What is Green Burial? An Interview with Joe Sehee: Part One

Joe Sehee comes from a background of social justice as a Jesuit minister while his wife, Juliette Sehee, worked as an advocate for the environment. About a decade ago, they decided to open a retreat for the grieving, to inspire spiritual healing through nature — this idea ultimately led to the foundation of the Green Burial Council in 2005.

Aurora: Can you tell us a little about the history and mission behind the Green Burial Council?

Joe: In 2005, the GBC was established as a nonprofit organization to define and protect the environmental benefits of green burial — in a nutshell, that is protection of worker health, conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, and preservation and restoration of habitat.

Green burial, if it’s really green, should be furthering one or more of those environmental aims and if it doesn’t, we don’t get involved wit it. We are trying to allow the green burial niche within this industry to emerge the right way so consumers choose this option — because if it’s not done properly, consumers will be skeptical of the movement. Essentially, we have taken on the role of trust providers for this unique field.

You can find out more on our website.

Aurora: Today, what does the Green Burial Council do? How have you impacted the deathcare industry thus far, and what’s next for your organization?

Joe: We’re involved in four program areas – standard setting, which is the core of our work. I’ll talk more about that in a minute. We also offer educational training to both the funeral industry and conservation community. Related to that, we provide technical assistance where needed. We’re involved with the Land Trust Alliance, getting up to speed on how burial can be used as a new conservation tool. The third area is advocacy: we do a lot of work with the press and other outlets to educate Americans about the end-of-life options that, statistics reveal, the public simply doesn’t know about. The fourth area is public-private partnerships.  We’re pursuing some interesting projects — for example, a park service and a funeral service agency might raise money from scattering ashes to protect at-risk landscapes.

To elaborate on how the Green Burial Council sets standards — the council will certify funeral homes, green burial products and disposition services. We are asked by companies involved in green burial services to distinguish their products from those that do not further environmental aims. For instance, undersea reef services for cremation ashes; we verify that it’s made from materials that will actually create marine life, which greatly distinguishes it from products whose certifications cannot be vouched for. For products as well as cemeteries, there are many empty or misleading environmental claims. It is our job to determine whether or not there are legitimate environmental benefits to these services, providing a level of governance that did not previously exist.

Looking forward, I think we need to bring forth a new model of leadership. The biggest problem here is the sales-based model. We need professionals in the end-of-life field to honor the dead, heal the living, and invite in the divine — not to move merchandise.

To be clear, the GBC are not the “green police” — we want to engage the funeral industry in reform, providing a gap between them and the increasingly sustainability and conservation minded consumer. We want to cultivate environmental leadership and create financial incentives for these businesses so they’ll want to go green.

Aurora: Why do you think that, despite important environmental and economic advantages, the option of green burial is still widely unknown to consumers in the United States?

Joe: People don’t want to talk about death or think about death. Green burial is not widely understood yet because it requires people to go into a subject area they’d rather not. My dad was a very generous man who gave of himself a lot and was loved by many — I observed that at the end of his life, some people who loved him were not comfortable visiting him. One of his neighbors walked into his room in hospice and literally lasted less than a minute. It’s saddening, but many people are afraid to face their own mortality by witnessing the end-of-life process.

Green burial provides a context for people to want to explore this subject matter and that’s why it’s such a powerful, exciting idea. Direct burial has been around as long as expensive burial, but nobody wants to talk or think about that. However, taking care of the dead in a way that helps provide solace by healing us andthe environment is an engaging, contemporary idea. Simply put, I think it’s the future.

This dialogue is still a challenge for us as a society, but I think our culture hungers to befriend this subject matter on some level — the way other cultures all over the world already have. The United States wants to deny death until the end, but it provides solace earlier in life when we accept death as a natural part of life. With the increasing presence of options such as green burial and evolving end-of-life rituals, you now see grad students doing work on all facets of death and dying — I know your team at SevenPonds has many young team members. With this increasing interest, I believe we will quickly progress to a much more comprehensive and healthy understanding.

Aurora: Agreed!

Check back next week to read Part Two of this interview!