Tennessee 'Natural' Burial Ground Will Offer A Simpler Farewell Casket Optional

Larkspur Conservation in Sumner County, Tenn., is a beautiful, parklike setting, with hiking trails and picnic areas and, soon, occasional burial plots. The 112 acres of serene rolling hills are protected by a conservation easement through the Nature Conservancy. Larkspur's founders hope it will offer families a greener — and cheaper — way to lay their loved ones to rest in a beautiful place.

This will be a different kind of cemetery: no rows of tombstones and monuments, and no plastic flowers. The nature preserve will be used for "natural burials" only. Caskets are optional, as are makeup and clothing on the body. Vaults around the caskets are prohibited. So are headstones, beyond a native stone from the property. No need for a hearse. Graves average 3.5 to 4 feet deep — or a bit deeper for biodegradable caskets — in the microbe-rich, living layer of soil. Ceremonies may involve clergy of any faith, or none at all.

Walking through a meadow on the property, Larkspur Executive Director John Christian Phifer says, "People [who] choose to be buried in this area are the people who want wildflowers blooming on their grave and butterflies fluttering about."

Or, Phifer says, people can opt to be buried in the wooded section: "It's really an expansive place, and quiet and beautiful."

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https://www.npr.org/2018/03/11/589974185/tennessee-natural-burial-ground-will-offer-a-simpler-farewell-casket-optional?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20180311