At Cathedral Trees Sanctuary near Ashland, families can choose a natural burial with a native tree planted at the grave. Diana Cunningham sees the approach as a way to restore the land and give grieving families a lasting connection to it.
Cunningham, the sanctuary’s CEO and a former naturopathic practitioner, advocates for burials without embalming or concrete vaults. Her book, "The Natural American Way of Death," explores those practices and home funerals, which allow families to take a more direct role in caring for someone after death.
Her interest began after her mother died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2012 and was cremated. The experience prompted Cunningham to investigate funeral practices and their environmental effects.
“I realized that our funeral industry is very unsustainable," Cunningham said. "At the same time, there were all these solutions that had been happening around me that I didn’t even know about."
She favors natural burial as an alternative that allows the body to decompose in the soil without embalming chemicals or a concrete vault. She also questions the environmental costs of cremation, including its energy use and mercury emissions from dental fillings.
At Cathedral Trees Sanctuary, families can choose trees such as Oregon white oak or madrone to be planted at burial sites. Cunningham said the goal is to help restore the landscape while creating a place families can return to remember someone they have lost.
“I had this idea 10 years ago that if people could have a native tree planted at their plot, it would be something to look forward to,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said the nonprofit offers burials starting at $1,000 for people with low incomes.
Her approach also emphasizes the role families can play before burial. Oregon allows families to make funeral arrangements without hiring a funeral director, including caring for a deceased loved one at home.
Cunningham said home funerals give relatives and friends time to gather and participate in that care.
“That is a whole process that is part of the family coming together and taking care of each other in their grief,” Cunningham said.
Guest
- Diana Cunningham, author of "The Natural American Way of Death" and CEO of Cathedral Trees Sanctuary
