A nature preserve in the Upstate is the first of its kind in the country, catering to those who would like a more "earth friendly" funeral...and it's actually less expensive than a traditional service.
Being green in the afterlife. This nature preserve in Oconee County gives you the chance to go green and save green for eternity.
“We’ve become, as a culture, disconnected from death in a lot of ways.”
Kimberly Campbell knows quite a lot about being one with the earth.
“Simple green burial has been around for thousands and thousands of years. Which is basically, the premise is no embalming, a bio degradable casket or shroud and no vault,” explains Campbell.
Since 1996, she and her husband, Dr. Billy Campbell have run the Ramsey Creek Preserve in Westminster...America's first "green" burial ground.
“It is managed as a wilder, more natural place. The graves themselves become places for restoration ecology.”
With over 300 species of plants that can be planted by families on the gravesites, this 36 acre preserve is one of a kind.
Even with a recycled church that serves as a chapel.
It’s a quiet place in nature that can bring families healing in a time of distress.
“It also gives many families the opportunity to be involved. Many families help close the graves...we hand dig them,” says Campbell.
It's a lifelong mission for the Campbell family, to “go green” now and forever.
“To me, there is nothing more sobering than the sound of that first shovelful of earth hitting the box.”
The Ramsey Creek Preserve says traditional funerals can cost anywhere from 12 to 17 thousand dollars. At the Campbell’s conservation burial grounds, their services will run between three and five thousand dollars. It is also one of only five conservation burial grounds in the country. If you have a go green idea, email it to us here.
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