It took a decade but the green burial option at Royal Oak Burial Park is catching on the way its creators expected.
With no embalming done, no caskets and no headstones, the green burial option at Royal Oak Burial Park is a passive option for humans to return to the earth. The Woodlands area of the 54-hectare cemetery opened in 2008 and has had 215 burials since. Executive director Crystabelle Fobler withheld the specific numbers for the past two years but said theyB次元官网网址檝e hit a peak number of green burials for 2017 and are on track to supersede that for 2018.
However, at its start, the green burial concept at the not-for-profit was challenged by some in the funeral industry, said Lorraine Fracy, manager of client services. ItB次元官网网址檚 one of the reasons the movement has been so slow to pick up despite existing outside Canada for at least a decade.
B次元官网网址淯nfortunately, the majority of our profession both the funeral and cemetery side are for profit,B次元官网网址� Fracy said. B次元官网网址淲e experienced a lot of negativity, even from our local funeral homes when the [Woodlands] opened. TheyB次元官网网址檇 say B次元官网网址榶ouB次元官网网址檙e taking away embalming, youB次元官网网址檙e talking away fancy caskets, youB次元官网网址檙e taking away headstones, youB次元官网网址檙e taking away liners, youB次元官网网址檙e taking away big services because the bodies [arenB次元官网网址檛] embalmed,B次元官网网址� so they saw this as a great big negative.B次元官网网址�
In green burial, bodies are wrapped in a biodegradable shroud or in a light, wooden casket free of metals. The biodegradable caskets use sustainable products only, and there are no grave liners.
The Woodlands, like the traditional burial park, offers double depth burial (in phase two only). Another element that makes the green burial at Royal Oak unique is that once an area is full, it is remediated with plants and shrubs, and returned to a natural state such as a Garry oak meadow. Instead of a headstone all names of those buried in the Woodlands are etched into a piece of large stone on a path along the edge of the meadow.
What Fobler and the Royal Oak Burial Park administration discovered in recent years was that the public didnB次元官网网址檛 understand exactly what a green burial meant.
B次元官网网址淭he green burial shows up in obituaries as a B次元官网网址榃oodlands burialB次元官网网址� and nobody really understood what to expect, especially with the shrouded body,B次元官网网址� Fracy said. B次元官网网址淲e very quickly realized probably 50 per cent of our B次元官网网址榩re-needsB次元官网网址� were people who attended a green burial and came into our office for the very first time and said B次元官网网址榯hatB次元官网网址檚 exactly what I want.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e had bodies shipped to us from other provinces because the families felt their own cemeteries were behind the times.B次元官网网址�
Royal Oak Burial Park would like to see more green burial sites in B.C. but cite space and resources as key challenges.
B次元官网网址淎 lot of cemeteries are [municipally] run and weB次元官网网址檝e had engineers, park managers, city planners, all come out and tour our site,B次元官网网址� Fracy said. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檝e been super enthusiastic, they went back to their place to show how easy it is, but a lot of times thereB次元官网网址檚 no funding or desire.B次元官网网址�
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