The death of a loved one presents the next of kin with the need to make a series of decisions. Most of those decisions will involve practical choices about what to do with the person’s remains, but some decisions will run deeper and revolve around the question of how to best honor that person’s memory. For most people, a funeral represents a last opportunity to make a statement as to the values that inspired that person’s goals and aspirations.

A key reason why people seek out a natural burial is that they don’t want their last act to impose a further burden on nature; instead, they want their remains to nourish the earth. Much of the vision behind the Herland Forest comes the pioneering work of Elizabeth Fournier; she gave this TED talk on Going Green: Your Last Heroic Act of Volunteerism.

At Herland, we’re committed to helping transform death into new life. We primarily do that in one of two ways: enhanced natural burial in our forest, and natural organic reduction our NOR facility. For more information on those two options, check out From One to a Hundred.

For the families that want both options, we’ve developed a hybrid path back to nature that we call ReEarthing. In this option, the remains are first reduced in our above ground facility. That will allow the family to take home a portion of the compost and use it on their own property.

The remaining compost is then buried in the forest and used to help grown a tree. That way, their loved one’s remains will help feed the animals and nourish the bees for generations to come.

The ReEarthing of Anthony Roberts

Last fall, Anthony’s remains arrived for reduction, and by late spring, they were ready for ReEarthing. A grave was prepared in the forest, and the drums holding Anthony’s remains were transferred to graveside.

In late June, some of Anthony’s friend gathered at graveside to be part of the ReEarthing process.

The compost was placed in the grave.

Then a dirt cap was added to the seal the grave.

Then a hole was made in the dirt cap to provide space for planting a memorial elderberry tree.

Finally, a wood chip mulch was added to help the grave retain moisture as the transplanted tree became established.