Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Environmental Leader and Innovator | Page 9

Mount Auburn is pleased to continue what was started in 1831 – natural burials – as Massachusetts’ first Green Burial Council certified Hybrid Burial Ground. Natural burial at Mount Auburn always… …ensures no outer containers such as concrete grave liners, vaults or sectional boxes are used for your grave; this requirement will be written into your deed. Natural burial at Mount Auburn sometimes… …allows monuments either flush to the ground or above ground, or …allows for no monuments at all;* …allows for machine-dug or hand-dug graves, and …allows for extra-deep burials at approximately 6’ – 7’ or single depth of 3’ – 5’. *The picturesque character of Mount Auburn is maintained by its use of plants and memorials. The uncluttered feeling exhibited through- out the landscape dictates what type of memorial, if any, may be installed at a grave. Natural burial at Mount Auburn currently… …has no site dedicated solely to natural burials, or religious affiliations, or ethnicity, or for service to country. …ensures your grave is yours in perpetuity. Remains will not be removed to allow for the interment of another. Even before selecting Mount Auburn as a place of burial, you have full control over: · Whether a body is cremated, · Whether a body is embalmed, · What type of casket, shroud, or coffin is used, and · Where a funeral or memorial service, if any, is held. Rather than being limited to a specific area in the landscape, natural burial grave spaces are available in locations throughout the Cemetery Summer 2014 | 7