ORLANDO, Fla. – When people think about protecting the environment, they usually think about the choices they make when they are alive.
But it turns out the choices you make for your body after you die can also have a large impact on the Earth.
Carlos Gonzalez is the executive director of the Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery in Gainesville. He joined News 6 chief meteorologist Tom Sorrells on Talk to Tom to discuss natural burials.
He said the goal of the nonprofit organization he works for is to help people reunite their bodies with the Earth in the most natural way possible.
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Gonzalez pointed out the way people bury their loved ones today can have a negative impact on the local community and broader environment.
“It can definitely have an effect with deforestation, having certain materials harvested to create such elaborate caskets, the use of embalming fluids, things that are carcinogenic materials,” Gonzalez said. “And that might eventually seep into the ground, just poisoning the Earth. Same with concrete and metal, you know, other forms of materials that don’t really need to be in the ground. So, there’s definitely a way where, for ourselves, we’re trying to limit the impact on the environment.”
Instead of having a system of underground condos or caskets to house your remains, Gonzalez said the Gainesville cemetery often uses a shawl to wrap people before entering them into the ground.
Gonzalez said families can still have funeral services like any other traditional burial, but that the impact on the Earth will be less severe.
He also said gravesites are marked with a simple metal marker and families will be able to locate their loved ones for years to come using GPS.
The cost is also less than that of a traditional funeral.
“I believe we’re the most economical natural burial option in the state of Florida, for just cemetery services of opening and closing the grave. It’s just $2,000,″ Gonzalez said.
To learn more about conservation funerals, check out Talk to Tom. You can watch anytime on News 6+.
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