It’s good if a little morbid to know we can still be environmentally responsible after our demise which inevitably happens to all of us. The concept of a ‘green burial’ isn’t new but is gaining rapid popularity in many new places as it is both an eco-friendly end of days but also reduces costs to a great extent.

Blackstairs Mountains in Ireland

A company in Ireland have announced that planning permission has been granted for a 100% natural burial ground along the foot of the Blackstairs Mountains to the southwest of Dublin in a rural part of County Wexford, the first of its kind in Ireland. With the land now secured the processes can be readied for the first burials which are expected to take place sometime this Autumn. The owner of the company has committed to running the company in a completely sustainable method and will be a non-denominational ground so that people of any faith or none at all can be placed at rest in the beautiful location. He chose the site in part for the unspoiled beauty of the location which sits occupying over 7 acres of gentle woodland and soft irish grass.

He also feels the lower costs will make people give extra consideration to the new idea with potential savings of up to $6,000 for a single plot. With pricing for a single plot starting at a price of less than $1,000 he thinks that people who aren’t even environmentally active may participate in an approach that he calls ‘much gentler on the land’. The entire process will be different to tradition in Ireland, for example marble headstones and surrounds will be replaced by the planting of a native tree and a wooden marker. They will offer the alternative of a small stone from a local quarry only.

The owner states that “allowing your funeral to be used as a conservation tool will leave a legacy of care and respect for our planet” he hopes to select other burial grounds soon including one much nearer to Dublin. The first graveyard will allow for about 5,000 burials but he expects the success to mirror what is already happening in the UK where over 250 such facilities exist and ‘natural’ burials account for almost a third of all burials.

He also operates Green Coffins Ireland, which supplies undertakers with a range of “eco” funeral options such as coffins made from willow, cardboard, bamboo and banana leaf. If cremation is preferable they state that each “eco coffin” is accepted and considered suitable by “all the crematoriums in Ireland, North and South” and it also provides “eco-urns” made from “100 per cent recycled paper “ or wickerwork for the storage or burial of ashes.

I expect this option to grow slowly but consistently here in the years to come also, I think it would be a fitting legacy to the land that nurtured us.Learn more about the natural burial concept via their website.