Perhaps you have heard about green burial lately and wonder what it's all about?

Green burial is not a new idea. It is a return to the age old, earth friendly way of burying our dead practiced by our ancestors until the Civil War.

The Green Burial Council, a national educational organization, defines it this way: Green burial is way of caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, the reduction of carbon emissions, the protection of worker health, and the restoration and or protection of habitat.

There are green burial cemeteries all over the country, with three in Maine: Baldwin Hill Conservation Cemetery, in Fayette; Burr Cemetery (a hybrid cemetery), in Freeport; and Cedar Brook Burial Ground, in Limington.

Mid-Coast Green Burial (MCGB) is a local, grass-roots volunteer organization recently formed to promote the creation of a green burial cemetery in the Midcoast. We intend to do this through sharing our enthusiasm and information with our communities, and working in cooperation with funeral homes, cemeteries and land trusts.

Please contact us at mcgreenburial@gmail.com to learn more or to join the Mid-Coast Green Burial Working Group.

Wende McIlwain and Jean Matlack are members of the Mid-Coast Green Burial Working Group