City council has taken a step to increase options for environmentally friendly burials in St. Albert.
A motion passed unanimously by council during its July 2 meeting directs city administration to develop amendments to the city's Cemetery Bylaw. They would allow for green burials in the St. Albert Municipal Cemetery without requiring certification from the Green Burial Society of Canada (GBSC).
Currently, the GBSC is required to certify the sites available for green burials. There are only five certified green burial sites in Alberta, including two in the Edmonton area. They are Aurora Gardens at Northern Lights Cemetery and Meadows of Rosehill in southwest Edmonton.
Coun. Natalie Joly, who brought forward the motion, said she wanted St. Albert residents desiring a green burial the option to be buried in their own communities, versus having to go into Edmonton.
"We wouldn't be doing anything new in the region by offering this," Joly said. "This is an option for folks who don't want to continue contributing to waste in death. This option would allow people to choose not to be encased in a cement box and it would allow them to choose not to be cremated, which is also very high in resource demand."
In a green burial, the unembalmed body is typically wrapped in a shroud made from natural, biodegradable fibres and placed directly into the grave, or in a similarly biodegradable casket and buried that way.
Memorialization is kept simple, such as engravings on small, natural materials.
Although the motion would allow city administration to present a bylaw that doesn't require certification by the GBSC, city administration said it would look at the GBSC materials and guidelines. Administration said the estimated cost associated with applying for a marker to be certified by the GBSC was approximately $20,000, but didn't provide council with an exact amount of funding if they were to set up the site themselves.
GBSC president Krystal Riddell said there is a new membership fee for cemeteries when getting certified with the GBSC. It is a one-time payment of $450, followed by an annual payment of $300 for larger cemeteries and $200 for smaller cemeteries.
"What they're certifying really is that they're adhering to the best ethical standards and practices that have been set out by the Green Burial Society of Canada," Riddell said. She said certification is mostly to fight against "greenwashing," a term for when organizations falsely claim for marketing purposes to use 100 per cent green practices.
"They turn around and say, 'We do green burials,' but they treat the land they fertilize the land, and they cut the grass and they allow for monuments," she said.
City administration said the area set aside at the cemetery for a possible green burial site is approximately 775 square metres.
Coun. Mike Killick wondered if a green burial would affect the water rundown in the site. Joly said that isn't much of a concern, and concern around water is based on an embalmed body, which is the reason bodies are placed in a cement box.
"The cement boxes, from what I understand, are really designed to protect the environment from embalming chemicals and the bad stuff, the paint that's in caskets. That's what the cement box is protecting the watershed from," Joly said.
She said council has made the environment a priority this term, and read out some notes of support she had received for the motion from the public.
"Sign me up, just not yet," said a message Joly received from Senator Kristopher Wells.
Phyllis Kelly, a member of the St. Albert-Sturgeon County Métis Local 1904, also emailed Joly a message of support.
"As a Métis person, I honour the land and that includes embracing non-harmful burial practices that come with embalming or concrete grave liners," Kelly's message said. "Being able to allow my body to return to and enrich the earth after my death is something long spoken to with my family."
Joly said Kelly's message "beautifully" explained the reason why she wants to be buried this way in St. Albert if it becomes an option here.
