Friday Features: Green Burial

Members of the community are invited to a special Friday Features program on natural “green burial” presented by end-of-life expert Andra Olney-Larson. The free presentation will be held on Friday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, 110 S. Second St. in downtown Geneva.

Olney-Larson will speak about Casper Creek, a 16-acre certified conservation cemetery near Galena, Ill. that offers natural burial on a bluff above the Mississippi River—one of only 13 certified conservation burial grounds in North America and the only one in Illinois.

Natural burial requires no embalming, no use of natural resources for a casket and concrete vault, and no fossil fuel emissions. Currently nearly 60% of people in the United States opt for flame cremation—a choice that has negative impacts on the environment. Each individual cremation emits 500 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and the energy consumed by cremation in one year could fill the fuel tanks of nearly 2 million cars (2022 data).

A natural burial is an environmentally friendly alternative. Once the body, wrapped in a biodegradable shroud, is placed in the grave, it is covered with soil and seeded with native plants, restoring the ground to its natural prairie habitat. 

In addition to her interest in sustainable end-of-life practices, Olney-Larson is also a certified death doula. Her program will offer attendees a rare opportunity to learn and ask questions about a wide range of end-of-life matters. 

Terry Shouba of the church’s Green Sanctuary Team will moderate the program. “My husband and I do not want to contribute to the climate crisis with conventional burial or cremation,” she said. “Our conversations with Andra convinced us to choose green burial, and we believe others will be interested to learn about this natural, sustainable way of caring for the deceased with minimal environmental impact.”