The Keweenaw Green Burial Alliance (KGBA)—a non-profit educational and advocacy organization—is presenting a public program focusing on the successes—and failures—of green burial in the Keweenaw and throughout the Upper Peninsula.

This free public presentation takes place at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, November 20 at the Portage Lake District Library in Houghton.

“We’ve learned a lot since Chassell and Portage Townships both launched green burial in the fall of 2015,” said Stephen Jukuri, president of KGBA. “Some lessons were learned the hard way, but also not without seeing some amazing achievements, in particular by Chassell Township.”

Adoption of Green Burial continues to grow, as many consider it to be a more natural and environmentally sound alternative to cremation or expensive burial practices that use concrete vaults and non-biodegradable materials. But, as Jukuri will explain, implementation of green burial by cemeteries has been uneven, and not all sites have been as successful as they could be.

“The reality is that even cemeteries compete with each other to some extent, and so execution matters,” he said. “American consumers like to have choices, and their preferences for green burial have really become clear to us in the past few years.”

As more local cemeteries consider and implement green burial, the Alliance continues to help them create viable options. “Just in the past year, we have worked with cemeteries in Houghton, Baraga and Marquette Counties,” Jukuri said. “Small, municipal cemeteries tend to be responsive to green burial requests from their constituencies.”

None so far, however, have been as appealing and successful as what Chassell Township offers. “Some of our more remote cemeteries just need to revoke their vault requirement and put a few simple rules in place, because they really only serve their own residents,” said Jukuri. “But cemeteries that are in a more competitive market would do well to look at how Chassell has set the standards for aesthetics and implementation.”

In addition to “lessons learned,” the presentation will also review which local cemeteries are now offering green burial options, the basics of green burial, and the importance of planning ahead and finding the right funeral director.

For more information about green burial, visit the KGBA website at kgba.weebly.com. For more information about the presentation, call 906-934-2004.