Waller County conservancy opens Texas' first conservation natural-burial cemetery

WALLER COUNTY, Texas - After four years of planning and efforts, the Coastal Prairie Conservancy has opened Texas' first certified conservation cemetery, as part of a prairie reclamation project in Waller County. There are fewer than 500 green burial cemeteries in North America, and a handful in Texas that offer simple burials that allow the body to decompose naturally and return to the earth. 

Waller County: Texas' first certified natural-burial cemetery

Local perspective:

The conservancy says it has room for 1,900 plots for burial, and several hundred for cremated remains to be interred.

The Blazing Star natural burial ground accepted its first burial in April. 

70-year-old Trudy Catania is described by family as a fierce nature-lover who quickly embraced the plan to be buried this way, when she died. 

The simple, poignant experience inspired several of her family members to also buy plots in the cemetery for their burial, one day.
The conservancy says it has room for 1,900 plots for burial, and several hundred for cremated remains to be interred. 

‘It was where she belonged’

What they're saying:

"She was never fearful of anything. So, going back to the Earth was never something she ever worried about. It was where she belonged," says Trudy Catania's daughter, Amy Catania, of her mother's natural burial, "It actually felt more simple, more calm, more natural. It all just felt smooth." 

"We thought about the ecosystem benefits that would occur because a green-burial is, actually, a positive impact to the earth," says Elisa Macia Donovan, who is the conservancy natural burial program director, "It's compatible with the mission of the Coastal Prairie Conservancy."