MAINE, USA — Joyce Foley owns 140 acres of land but shares part of it with hundreds of others.
"[I] decided to devote three and a half [acres] to the cemetery," she said.
More than 100 people are currently buried there, and over 400 have purchased lots at Cedar Brook Burial Ground. But it's special for another reason: It's a green cemetery.
"Everything is biodegradable," Foley said.
In order to be considered a green cemetery, there must be no chemical embalming of the bodies, big metal vaults, or coffins made with treated wood.
"People are buried in either a simple wooden coffin or a biodegradable shroud and cremated remains can be buried, too, but they have to be in a biodegradable container," Foley explained.
Cedar Brook Burial Ground has been in Limington since 2007. Since then, other green cemeteries have opened in Maine and the trend is expected to continue. Tricia Jamiol and Lissa Bittermann are working on opening Circle of Life Memorial Gardens, but it will be different than most.
"We're designing beautiful botanical gardens," Jamiol said of the gardens where people can choose to be laid to rest.
She said the gardens will be "for people who want to have a truly natural burial under a tree where you can get buried in a shroud and you're put at the base of a tree and then you become nutrients for that tree and the tree continues to grow after your life is done."
In addition to a cemetery, Circle of Life will also be a sustainability center that will work to educate Mainers on how they can lessen their carbon footprint.
"Everything about people living a more sustainable life is rooted in education," Bittermann said.
Bittermann will act as the sustainability director where she hopes to have resources for Mainers. She said she wants it to be a community where people can come and gather and learn about all the different ways to live a sustainable life.
Circle of Life Memorial Gardens is working to secure land before being able to officially open the burial ground.