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MILLS RIVER, N.C. (WLOS) — Want to be “green” after you’re gone? That’s an option in Western North Carolina now that a local conservation group has created a green-certified sanctuary, where people being laid to rest can go back to nature.
Anthony Pranger has worked for more than two years as steward of North Carolina’s first certified green conservation burial sanctuary, approved by the state’s Green Burial Council.
MILLS RIVER, N.C. (WLOS) — Want to be “green” after you’re gone? That’s an option in Western North Carolina now that a local conservation group has created a green-certified sanctuary, where people being laid to rest can go back to nature.
Anthony Pranger has worked for more than two years as steward of North Carolina’s first certified green conservation burial sanctuary, approved by the state’s Green Burial Council.
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“Instead of seeing a bunch of headstones, the natural landscape is the first thing that you see,” Pranger said of the 11-acre tranquil wooded site that sits several miles southwest of Asheville Regional Airport and several miles from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Green burials are a movement that appears to be gaining momentum.
“There are native plants, a creek and wild animals,” Pranger said of the now protected burial ground near Mills River.
The sanctuary became protected Oct. 2 after Carolina Memorial Sanctuary donated a permanent conservation easement to Conserving Carolina to assure the grounds will remain a natural environment forever.
Pranger is in charge of upkeep and maintenance of the grounds where he said 37 people have been laid to rest, along with several who have had their ashes spread at the property.
“The idea is to be buried without embalming, without concrete liners and steel vaults,” Pranger said. “The property is a permanent protected conservation easement with a wildflower meadow and woodlands.”
People can be buried in a shroud or a casket, but one that is environmentally-friendly and will break down over time.
“People who die here have the opportunity to bring new life to plant life and to support native wildlife habits,” Pranger said.
“Conservation burial is important because it pays close attention to how we are treating the earth and what we put into the earth,” said Cassie Barrett, operations manager at the sanctuary. “As a certified conservation burial ground, Carolina Memorial Sanctuary has to follow strict guidelines, and so we dig all the graves by hand, making sure to disturb the earth as little as possible and only use biodegradable materials, sourced locally and sustainably whenever possible. In addition to this, the land is protected in perpetuity.”
Under North Carolina law, the sanctuary must be owned by a church, which Pranger said it is. Graves are dug 3 feet into the earth and covered with at least 18 inches of soil.
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