Green Memorial Concept Growing in Virginia

Centreville Company Plants Cremated Remains in Tree Root Systems

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Preserving Life After Death
For a price, the environmentally conscious can have their cremated remains planted in a biodegradable urn -- or without any container at all -- beside a mature tree to be soaked up by the root system.

The expression "living memorial" has never been so literal.

Start-up EcoEternity is launching an unusual twist on cremation interment in Middleburg. Trees, not burial plots, are the final resting places for the ashes of the deceased.

For a price, the Centreville-based company will plant cremated remains in a biodegradable urn, or without any container at all, beside a mature tree to be soaked up by the root system.

The idea is that over time the deceased will become one with their personal trees.

The concept isn't that far fetched. Terry Clark, associate director of science and education for the Society of American Foresters, said ashes do mix into a tree's soil, much like fertilizer. "Though I don't know what nutrients are in human ash," Clark said.

EcoEternity is one of several companies nationwide trying to stir interest in back-to-nature funerals. In some cases, these green alternatives are just new labels for cremations in which people sprinkle the ashes of, say, a scuba diver over a coral reef. Some firms are trying to institutionalize such practices by offering memorial grounds and special services.

Tree burial has won some converts in Canada, Europe and parts of Asia, but it has yet to catch on in the United States.

"It's new and too soon to figure out if this is a fad or something here to stay," said Bob Fells, spokesman for the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association. There are no official numbers for so-called green burials, but proponents cite the steady rise in U.S. cremations as an indicator of interest in alternatives to burials in coffins. In California and the District, for instance, half of all the deceased were cremated in 2006, according to one estimate. Cremations have been less popular in Virginia and Maryland, where they represented 28 percent of deaths.

EcoEternity hopes to open a forest cemetery in each region of the country. Though no ashes have made their way to the Middleburg forest, the company is already looking to expand into South Carolina, home to the first U.S. green cemetery, a nature preserve that hosts un-embalmed burials and ash scatterings.

In Loudoun, EcoEternity partnered with Camp Highroad, a Christian adventure camp, to designate three acres of the camp's forest for the venture. It has the option to expand.

The camp, a ministry of the United Methodist Church of Northern Virginia, has a giant wooden cross in the center of its forest. However, people of any religion are welcome to choose one of 184 trees, said EcoEternity co-founder Jack Lowe.

The company plans to preserve the site mostly in its natural state, save for a dirt path on which campers can continue to ride horses and hike. Small, discrete tags will identify the names of the deceased associated with each tree.