Green Burials allowed at Warwick Cemetery

On 11/23/2010, the Warwick Cemetery Commission unanimously voted to
allow "green burials" at the Warwick Cemetery. This action followed
months of intermittent discussions on the topic after a presentation was
made to the Commission on 1/13/2010 by Carol Coan of the Green Burial
Committee of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of W. Mass. The enabling
vote reads: Green Burials: Hawes moved that commission allow "green
burials" beginning with the thaw of 2011 and that such burials shall
conform to the policies and standards established by the commission and
amended as necessary from time to time. Toth seconded. After discussion
it was voted with all in favor. It was noted that the policies and
standards will be drafted during the winter. At this time the policies
and standards still have yet to be established and any feedback
regarding them will be appreciated by the Commission.

"Green Burial" is a recent movement to re-institute some pre-1960's
burial traditions. While specifics vary, the concept is to allow burials
that do not require embalming, concrete vaults, and caskets that do not
easily bio-degrade. Probably most, if not all burials in Warwick and the
rest of the US prior to the early 1900's involved placing an un-embalmed
body in a simple wooden casket that was directly buried. Since the
1960's, it has been the tradition but not the requirement that all
caskets be placed in sealed concrete vault. The advantages of the
concrete vaults included limited future subsidence of graves, ease of
locating existing burials, and the profits from the sale of the vaults
and related services. The disadvantages of this practice include
additional cost to the families of the deceased, consumption of more
materials and energy to make, ship and place the vaults, damage to
cemetery from the heavy equipment needed to set the vaults, additional
space required per burial, and a relatively permanent space requirement
for each burial that may last long into the future where space needs may
be much different than they are currently.

It should be noted that while the Warwick Cemetery Commission voted to
allow Green Burials in the Warwick Cemetery, it is not requiring burials
to be "green". The Commission has consistently structured cemetery rules
and policies to be sensitive to individual family needs  and traditions.