As taxes spread thin, Michigan communities get creative with cemeteries

LANSING — Cemeteries are providing new services to encourage community involvement, rethink burial practices and double as places that promote knowledge of local history and outdoor recreation. 

Onelee Zartmen, a representative of Ridgeview Memorial Gardens in Grandville, the only certified green burial cemetery in western Michigan, says cemeteries are trending away from embalming practices and are doing more green burials because of practicality and cost.

“A traditional funeral is expensive because of the cost of the coffin. Do you get a fancy coffin or a simple coffin? Either way, it’s an expensive purchase. Then you got the vault and the space at the site, so a funeral can easily cost $17,000,” Zartmen said.

“While a lot of people think cremations are the budget way to go, there are some negatives,” she said. Those include carbon dioxide pollution created by a crematorium.

With traditional funerals, the use of toxic embalming chemicals such as formaldehyde and methanol have raised environmental and health concerns.

Related:

• ‘Amid ‘green burial’ dispute, judge rejects Michigan township’s cemetery ban
• Green burials’ catch on in Michigan. Cemetery controversy follows
• Green burials, ash jewelry are a thing now in Michigan. Can state law adjust?

“People are starting to clue in on that,” Zartmen said. “I know someone that put their mom’s cremains in a cookie jar, and they talk to mom everyday.” 

“Well, that’s kind of creepy, so they don’t have anywhere to put the cremains. When you consider all of that, you start to wonder, what’s the alternative?” she said.

Green burials provide a natural option that doesn’t include toxic substances. 

Such burials use shrouds and plywood caskets and don’t require a concrete vault. The process allows a body to decompose naturally without harming the environment. 

Cindy Dodge, a cemetery expert and contractor for the Michigan Townships Association, says she’s working to hold historical events at cemeteries that engage community residents and help make cemeteries financially self-sustaining. 

Municipal cemeteries cost a lot and take tax money that could be used for services such as roads, sewers and fire protection, Dodge said. 

“One way for cemeteries to become more self-sustaining is by making them part of the parks and recreation plan and do events in them,” she said, and they can be included in local trail systems.

Cemeteries also educate the public about community history and provide more green space, Dodge said.

Clinton Grove Cemetery in Macomb County’s Clinton Township was founded in 1855 and has added a green burial section. 

Tina Wunderlich, the general manager of Clinton Grove, said the cemetery’s board recently discussed ways to attract community residents to use the cemetery for historical events. 

“We are all about promoting the history of the area,” Wunderlich said. “We work with the Crocker House Museum (in Mt. Clemens) and just did a historical walk honoring the first volunteer firefighters of Mt. Clemens.”

“We are rich in local history, and this is a place where genealogy is huge. We have Revolutionary War soldiers here, so people do love to come here for the history,” she said.

 “We are more than just a green cemetery.”

This story was originally published in the Capital News Service