Alaska Natural Burial is working to establish Anchorage’s first natural burial cemetery, providing natural interment services that minimize environmental impacts and serve a higher conservation purpose. Because natural burial cemeteries look and feel like parks, there is potential for an urban cemetery to play an unexpected and important role in providing a community with outdoor recreational space while doubling as wildlife habitat.
The conventional funeral industry is facing a transformation, as consumers become increasingly concerned with the far-reaching health and environmental impacts of conventional funeral and burial practices. Natural burial cemeteries can complement a variety of ecosystems. Each instance of natural burial sequesters carbon, while conventional practices release CO2 and bury millions of tons of hardwoods, metal, and concrete in manicured monocultures.
Caring for the dead has historically been a family and community matter. This ritual is important in connecting people with each other and with the earth, and in connecting people with death more generally as burials become part of the living landscape. Natural
burial cemeteries are not just a place for the dead, but for the living as well.
Join Health TIE on March 10 to learn more about Alaska Natural Burial, suggest possible contacts for expanding equity and access in deathcare, and lend your ideas to this important discussion. Contact Health TIE for meeting details.