BALTIMORE — The question no one needs to ask, and yet someday we’ll all have to answer: What do you do with your body or ashes once you’re dead?
One of the burials is the herbal or “green” burial.
Denise Koch visited the Baltimore County Cemetery, aptly named “Serenity Ridge,” a non-denominational herbal burial cemetery in Maryland.
You can visit the more than 175 mountain acres of Windsor Mill. It is open to the public.
The land, in the 1960s, was the site of Berg’s family farm when it passed to retired rectal surgeon Howard Berg, who made the decision on the land.
“When I heard about the Green Funeral, it resonated with who I am and how I live my life,” Berg said.
Berg is an outdoor enthusiast, so he needs Serenity Ridge to be a place of nature maintenance and an environmentally friendly burial site.
Ruth Fahrmeier and her husband Ed contracted leukemia in February 2023.
“He said he was looking for a green funeral,” Fahrmeier said. My daughter was there and we had never heard of a green burial before. “
Fahrmeier’s son-in-law, Mike, did some research and discovered Serenity Ridge and told Ed about his last moments.
“Mike said to Ed, you may not mind right now, but I need you to know that we had a green funeral,” Fahrmeier said. “And,” Ed said, in the loudest, clearest voice he’s had in days, “I care. That the last thing he said and his breathing became slower and slower and he died. “
Ed’s grave was one of the first at Serenity Ridge.
The concept is simple: no embalming, no chemicals of any kind, bodies dressed or wrapped in shrouds made of herbal cloth or placed in wicker baskets or biodegradable boxes.
For an herbal burial, you need to go between 3 1/2 and four feet deep, to remain in the oxygenated component of the soil, as this contributes to further herbal decomposition of the body.
A headstone is made of stone from a nearby quarry and you can mark the grave however you wish.
“A lot of families bring biological pieces to put in the grave, whether it’s flowers, pine cones or feathers that have meaning to them,” said Steve Kuehne, who has been in this career for a decade and has worked in more classic cemeteries. .
Fahrmeier honors her husband by bringing stones from her garden
“The way a user is buried can be a representation of how they tried to live their life,” Kuehne said. “It’s very different. It’s very peaceful, and if you think about it, we’re not doing anything new. That’s how burials are buried. ” They were made two hundred years ago. “
It wasn’t until the Civil War that bodies began to be embalmed so they could be transported by rail and buried at home.
The numbers of classic burials are staggering, according to the Green Funeral Council.
Each year, Americans consume 4. 3 million gallons of embalming fluid, 20 million feet of wood, 1. 6 million tons of concrete, 17,000 tons of copper and bronze, and 65,500 tons of steel.
At Serenity Ridge, prices for the tomb and the opening and completion of the enclosure add up to approximately $3,800. The charge is lower for cremated remains, which are allowed as long as they are in a biodegradable urn.
Every effort is made to maintain the good herbaceous appearance of the territory.
Birdwatcher Frank Marenghi has observed species walking through the grounds since last June.
So does space make a space while birding in a domain that is also a sanctuary for bodies?
“Not really,” Marenghi said. “They’re pretty inconspicuous and it’s a herbal domain and it’s an herbal process. “
Despite all the advances in fashionable medicine, the death rate has remained unchanged: one is consistent with the other, and so it will be.
Berg has already chosen his position at the top of a hill, under a tree.
He says he’s not looking to replace the minds of the industry or anyone else. It simply respects the herbal world and provides Serenity Ridge to those who feel the same way.
“It makes a lot more sense to me and hopefully it makes sense to other people as well, and it turns out it does,” Berg said.