that already exists and relabeling it," said Bart Yost, president of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana St.. "People have been doing 'natural burial' forever."
    Even if he didn't agree with the marketing, Yost said he supported people have an expanded range of choices for themselves and their loved ones.
Highberger agreed with McElwain and other funeral home directors, who believe the demand will increase for the alternative option.
    "(Natural burial) satisfies peoples' desire to make less of an impact on the earth" even after death, he said.