Eco-friendly graveyard a growing preference at West Laurel Hill Cemetery

By Robert Hagstrom For Main Line Times

The Natures Sanctuary section of this cemetery in Bala Cynwyd is kept completely natural and aims to be highly sustainable to minimize detrimental environmental effects.

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In keeping with eco-friendly practices, we chose our furry friends to eliminate invasives, which can cause the natural site to be unsustainable, said Director of Sales, Marketing, and Family Services Deborah Cassidy in a press release.

Cassidy said that the idea of the Natures Sanctuary section of the cemetery started back in 2008 to offer a newer burial experience that will help preserve the environment.

Beginning June 9 and lasting for about a week there were between 30 to 40 goats eating away at intrusive plant species in this section to keep up the grounds without using any machinery. Any uneaten grass and shrubbery will be cut by hand, Cassidy added.

The Natures Sanctuary section of West Laurel Hill has turned into a weedy mess of invasive species, said landscape architect Adam Supplee of the KMS Design Group, which partnered with the cemetery last year to help finalize the green section.

When a person decides to be buried in the Natures Sanctuary, Supplee said, they are placed in the next available plot. The reason for this, he said, is because meadows, flowers, and grasses grow in the section first. Then shrubs and larger trees start to come in and make way for even bigger trees to grow throughout the area.

Supplee referred to this process as assisted ecological restoration or helping the green section of the graveyard sustain itself independently.

People in this section are either placed in a wooden box-like casket without any fabric or metal hinges or are wrapped in a biodegradable shroud material at least two feet underground. Continued...

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Eco-friendly graveyard a growing preference at West Laurel Hill Cemetery