Roadblocks to Sustainability

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American Cemetery October 201210

ccording to the group, theseactivities are increasing:

Managers see sustainability-

related strategies necessary to

be competitive; organizational commit-

ments to sustainability are deepening;

investors are demanding more proof of

sustainability-oriented performance

(since its now tied to actual business

value); and a third of the firms are

moving out of the early-adoption

phase, where capital infusion is

required, and into the harvester

stage, where profits are coming in as aresult of new policies.

These shifts didnt come overnight.

Instead, theyve come industry by

industry, pushed by rising resource

costs and competition even more so

than consumer demand, and becoming

visible as each sector addressed the

obstacles that stood in the way of

change: customer awareness, productsupply, retailer willingness to market,

and infrastructure capacity for actual

use. And as the word moves into their

vocabulary, the players periodically

review their progress overall, look at

where the roadblocks are, and system-

atically address them.

What are the roadblocks to sustain-

ability in the death-care industry and

where do we stand in terms of these

roadblocks? Some of my ideas follow.

ROADBLOCK NUMBER ONE

To deal with roadblock No. 1,

product supply, I went to the United

Kingdom in 2007, to meet with

biodegradable coffin makers andsuggest they come to the U.S. under

the Natural Burial Co. banner. Later

that year, we shipped the first

container of wicker coffins, urns and

recycled paper Ecopods over and

started to sell. Passages International,

a seasoned U.S. urns supplier, and E-

Coffins, a U.K.-based company with

a successful woven coffin operation

in Great Britain but a newcomer to

the U.S., followed with inventory

shortly thereafter, supplying low-

priced wicker coffins from Asia thatleft more room for customary

wholesale trade margins.

Between the three of us, and the

dozens more whove come on since,

todays range of biodegradable and

low-impact burial containers and

wrappings offers more variety in

design, production techniques and

In the Winter 2012 edition of Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Sloan Management Review, the authors of

Sustainability Nears a Tipping Point reported that managers across a wide range of industries are embracing

sustainability, with many beginning to profit from it. Of the 3,000 executives surveyed, 70 percent of the respon-

dents had sustainability programs permanently on their agendas 61 percent doing so for economic reasons. And

mainstream firms like Kimberly-Clark, hardly a bellwether for environmentally conscious trendsetting, have

targets like 25 percent of net sales coming from environmentally innovative products by 2015.

A

GreenBy Cynthia Beal

PRODUCT SUPPLY

challenges of cemetery management

Roadblocks toSustainability


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materials than the American funeral

sector has seen in some time. Shrouds

of silk, linen, hemp and cotton; urns

of earth, paper and sand; coffins of

wool and weave; artful wooden and

traditional plain pine boxes even

the Kraft-wrap alternative container

threatens to become trendy, thanks

to the fact that everyone knows

cardboard biodegrades. Supply is no

longer an impediment to change.

ROADBLOCK NUMBER TWO

In 2004, when I named my firm,

there were 54 entries for the phrase

natural burial on Google, and most

of them were along the lines of the

cause of death was natural; burial will

be on Saturday...

Today, there are 123,000 entries and

growing. The Ecopod has been on the

Today Show and CNN and in

National Geographic. Visible celebrity

funerals like actress Lynn Redgraves,

buried in one of E-Coffin U.K.s woven

bamboo units, only add to the buzz.

The National Funeral Directors

Associatons Jimmy Olson champions

more sustainable funeral practices to

directors throughout the country, and

the organization does a respectable job

of encouraging its members to improve

operations, while marketing associa-

tions like the Green Burial Council

continue to promote their specialized

formula for green, increasing

awareness all the while.

Eight years ago, few people I met

had heard of natural burial. Most

thought it was illegal, and many had

stories of cemeteries or funeral homes

telling them that purchasing a vault or

having Mom embalmed was required

by state law. I recently conducted a

poll in my hometown, and 95 percent

of the respondents at a local event

where I had a display table were

familiar with the concept. Going

back to the land is becoming the

new way to go, and getting there in

style is a whole lot easier than it once

was. Until one actually tries to get

there, that is.

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to GoWith all this awareness, it seems as

though cemeteries would be getting on

board, but as of this writing I continue

to get calls from families that hit a

dead end when it comes to finding a

place they can go to for a natural

burial. Thanks to the Internet, locating

natural grave goods are no longer a

problem for a family if the funeral

home declines to supply them, and

even funeral directors that stock

biodegradable coffins and are willing

to let families view an unembalmed

body are easier to find. But, from what

I hear, getting the cemetery they plan

to be buried in to let them turn to dirt

is still next to impossible.

Funeral directors seem to agree that

the desires of most are simple: Nature-

oriented customers want a cemetery to

permit a vault-free burial. Many want

a marker of some kind a tree or a

flowering bush would be nice, but for

most, stone is still on the menu and

CONSUMER RECOGNITION


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surely theres something more localthan Chinese granite, they say. Theydlike the cemetery to be filled withflowering plants and trees and birdsand living things; they wish thecemetery wouldnt use so manychemicals, nor use so much water.Theyd rather not see a large expanseof sterile lawn. Oh and finally did

they forget to tell you? They don'twant to go anywhere else but thecemetery where their parents are, orwhere their husband or wife is, orwhere they already own plots. Andthats the rub. They dont want to goto a new cemetery. They want theircemetery to change.

In other words, the average personwhos ready to make burial arrange-ments doesnt want to go to a differentcemetery, an unfamiliar cemetery thathas no connection to their family, theircommunity, or the sense of placetheyve cultivated throughout theirlives. What this underserved customerseems to prefer is for their cemetery tochange, and add this new environ-mental option that lets them return to

earth. And they dont see whats sohard about digging a hole, burying abiodegradable coffin, and covering itback up again until theyve disap-peared. After all, isnt that whatcemeteries do? Dig holes and tend thenature around them?

ROADBLOCK NUMBER THREE

I have similar conversations withfuneral directors. Although stillreluctant to stock or display product,theyre prepared to offer naturalfunerals, once they see demand. In fact,a number of them prefer it many likethe fact they dont have to embalm;they want to offer alternatives, andtheyre frustrated that the cemeteriestheyre used to working with wontaccommodate these requests. Even thecemeterians themselves seem to forgetthat all pre-1900, cemeteries in theUnited States offered natural burial,

almost all coffins and caskets werbiodegradable, and backfilling anreseeding a hole till it had settled waonce commonplace. The problem fofuneral directors serving eco-mindefamilies isnt customer interest (oncthey know of the option), and its nolonger the availability of quality naturaburial products (once the funera

directors start telling them). Notodays bottleneck is the cemetery.

ROADBLOCK NUMBER FOUR

It took me a while to sort out whcemeteries, the gatekeepers of thnatural burial process, might be sslow to change. Theories that explaintheir reluctance are many: theyre toconservative; theyre too greedy; therely too heavily on vault sales to covethe bills; they dont see a demandtheres confusion about what greenis (hint: its a color). Reasons abound

RETAILER WILLINGNESS

INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY

American Cemetery October 2012 1


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and after studying the management of

cemeteries closely for several years, I

concur with many of them.

Its hard to be profitable in todays

world, and its getting even harder.

Coupled with the rise in cremation and

a struggling economy, breaking even is

a daunting task. To think of shifting

practices, especially when a capitalinvestment seems needed, appears

impossible, but to not change is

business suicide. However, I now

believe I understand why they dont

change: they dont know how.

How do cemetery operators learn

about alternative practices, especially if

they run counter to ones being

promoted and branded by a dominant

marketer or industry convention?

Where do cemetery managers get the

tools and skills to make these shifts in

philosophy and practice?

Education is KeyFuneral directors enjoy a privilege

cemetery managers rarely get: the

benefit of a professional education.

Aspiring funeral directors can learn the

ins and outs of their trade at accredited

institutions. Under the better programs,

theyre trained in funds accounting and

general business practices as well as

practical techniques. They become

familiar with statutes and codes of

conduct. Theyre exposed to tools and

materials; they acquire bereavementand people management skills. And

many who enter the field are expected

to start, acquire or inherit their own

operation at some point in the future.

In short, theyre groomed for success.

The average cemetery manager, with

equal if not greater responsibility, given

the task of caring for graves in perpe-

tuity rather than a family for a week,

has none of those educational advan-

tages. Even though the field represents

a multibillion dollar sector of our

economy, with municipalities, govern-

ments, and institutions comprising a

substantial portion of employers; and

even though cemetery mismanagement

leads to greater potential liability for

taxpayers, consumers and the enter-

prises themselves than funeral hom

problems do, outside of seasonal trad

association offerings, industry

workshops, and a couple of cemetery

related courses in the regular funera

director curriculum, theres no forma

schooling for the cemetery professional

Cemetery managers face enormou

challenges that reach far beyond thwork of tending lawns. Facilities cost

are on the rise. Fuel, water, power

labor and infrastructure maintenance

all core expenses at a cemetery show

no sign of letting up. Auditing and

managing resources so that inputs ar

lower while the quality of servic

remains the same is a trick even fo

those with training. Public health risk

increase with our ability to measur

and monitor them and so does th

cemetery's liability. Trends over th

last couple of decades have seen

cemeteries losing key sources o

income like markers and vaults to

funeral directors who often have firs

access to the customer, leaving th

cemetery with only the funds from th

14 American Cemetery October 201


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grave sale and services. In states where

combos are banned by statute and the

cemetery has no hope of recapturing

lost income by incorporating

additional disposition services or

products into its income mix, the

situation is even more dire.

What the Successful CemeteryOwner Needs to KnowTodays successful cemetery manager

must know how to read local market

demographics and identify or create

products and services that can replace

sales lost to other competitors, while

operating in an environment with legal

constraints created without regard for

whether or not the cemetery can finan-

cially survive. Unlike funeral homes,

cemeteries dont have the option of

moving if the neighborhood goes bad,

the market dries up, or trends change.

A cemetery is captive to a place. It cant

redevelop its land its a cemetery

forever and skills required to reinvent

the business year after year, decade

after decade, are mandatory if the

cemetery is to succeed.

Of even greater cause for concern

from a management point of view is

the increased attention to the pollution

potential of cemeteries. This is a very

real threat, as research coming out of

the U.K., Australia and Europe shows.

Fresh water is decreasing in supply, and

keeping it clean grows more importantevery decade. Each year the leachate

under cemeteries i.e., non-decom-

posable contaminants that slough off

from caskets, vaults, clothing, bodies

and medical waste buried in caskets

travels closer to some water source,

whether we notice it or not. If the

cemetery is below a seasonal water

table or subject to heavy rains, the rate

of travel is accelerated; leachate from

cemeteries in the United States is

currently not monitored.

However, studies in other countries

show that cemetery leachate is similar

to that of conventional landfills, with

heavy metals and chemicals associated

with plastics, composites, casket

materials, and finishes found below

the sites. And as cities grow increas

ingly concerned about the health o

their water supplies, look fo

insurance companies to charge more

for the risks ahead, while regulations

limiting the expansion and growth o

cemeteries emerge (as they have in the

U.K. and Europe).

In addition to mastering many of thesame skills that a funeral director must

business, human resources, sales and

marketing the modern cemetery

manager also needs to have a strong

working knowledge of soils and

hydrology, facilities and natura

resource management, historic preser

vation, habitat creation, pollution

mitigation, interment contracts, GIS

mapping and horticulture. And unti

they gain these skills, challenges like the

ones Ive listed here will only intensify.

Oregon State University Steps UpSeveral years ago, once I realized tha

cemetery operators needed guidance

not only to transition to better practices

but to improve the ones theyre already


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charged with, I started beating thedrum for comprehensive training. Afterdoing a presentation for the OregonSociety of Soil Scientists on naturalburial and decomposition in 2009, Ibegan to work with Oregon StateUniversity students, inviting them toparticipate in a pilot program I began

here called the Living Cemetery Project.And as I worked with the faculty atOSU, I became convinced that anagricultural education with anemphasis on business and environmen-tally sound landscape technologies wasthe only way forward for moderncemetery management.

In mid-2011, Sonny Ramaswamy,former dean of the Agriculture College(and now director of the NationalInstitute for Food and Agriculture)agreed with me, and approvedexploring the creation of a sustainablecemetery management curriculumdesigned to address many of the issuesoutlined here. Oregon State is uniquelysuited to address this challenge. Its aland-grant university, originallychartered to serve the practical needs ofbusiness, primarily in agriculture andwork related to the land, with amandate to give back to the generalpublic. The Extension ServiceCooperative is one well-known product

of this system. OSU is one of only twoland, sun, sea and space grant institu-tions in the U.S. (the other is CornellUniversity in Ithaca, N.Y.), engaged incutting-edge research on all fronts.OSU has the word sustainability inits primary mission documents and iscommitted to helping its students learn

how to bring that quality into theirfuture workplaces. Its landscaping,turf-management, agriculturaleconomics, horticulture, forestry andnatural resources work is well-known,and its the perfect place to launch thefirst sustainable cemetery managementprogram in a university setting.

As of this writing, we are now in theprocess of designing a sustainablecemeteries management curriculum.Our first course, Introduction toSustainable Cemetery Management,will be available online through OSUsdistance education program.Professionals can enroll in the onlinecourses without formal admission intothe university. Supporting courseworkfrom OSUs various departments willcomplement the curriculum, with afocus on practical methods that worknow and into the future, includingsoils, sustainable landscaping andresource use, decomposition, water-managment and other special-interest

topics. Oregon State has a welldeveloped research communitinterested in solving the problems omanufacturers, governmental bodiepolicy groups and environmental healtofficials who consider the cemetery aimportant frontier with worthy issueto tackle.

Members of the trade who wish texpress support for OSUs innovativprogram are urged to contact mthrough the university directly. Wereager to connect to frame researcthat benefits science-based cemetersiting and policy creation; to improvthe interface between funeral materiaand healthy soil; and to assist the tradin mastering the higher-level skillnecessary to meet the challenges osustainable cemetery operation fodecades and centuries to come. Wneed to collectively find ways to funneeded research and outreach activitiein todays environment where grantand contracts drive such work. We wihave younger students who need schoarship funding and internshiopportunities. We want members othe professional and municipamanagement community to participate in our coursework and helmake it relevant to their operationsAnd we hope to see two-yeamortuary science graduates opt tcontinue their schooling just a whillonger, getting their hands in thearth and assisting us in furtherinthe skills of another useful trade.

We know we have our work cut oufor us, but we also know the deathcare profession will benefit acemetery management improvesCemeteries are an important publitrust, and funeral directorthroughout the country have a lonhistory of caring for them. Sustainablcemetery management educationwith its emphasis on wise resourc

use, habitat creation, fiscal responsbility, and pollution management ithe existing cemetery, is one of thmost important next steps to take awe remove the roadblocks to changeBut, if the executives interviewed ithe MIT report are right, the roadmaahead points to profit, and it doesnhave to be that far off.


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Roadblocks to Sustainability

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