Sharing The 2012 Penn Forest Picnic

Last month we hosted our annual picnic at Penn Forest.  We welcomed over 90 people – friends and family – for food and fun at Penn Forest.  And it was a lovely day!  Below are a few of the pictures from the event.  If you were at the picnic and have pictures you’d like to share, send them our way.  We’ll add them to this post!

Penn Forest Welcomes Furry Friends

 Picnic Tunes Through the woods we goCapturing Penn ForestDiscussing green burial

 

Relaxing at Penn Forest

Zero Fossil Setup

Zero Fossil brochure

Friends Laughing

Chow Line

Dogs Like Clean Energy Too

Power Bikes

Birds of Penn Forest

Picnic Tunes

Lovely Banjo Playing

 

Creating Stories

 

Tree Inspiration Session Cont'd

Penn Forest Tree

 

Explaining Green Burial To Friends & Family

I was recently asked my thoughts on how to explain green burial to a family member from my perspective as a psychologist.  So here they are:

  • Assume your family member knows nothing about green burial and that your first mission is to explain it, as in “I was reading an article about green burial and how it is the most traditional way to handle the body after death. Have you ever heard of it?” Remember while green burial has been practiced for thousands of years, burial with toxic embalming fluids and concrete burial vaults is what most people now think of as “normal.” Be patient; changing attitudes takes time and education.
  • Talk about green burial with friends who are less invested in the  end-of-life decisions you make for yourself. This will help you get better at explaining your own reasons for choosing a natural burial when you talk to a family member.
  • Don’t try to convince your family members that what is right for you is right for them. That will put them on the defensive and they are not likely to stay open to your ideas.
  • If your family member is not open at all to this “new” option for burial, accept that and let it be.  Just be sure that this person is not appointed as your “Agent for Body Disposition” because if they are, you probably will not get that green burial that you want. If you put a “Green burial is the way to go” bumper sticker on your car, everyone will know what you want!

If you purchase a plot ahead of time, it increases the likelihood that you will end up in it (it doesn’t make sense for the family to buy another plot in a non-green cemetery when there is a lovely site already paid for).  Remember – it is your body, your choice, but you have to set up the legal structure NOW because you won’t be able to after you are dead.

If you’d like to take steps to pre-plan your burial, a great place to start is the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western PA.

Have you had experience talking to family and friends about your choice for a green burial?  We’d love to hear more about it.  Feel free to leave remarks in the comments below!

 

Post written by Nancy Chubb, PhD, MBA

Friends

Since we had our picnic on June 9th, I’ve had several people tell me how much they felt at home with the Penn Forest crowd—like they’d been friends for years. Comments like these have led me to reflect on my 4-1/2 years working on this project and how all these new friends have enriched my life.

Friends at Penn ForestI’m 67 years old. Before I started working on green burial—starting this woodland cemetery—my friends were few and close. Now, I can easily count more than 100 people I like to spend time with, and the list keeps growing.

Why is this? What is it about green burial advocates that I like?

Well, they’re people who try to walk gently on the earth. Like me, they like the outdoors and the woods. Like me, they think green burial and forest restoration are important for the future of the planet. But it’s more than that.

In short, I would say they are kind and caring. They want to be nice to others. To help, instead of harm. Nice folks.

So, now that we’re coming up on our one-year anniversary of getting our cemetery license next month, I want to say to everyone, “Thank you for your friendship.”

Friends among the trees

Friends discussing green burial

Young friend at Penn Forest

Youngster at Penn Forest

Maritza at Penn Forest

Pete McQuillin at Penn Forest

Post written by Pete McQuillin | June 25, 2012