Carrboro Weighs Green Burial Idea

Carrboro has a reputation for being an environmentally-friendly place. So it’s not surprising that town leaders are considering a plan to give citizens the opportunity to abide by their green-living principles, even after their lives have ended.

“I am Ellie Kinnaird. I own a cemetery plot – actually, two of them – in the old cemetery in Carrboro. And I have gotten an interest in green burial. And this is something that is coming to the forefront in a lot of places, because of the environmental concerns.”

Back in September, the former Carrboro Mayor and retired state senator appeared before the Board of Adlermen with a request for the town to look into making the Old Carrboro Cemetery a green burial site.

In a green burial, the body of the deceased is not embalmed. The body is placed directly into the ground – there’s no burial vault.

And the burial container is biodegradable – a wooden box, a shroud, or perhaps something made of cardboard.

The board approved Kinnaird’s request that night.

Nearly five months later, at Tuesday night’s Aldermen meeting, Assistant to the Town Manager Julie Eckenrode presented the board with some findings on how green burials would work in both of the town-owned cemeteries.

Eckenrode said that there are 30 green burial cemeteries in the U.S., and three are in North Carolina. She called one of the state cemeteries during her research.

“Just for example, in Forest Law Memorial Park in Candler, which is near Asheville,” said Eckenrode. “They started performing green burials in 2010. They created a specific section of their cemetery that was a more wooded and natural area.

“And they also decided to pick a separate area, because there are differing maintenance needs for a traditional cemetery versus a green burial cemetery.”

The number of increased staff hours it might take to service a green burial site was one concern raised at the meeting. Maintenance would include dealing with sinking land, due to the lack of a concrete or steel vault.

Public Works Director George Seiz told the board that the department currently works about 1,000 hours a year mowing and trimming Westwood Cemetery and the Old Carrboro Cemetery.

More space would be needed between plots in a green burial site. Allowing green burials in Carrboro would likely lower the number of available graves, so that would need to be taken into account.

Despite the challenges that come with green burial practices, Alderperson Sammy Slade offered some reasons to further pursue the idea.

He cited some national statistics.

“We dump, every year, 827,000 gallons of embalming fluid, which is formaldehyde; 90,000 tons of steel for the caskets; 2,700 tons of copper and bronze, also for the caskets; 1,000, 600 tons of concrete, for the vaults; 14,000 tons of steel for the vaults; and then 30-plus million board feet of hardwood for the caskets.”

Slade said that green burial is “very appropriate for Carrboro.” He added that the idea of more affordable burials should be considered as well.

At the meeting’s conclusion, Mayor Lydia Lavelle said she was hearing “cautious support” among the alderpersons. After further study, the issue will come before the board again, at some unspecified time.