Blog

Steward’s Log: Expending Lots of Energy

Posted on Aug 07 2017 by Anthony Pranger

Closeup of log with text overlay reading "Steward's Log Summer 17'"

With all the warm rainy days so far this year, the plants are in full growth mode. Wildflowers, especially in the milkweed and aster families, are blooming. Birds are busy, and it is hot and humid! The shift in season from Spring this year seems to have passed fairly quickly […]

Pet Burials: How to Honor the Furry Members of Your Family

Posted on Jun 20 2017 by Caroline Yongue

Pet Burials: How to Honor the Furry Members of Your Family Looking into the eyes of our adoring pet family member, we often feel deep gratitude for our mutual bond and trust. When Jasper gives me that look, I feel like the luckiest person to have him in my life, […]

Memorial Planting: The Gift of Life and Renewal

Posted on Jun 07 2017 by Anthony Pranger

Flame azalea planted over someone's grave as a memorial planting.

Memorial Planting - Flame Azalea

It seems that many people in our modern American culture think of death as a dreary and fearful topic. There has been a movement over the last couple of decades with the idea of making funerals more about a celebration of life than about disheartened feelings around death. In my […]

Steward’s Log: Ticks, Pollen, & Poison Ivy

Posted on May 03 2017 by Anthony Pranger

log with mushrooms growing on it with the text "Steward's Log, Spring 17'

With a mostly warm winter and plenty of April showers, here at the Sanctuary there is lots of green (and other) life racing ahead into Spring. In addition to new life, the scattered, outward energy of Spring also brings busy, crowded, and uncomfortable visitations from botanical and entomological guests. As […]

Biodegradable Burial Containers for Green Burial: Strange & Unusual

Posted on Apr 12 2017 by Cassie Barrett

collage showing the coceio mushroom suit, burial pod, and ecopod.

Biodegradable Burial Containers for Green Burial: Part 3 – Strange & Unusual This is the last blog in our series, ‘Biodegradable Burial Containers for Green Burial.’ Part 1 covered the What & Why behind Green Burial Containers and reviewed the first and most simple option, Burial Shrouds. Part 2 […]

Asheville Citizen Times – Three feet under: Asheville is a hub for green burial

Posted on Apr 03 2017 by Carolina Memorial Sanctuary

Anthony and Carol carrying a cardboard coffin

Photo: Angeli Wright

Source: Asheville Citizen Times Written By: Emily Patrick Carol Motley would stop at funeral homes and say she was dying. She was in her 20s then — about 20 years ago — and she was conducting market research for her cardboard coffin company. She wasn’t terminally ill, but the allusion to death gave her […]

Biodegradable Burial Containers for Green Burial: Coffins & Caskets

Posted on Mar 15 2017 by Cassie Barrett

collage with woven casket at top, cardboard coffin at bottom left, and pine caset at bottom rigt

Biodegradable Burial Containers for Green Burial: Part 2 – Coffins & Caskets This is the second blog in our series about Biodegradable Burial Containers, where we explore biodegradable options for green burial. In the first blog, we discussed, ‘What is a biodegradable burial container,’ ‘Why choose a biodegradable burial container,’ […]

Sanctuary Update: February 2017

Posted on Feb 28 2017 by Carolina Memorial Sanctuary

It’s been just over a year since we began land restoration at Carolina Memorial Sanctuary. During these past twelve months we have witnessed transformation of the Sanctuary grounds and a shifting of ideas and beliefs surrounding death. Much love, care and inspiration has manifested through the generosity of time and […]

Biodegradable Burial Containers for Green Burial: The What & Why

Posted on Feb 21 2017 by Cassie Barrett

collage of cardboard coffin, burial shrouds, and woven casket

Biodegradable Burial Containers for Green Burial: Part 1 – The What & Why What do you want to happen to your body after you die? I’ve often fantasized about a Viking Funeral, imagining my body drifting away in a wooden boat as flaming arrows shower down and it all goes […]

Steward’s Log: Winter, Death, and Reflection

Posted on Jan 25 2017 by Anthony Pranger

As cooler temperatures have finally begun to reach our calendar, so too has the first year of Carolina Memorial Sanctuary ended. Living and dying have their season-like cycles as well, and I am reminded of all the work that was put into supporting many deceased beings and their grieving families. […]