Green Burials.

[1938 Observer]

I just happened upon this topic by accident; probably not to everyones taste but it does bring up some interesting ideas, and it does fit the LifestyleGreen/ Issues concept.

Natural burial ground opens in the Vale (Wales)

The first natural burial ground has opened in the Vale of Glamorgan. Native Woodland, the Monmouth-based company, officially opened the site Thursday with the Mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan, Councillor Audrey Preston cutting the ribbon.
Report by Media Wales' James Cuff

[1938 Observer]

Coffins etc
There are now many different types of eco-coffins, which can be obtained via your funeral director or directly from the manufacturer

Willow, Bamboo and Seagrass coffins.........

Pets are welcome too
You can make arrangements now for your pet's ashes to be buried with you at your funeral, or for them to be interred alongside you later when their time comes.

Pets are important friends and working companions and have often been with you through thick and thin; many have been yours since they were tiny and are dependant upon you. They become an integral part of the family and form a special bond.

For many people pets have a special place in their lives and it is often important for people to share their final resting place with their pets.

With Native Woodland, you can now include the interment of your pet's cremated remains as part of your own funeral arrangements; or, if your pet survives you, the pet's ashes can be interred alongside you, when the time comes.


All types of interesting things at the link.......... http://www.nativewoodland.eu/index.php?page=coffins-etc

[1938 Observer]

Owners pay to be buried with their pets

By Alastair Jamieson
Published: 9:00PM GMT 23 Jan 2010 Telegraph UK.

Growing numbers of pet owners are seeking burials with their favourite domestic animals

From Egyptian pharaohs to Anglo-Saxon warriors, humans have been buried alongside their most sacred or treasured animals.

Now the practice is making a comeback with an increasing number of pet owners seeking burials with their favourite cats, dogs and horses.

Planners in Lincolnshire last week approved the latest in a series of joint animal and human cemeteries where masters can be interred close to their beloved companions rather than being cremated.

A handful of joint cemeteries even allow pets and owners to be buried in the same plot.

The trend has been accelerated by the growth in non-denominational 'natural' sites for humans that use biodegradable coffins and often have woodland settings without rigid lines of plots or fixed headstones; such layouts make it easier to add pets.

Penny Lally, who runs a pet crematorium, cemetery and 'woodland burial place' in Penwith, west Cornwall, has laid to rest more than 30 owners alongside their animals since she began allowing joint graves in 2003 and has more than 120 forward bookings.

Among her best customers is animal lover Carole Mundy, 54, who has reserved a plot for herself and her husband Robert right next to their 17-year-old golden retriever, Dylan, who was buried there in February 2008.

She has also pre-booked a nearby space for Merlin, her Irish thoroughbred.

"As well as being the best dog in the world, Dylan was a fantastic friend and I don't see why he shouldn't have the same resting place as me," she explained.

"Nothing makes me more angry than people saying 'it is only a dog'. Animals give you unconditional love, they don't reprimand or judge you.

"We are always taking in more. Merlin was rescued from Romania where he had been terribly mistreated."

The human resources consultant, from south-east Cornwall, has spent £2,800 on the plot for Dylan, herself and husband Robert and £650 on reserving space for Merlin.

Her other dogs Sir Lancelot, Queen Guinevere and Sir Galahad are also expected to find themselves in the same cemetery.

"All the burials will take place in a wicker casket. I never wanted to be cremated and when you look at the cost of a conventional funeral it isn't a great deal different," she added.

"Some think you're screwy but they need to realise what a difference animals can make to people's lives."

Wendy Pratt, manager of the Tarn Moor Memorial Woodland 'natural' burial suite near Skipton, North Yorkshire, said one woman was interred in the joint pet and owner area because "she just liked cats".

"There has been more interest in joint burials recently because people are starting to realise it is possible," she said.

An estimated 1.5 million dogs and cats die every year, according to the Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria.

Some 300,000 are buried in the garden, 1,000 in pet cemeteries, 100,000 are individually cremated and the rest incinerated as clinical waste.

Unlike human cemeteries, Britain's 19 pet burial sites require regular inspection by the Environment Agency acting on behalf of the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs.

Only a handful of those offer joint burials, the first of which began in Rossendale in Lancashire in 1995.

Cremation is a cheaper option, usually costing between £75 and £200 including the urn, and makes it easier for owners to be buried with their pet as no extra ground plot is required.

Elaine Pendlebury, a veterinary surgeon with animal charity PDSA, said: "It is something that wouldn't have been considered 30 or 40 years ago but we are hearing of more occasions where owners want to be buried with their pet.

"For many, the grieving process for a pet is no different to losing a member of the family, particularly given that pets bring such a structure and routine to people's lives and company for older people on their own."

She added that bereaved pet owners could, for a suggested donation of £25, have a special tag displayed in the charity's Paws Forever Pet Tribute Garden in Ilford, east London.

The pharaohs of ancient Egypt thought nothing of being buried alongside mummified cats, monkeys and birds because they believed animals shared an afterlife with humans.

Anglo-Saxon nobles were usually interred with their possessions, and warriors with their horses. A 1991 excavation at Sutton Hoo found a grave pit containing a young man and a stallion.

The practice fell out of favour as the rise of Christianity saw pet rituals attributed to paganism, although the 19th century saw the creation of a pet cemetery in London's Hyde Park complete with tombstones.

"The exemplary fidelity of the dog triumphed, in Victorian sentimental culture, even over death," said Dr Philip Howell, a fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, who is an expert on Victorians and their pets.

He said Lord Byron had asked to be buried with his Newfoundland dog, called Boatswain, at Newstead Abbey but this never came about.

The romantic poet wrote Epitaph to a Dog for the animal, which died of rabies in 1808.


The most notable example is that of Greyfriars Bobby, the faithful terrier that kept constant watch over his master's grave in the yard of Greyfriars Kirk for 14 years.

When Bobby died in 1872 he could not be buried within the cemetery itself, since it was regarded as "consecrated" ground, and was instead laid to rest just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from his owner John Gray's grave.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/pe...heir-pets.html