By Melanie Plenda

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust are taking on literal translations for some local funeral providers.
Though it hasn’t taken off with great gusto in the state, slowly but surely, more funeral homes are offering “green” burials.
That means a body is either wrapped in a simple shroud or placed in a biodegradable casket made from renewable materials and preferably by local craftspeople. The body is not embalmed, and if there is a casket, no metal is used to hold it together or as an ornament. From putting locally grown flowers at the gravesites to using area stones as simple grave markers, the idea is to have a burial that disrupts and pollutes the environment as little as possible.
“The thing about green burials is what’s new is old,” said Peter Morin, executive director for the New Hampshire Funeral Directors Association. “Because it’s originally how people were buried.”
In New Hampshire, talk about green burials started about eight to 10 years ago, he said. But natural burials were commonplace in the country’s early years and go back to the Neanderthals. Having a fancy coffin, embalming and encasing the casket in a cement vault or grave liner are relatively new practices, said Lee Webster, owner of Turning Leaf Home Funerals in Plymouth.
“Nobody celebrates life or death like we do,” Webster said. “Up until about the Civil War, burials were green.”
But war officials needed a way to get the bodies of soldiers home – usually after a long, arduous journey – relatively intact.
“So they began to experiment,” Webster said. “And that’s when embalming really started happening.”
Some of the first chemicals used in the process, such as arsenic, still show up in the environment today, she said.
While there are a few local leaders in the industry who specialize in green burials, so far the practice hasn’t picked up much steam, Morin said, partly because there has not been a great demand for the practice. Plus, there are only two cemeteries in the state – in Richmond and Winchester – that accommodate green burials.
Despite attempts at legislation to the contrary, cemeteries are not required to set aside a portion of property for green burial sites, and all cemeteries as a policy require cement vaults or grave liners.
Many cemeteries don’t provide green sites, Morin said, as a matter of maintenance. Without a cement vault or grave liner, the dirt and sod placed on the casket eventually sinks as the casket degrades. This can be a hazard for folks walking through and is difficult to maintain.
However, Webster said, cemeteries that do offer green burial ground often will toss in a $250 flat fee to the family to help keep a fresh layer of dirt on top of the grave and a sprinkling of grass to keep everything level.
Another stumbling block is an obscure state law.
“Funeral providers must disclose in writing that embalming is not required by New Hampshire law unless the body is exposed for public viewing more than 24 hours,” according to the state Justice Department.
But funeral homes can get around that. Webster suggests keeping or bringing the body home for any legal mandatory waiting periods or visitation periods and kept cool without using large refrigeration units. “You can use dry ice, or frozen peas in an air-conditioned room for that matter,” she said.
Until state law moves toward greener methods, Webster said, there are things people can do to ensure that their green wishes are carried out, such as bathing the body with warm water and essential oils instead of “disinfecting,” asking the grave be dug by hand rather than by large machinery and transporting the body to the crematory or cemetery in your own vehicles instead of hearses or limousines.