Go green, even in death: Manitoba soon to get eco-friendly cemetery
Winnipeg woman aims to open Manitoba’s first all-green cemetery, says she is advocating for environmentally friendly sustainable culture
Trish Penner is set to redefine funeral practices in Manitoba by introducing the province’s first fully environmentally friendly cemetery, called a green burial site.
Penner is launching the Green Cemetery Project Winnipeg which will provide Manitobans with an alternative death care option. “It’s really life-giving to be involved in the deathcare industry in Manitoba when it relates to green burials,” Penner said.
Green burials use only raw and natural materials like wicker or wooden caskets and cotton shrouds to wrap bodies in. Green cemeteries strive for optimal land use, ecological conservation, direct earth burials, and more.
For some, choosing a green burial can represent a last effort to show compassion for the environment. Being buried directly in the earth is the earliest evidence of human burial, and people are taking an interest in returning to these ancient, natural ways.
“My plan for myself is to have a green burial. It’s an environmental thing, an ethical thing, and it’s a spiritual thing… I love the land,” Penner said.
She’s been looking for three years for an ideal green cemetery location and said recently she might have found one that’s about 45 minutes northeast of Winnipeg, in Libau.
In October, she and her husband went there to conduct a test dig to determine whether the soil would be suitable for bodies to decompose in. However, the area is near water and wetlands, which leads them to believe the ground may be too wet.
Nobody wants to bury their loved one in a waterlogged grave. “Having water at the bottom of a grave is non-negotiable. So, we’ll see,” Penner said.
The dig results were inconclusive, so they plan to do another soil test once the ground has thawed to better evaluate the site.
Once Penner finds the perfect place, she said she imagines families coming to the site to be directly involved in the burial process. “The family can take the soil, put it into the grave, and experience nature… Burying your loved one doesn’t have to be a scar; it can actually be healing,” Penner said.
Her vision for a green burial site in Manitoba would allow nature to take its course in all ways, meaning no excessive lawn care or ground maintenance on the site. “The grass would be allowed to go fallow,” Penner said.
Penner is a board member of the Green Burial Society of Canada (GBSC) who is supporting her plans to open this green cemetery. The GBSC is an eco-friendly organization that encourages simple and natural burials for Canadians.
Why die green?
According to GBSC, the main purpose of green cemeteries is to cut down on negative ecological impacts. The traditional funeral industry provides services like embalming and cremation— but these can harm the environment.
Embalming fluid contains toxic pollutants like phenol and formaldehyde. Over time, these chemicals from an embalmed body can leak into the earth and run into water sources, which threatens human, plant, and animal life.
Also, cremation contributes to greenhouse gases. According to the National Library of Medicine, flame-based cremations can release harmful chemicals and carbon emissions. Crematories also use significant amounts of fuel to sustain the high temperatures necessary for their incinerator equipment.
Mike Vogiatzakis, general manager at Voyage Funeral Home & Crematorium, has been in the deathcare industry for 23 years.
“Other than using fuel, cremators are pretty clean. They’re supposed to burn zero emissions,” he said.
According to Vogiatzakis, crematoriums that have clouds of black smoke coming out are because of “reckless” people who aren’t running the equipment properly. Facilities need to be cleaned to cut back on carbon emissions.
He estimates that out of their five funeral homes in Manitoba, they deal with 60 to 80 deaths per month— and approximately 90% are cremated.
“It’s important to honour people’s wishes at the end of life to the best of our ability, and the more options we have, the better it is,” Vogiatzakis said.
Vogiatzakis said he believes cremation will continue being the dominant deathcare method in this province due to cost affordability and accessibility.
However, he still sees potential for green burials. “People do need an alternative to cremation. People most definitely need an alternative to traditional burials,” he said.
Vogiatzakis said a lot of his clients ask about where they should scatter their loved one’s ashes, and he’d be happy to recommend a green burial site as a scattering ground if that were a possibility.
The West Coast is a step ahead
In Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, is Salt Spring Island Natural Cemetery. There are twelve green cemeteries certified by the GBSC— five in B.C., four in Alberta, two in Ontario, and one in Nova Scotia.
On their website, Salt Spring Cemetery is called a “forest memorial” for people wishing to have a natural environment as their final resting place.
Gavin Johnston, forest manager, and Catherine Valentine, cemetery manager, take pride in providing people with the option of having a green burial site.
Valentine arranges burials from her office but is also involved with the physical site. Nature takes its course there— grass, moss, and other foliage grow freely with little disruption from human activity.
“I’m happy for the movement to be growing. I’d love for there to be many, many [green burial sites] all over Canada,” Valentine said.
Funeral ceremonies hosted at Salt Spring are typically collaborative and hands-on. Valentine said that family and friends can experience lowering their loved ones into the grave while laying flowers on them. “Those steps, those acts of burial, is a ceremony in itself,” Valentine said.
It accommodates all religions, cultures, and spiritual practices. Valentine said she’s seen Catholic priests, rabbis, and even pagan ceremonies there.
Valentine frequently conducts tours for visitors from various locations who are keen on adopting green burial practices in their communities, guiding them through the property to discuss cemetery processes.
Penner visited in the summer to take one of Valentine’s tours. “It was great to meet Trish. She’s smart and enthusiastic and excited about green burials,” Valentine said.
Valentine said she notices it’s more common for established cemeteries to open green burial sections in addition to existing grave areas, cremation sections, and ash-scattering grounds.
Penner’s goal for Manitoba’s first green burial site is similar to these intimate locations she visited. She said she likes the idea of a communal grave marker instead of individual tombstones. “It’s beautiful to see simplicity,” Penner said.
In terms of opening an entirely new green burial site, Valentine said “there’s a lot of enthusiasm, but it’s difficult financially… It takes the right people and the right situation.”
Penner said she has the money to invest in this project and feels strongly about providing sustainable deathcare for families. She’s been trying to make green burials accessible to Manitobans for years now— and will continue to do so.