Brits love their pets! We just learned of Respect GB (Respect Great Britain – Respect Green Burials) and their two green burial grounds. According to their website:

We now operate two private Natural Woodland Green Burial Parks, predominantly for burying people, however we have a separate area that uniquely offers the burial of animals and pet lovers side by side in our togetherness section. This rather exclusive opportunity for you to be buried alongside your pets can only take place in a special fully licensed cemetery of which we own two of the four burial grounds in the UK.

• Laughton near the North Linc’s / Lincolnshire border serving both counties DN21 3AF
• Scrooby / Bawtry Great North Rd J A638/A614 North Nottinghamshire / South Yorkshire DN10 6AB

Because of today’s modern lifestyle we cannot always choose to live a green life, but green burial is our opportunity to have a respectful green end to our cycle of life and put something good back into mother earth.

To see our growing list of international Green Family Cemeteries and Green Pet Cemeteries, visit our International Providers page.

The Green Pet-Burial Society is happy to announce two new green cemeteries:

• Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery in Gainesville, FL
• Greenhaven Preserve in Eastover, SC.

Both are listed on our Providers webpage. Greenhaven Preserve includes both, a family cemetery and a pet cemetery. 

Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, Gainesville, FL  

Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery (PCCC) is located in the heart of North Florida, just outside Gainesville and close to Paynes Prairie. The cemetery includes wild grass meadows and stands of classic North Florida oaks. As a natural burial choice, it is also an opportunity to help conserve the beauty of Florida.

Freddie Johnson, Executive Director of the parent organization, Conservation Burial, Inc., wrote to us stating that by “providing an opportunity for folks to bury their beloved pets in the same natural cemetery as they plan to be buried in (or that a family member is already buried in) is immensely meaningful to our clients.”

Greenhaven Preserve, Eastover, SC 

Greenhaven Preserve is a 10-acre natural burial cemetery devoted to the long-term preservation and guardianship of the sacred land upon which it rests. Their mission is to restore and protect the surrounding fields and forests, waters and wildlife, views and vistas while providing a simple, meaningful and sustainable alternative to modern burial.

Cemetery Manager, Tara McCoy, informed us that Greenhaven Preserve is “a Green Burial Council certified conservation burial ground … located just a few minutes outside of downtown Columbia … We offer a separate pet burial section of our cemetery and also allow families to be buried with their pets.”

photo detail: summer wishes [Explored!] by Shandi-lee

Animal Death

This symposium is a pre-conference event of the Minding Animals Conference. Minding Animals provides an avenue for the transdisciplinary field of Animal Studies to be more responsive to the protection of animals. The symposium is being organized and hosted at the University of Sydney by the Human Animal Research Network (HARN), an interdisciplinary and cross-faculty research group that aims to promote cross-disciplinary dialogue within the emerging discipline of Animal Studies.

In response, we prepared a new document for pet cemetery professionals which covers the basic conceptual, cultural, aesthetic and economic aspects that are significant to cemeterians and eco-conscious consumers. Additionally, it reimagines pet cemeteries as local centers for environmental sustainability.

Entitled, The Greening of Pet Cemeteries, it is posted on the “Pet Cemetery Professionals” webpage.

This new document made its debut at the recent annual convention of the International Association of Pet Cemeteries & Crematories (IAOPCC). Very encouraging!

As always, your generous donation helps to cover administrative and printing costs, and helps maintain our educational and public awareness programs.

photo credit: (c) 2009 Tina Lapointe photography 

© Flickr.com Zest_pk

Thank You for your interest in, and support of, the Green Pet-Burial Society. What an extraordinary year! When I founded the Society in early 2010, it was important to launch our website first in order to provide grieving individuals and families with information they needed to make practical and green burial arrangements upon the passing of a beloved animal. No other service provides the type of information we do. It’s heartening to know that many found help either directly from us or from the information posted.

If you haven’t visited the website since its launch, you’ll see that it’s grown significantly. There’s still new information to add, and we plan to sharpen its environmental focus. We’re also putting together an advisory council of dedicated individuals who share our goals.

New and important connections are being established with directors of human and pet cemeteries; funeral homes; pet, bereavement and green burial organizations; and associations listed on our Organizations webpage (under Resources). We’ve also become a resource for scholars and students interested in the emerging field of pet thanatology.

Entrepreneurs wanting to start a green pet cemetery – and green family cemetery directors seeking to include pet burials in their cemeteries – have contacted us requesting information and support. Finally, several small casket and shroud manufacturers requested that we create online listings of green burial products. We continue to look for transportation partners who can ensure the responsible transport of a pet’s remains for a burial back home.

Finally, we’ll keep you posted of plans to incorporate the Society in a new nonprofit that will focus on a variety of important family issues. As always, your generous donation goes a long way in promoting green pet-burials in pet and family cemeteries – and in raising awareness of the enduring bonds we have with our animal companions.

With warm regards,

Eric Greene

Since the park is nearly at capacity, any future expansion will be planned in consideration of this proposal. We look forward to more discussion when planning begins.

The LA Pet Memorial Park is the second oldest pet cemetery in the country, and they have long accommodated requests for natural unstained pine caskets without the use of nails.

During such intense times we seek comfort through private rituals and the arrangements made for a loved one’s remains. When a companion animal dies, cremation is the most common practice, but a natural home burial is also commonplace – for those with yards. For those of us without land who prefer burial, the option for a natural burial in a cemetery is nearly nonexistent.

Pet cemeteries – most of which are not deeded with permanent protection status – provide plastic caskets, metal containers. If wood caskets are offered, they are usually stained and varnished, lined with polyester, and placed in the ground among plastic caskets and metal containers.

While we may typically associate animals with nature, in death many of our beloved companions are denied the option of being laid to rest in a natural grave.

The Green Pet-Burial Society joins the green burial movement in ushering in a new period when we can

• Find new connections to the natural in life as well as in death
• Easily access alternatives to toxic environmental practices and products that characterize contemporary aftercare
• Commit our bodies to the preservation and restoration of natural places
• Provide an option to all those who find comfort in bringing their loved ones to their natural home

photo credit: flickr.com, Anita363, P9120002

updated December 19, 2010