Dear Action Line,
I read in the Herald a few years ago (May 24, 2023) that Greenmount Cemetery was in the process of designating a section of the graveyard where “green burial,” with no embalming or burial vault, would be permitted. Have they figured out if they are going to allow that?
Sincerely, Wannabe Worm Food
Dear Wannabe Worm Food,
Thanks for the question Wormy, I’ve often wondered about that too – when it’s my time I would like to become a skeleton and do the danse macabre on Halloweens like in the old Disney “Skelton Dance” cartoon. But not with flesh attached, that would be too scary. Does this question have something to do with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead passing away recently?
Anyway, as I often do I reached out to Tom Sluis at the city and this is what he told me: “The city does not offer green burials (no vault) at Greenmount Cemetery, but that option is available at Crestview Memorial Gardens, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 160 and State Highway 172. We receive occasional inquiries about green burials at the city cemetery, but most interments at Greenmount are cremated remains. The discussion a few years ago was not to designate an area of Greenmount for green burials, but a high-level look at the pros and cons associated with green burials overall. It’s a very delicate subject and any change in our current policies would need to be the result of a community-supported effort.”
Maybe you would want to head up such a community-supported effort, Wormy? If others wanted to email me (see below) I could maybe get you all in touch.
As for why burial without a vault is generally not allowed at Greenmount, I also talked to Ryan Phelps at Hood Mortuary, who explained that it has a lot to do with maintaining a smooth lawn, as a vault retains the earth above it (he said embalming is not required there). It does not have anything to do with sanitary concerns with soil and water.
He did say if green burial were to be permitted, it would still make sense to have some kind of biodegradable casket to protect cemetery workers. Such caskets exist as for Jewish burials where a plain wooden “Aron” casket allows the body to return to the earth – he said that Jewish and Muslim burials (which have similar requirements) are the “original green burial.” And in fact, there actually is a Jewish area of Greenmount Cemetery that allows burial without a vault, but it is available only to members of the Har Shalom congregation. So if you are not a member of Har Shalom, you may need to head to Elmore’s Corner to be buried without a vault.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Today’s Fun Fact: The danse macabre consists of the personification of death, representing all walks of life to dance along to the grave. It was produced as memento mori, to remind people of the fragility of their lives and the vanity of earthly glory. Disney released the animated short “The Skeleton Dance” in 1929 (go watch on YouTube), which pioneered sound-synchronized animation to represent a “modern” interpretation of the danse macabre. It entered the U.S. public domain on Jan. 1, 2025, so can now be used without fear of a claim of copyright infringement by the Disney corporation.
