The Brief
- Roughly 5% of burials in the United States are ‘green burials’ that allow the body to decompose naturally and return to the earth.
- The Coastal Prairie Conservancy has added a natural burial ground to its 33,000 acres of protected land.
- The Blazing Star natural burial ground is Texas’ first ‘conservation cemetery’, where the grounds are protected by a conservation program.
WALLER COUNTY, Texas – After four years of planning and efforts, the Coastal Prairie Conservancy has opened Texas’ first certified conservation cemetery, as part of a prairie reclamation project in Waller County. There are fewer than 500 green burial cemeteries in North America, and a handful in Texas that offer simple burials that allow the body to decompose naturally and return to the earth.
Waller County: Texas’ first certified natural-burial cemetery
Local perspective:
The conservancy says it has room for 1,900 plots for burial, and several hundred for cremated remains to be interred.
The Blazing Star natural burial ground accepted its first burial in April.…