Natural Burial Association + James Reid Funeral Home in Kingston, Ontario
Members of Natural Burial Association and the James Reid Funeral Home have collaborated to produce a document describing green burials in Kingston. Download by pressing the button, below. It is also available from the James Reid Funeral Home site, where you will find other useful resources, such as things to consider with your family regarding your wishes. It’s never too soon for that conversation!
Natural Burial Association of Canada
Find out all about green burial in Ontario and across Canada from the Natural Burial Association of Canada. Two of the documents they have produced can be downloaded by pressing the buttons, below. One of the documents describes the conditions necessary to establish a natural burial site (e.g., location, terrain, etc.). The other explains some of the legal and financial implications of establishing a green (natural) burial site.
Learn about some of the most commonly asked questions about green/natural burials by clicking on the button below:
Green Burial Society of Canada
The Green Burial Society of Canada reported on Canada’s first public Natural Burial Cemetery located on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. As of October 2020, the Salt Spring Island Natural Burial Cemetery was opened to the public, and is situated beautifully on traditional territory of the Quw’utsun (Cowichan) and Coast Salish People.
Green Burial Council, USA
Green Burial Council provides information about green burial and how to find certified cemetery stewards, funeral professionals, and funerary product sellers in the United States who share the commitment to create sustainable after-death options.
Green Burial Ottawa Valley
Not far from us is another grass roots group, Green Burial Ottawa Valley. Like us, they are seeking community members to help advocate for natural burials and to educate the general public around green burial practices.
Talk Death
Talk Death is an extensive website with articles and blog posts covering a vast array of topics ranging from counselling grieving children, to death doula practices, to cultural death care practices, to greening cemeteries.
Learn all about green burials by watching the presentation below, created by Green Burial Kingston!
Interested to know about handling cremated remains in Ontario?
Even though the environmental cost of cremation is high, there are many options for handling cremated remains that do not require burial in a cemetery or being placed in a niche within a columbarium at a cemetery (a columbarium is an above-ground structure that contains a number of niches. Placing the cremated remains in a niche is an interment, that is, a form of burial). In Ontario, you may scatter cremated remains on:
• private property with the consent of the landowner (if the landowner wishes to allow repeated scatterings, he or she must establish the land as a cemetery)
• Crown land, including land covered by water, as long as it is unoccupied (e.g., provincial park, conservation area) and that it doesn’t have signs that prohibit scattering
• municipally-owned lands unless there are by-laws in place prohibiting scattering
You may also:
• sign a contract with a licensed operator of a cemetery, crematorium, or transfer service to scatter the cremated remains on your behalf
• transport cremated remains outside of Ontario
Learn more at https://www.ontario.ca/page/arrange-funeral-burial-cremation-or-scattering#section-5, from where the information described here was obtained.