March 2021

Page A2 MARCH 2021 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A forest of the West and the highland pine forest of the East. “The Herland Forest is an enchanted place,” says Walt Patrick, the first licensed operator of the NOR cra- dle system. “There are pine and oak grow- ing side by side. It’s a place of transition.” And with the new NOR services, Herland Forest truly is a place of transition. The nonprofit organization, which works to develop and demonstrate sustainable practices, has over 30 years’ experience transforming large farm animals into nutrient-rich com- post. Walt explains that their soil has a high clay content, so a grave func- tions like a large, clay flower pot. They put the deceased animal in the pot and fill it with wood chips. “If they were a good member of our animal community,” says Walt, “they might be a good mother, a hard worker, or a good companion ani- mal, then we’d let them live out their lives. Then, when they die, we’d compost them, rather than eat them.” That lets the animal return to the earth in a way that was help- ful to the other farm animals, improving the soil and the vegetation with it. Because of their experience with an- imals, the Herland Forest staff knew they could apply that knowledge to the challenge of naturally reducing human remains. They developed an insulated coffin configured as a cradle for the ini- tial reduction. The body is placed inside the cradle on a layer of wood chips and wildflow- ers gathered from the surrounding for- est. More wood chips - to the tune of 200 gallons in all - are added before the lid is secured. The cradle, which is moved by hand, is on a rack to assist in turning. It is lo- cated under a shelter to protect it from the elements, but it’s out in the forest and accessible to plenty of natural sunlight. Walt explains that when they rotate the cradle, it mixes the materials to allow ox- ygen to get to fungi, bacteria, and pro- tozoa, which perform the actual decom- position. They also inject pure oxygen to help feed the bacteria so that it will work to convert carbon in the body into carbon dioxide and reduce the amount of meth- ane that would otherwise be generated. Since the process is held in a forest, the trees use the excess carbon diox- ide, turning it into oxygen. The cradle has an electrical heating system to provide addi- tional heat, and the heating ele- ment is powered by sunshine. The law requires that the body be ex- posed to temperatures of 131 de- grees for three days to ensure that any potentially harmful bacteria are killed. However, Herland Forest fol- lows the University of California at Berkeley’s suggestion of a minimum of 155 degrees to aggressively break down the integrity of the bones. Herland Forest’s cradle is the first one of its kind and currently the only one of its kind. Walt had to become licensed to operate it, “which was a whole dance in and of itself,” he says. If you buy a crema- tory oven, he states, then you will get instruction on how to use it. “But there’s no one to teach this.” They reached out to schools and professors to create instructions. Walt adds that it was 90 percent identical to the natural organic reduc- tion they were already doing with the farm animals and he mostly needed to learn about the cradle itself and its func- tions. He also needed to learn about the laws associated with dealing with human beings, such as the chain of custody. Human remains cannot be com- mingled with anything else. “The identity of the individual and their dignity needs to be kept,” Walt says. Since the process is done above ground in a contained space, they can guarantee the iden- tity of the individual throughout the entire process. Herland Forest faced a challenge in getting the remains into the cra- dle. Bodies are transported in leak- proof plastic body bags, which isn’t a problem for cremation where every- thing is burned. But for NOR, this presents a problem. Before the body can be reduced, the body bag has to be removed by either the family or a licensed funeral director or em- balmer. They must open the body bag and verify the identity of the individual con- firming the chain of custody. So, Herland Forest must bring in a funeral director or embalmer before moving the remains from the body bag. Or they have the option of Published Monthly by: Nomis Publications, Inc. PO Box 5159, Youngstown, OH 44514 1-800-321-7479 FAX 1-800-321-9040 www.nomispublications.com info@nomispublications.com Subscription: United States $25.00 - Canada/Mexico $50.00 Circulation 21,000 per issue. Overseas rates available. Deadline for Press Releases: 5th of the Previous month. Advertising: Display Ad rates sent upon request. 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The contents of this publication may not be reproduced, in whole or part, without the exclusive consent of Nomis Publications, Inc. Editor: Margaret (Peggy) Rouzzo © 2021 by Nomis Publications, Inc. ISSN 1944-1126 Funeral Home & Cemetery News Online at www.nomispublications.com MONTHLY FEATURES Classified Ads . .............................................................................................. B17 Shipping Directory ........................................................................................ B14 Calendar of Events ........................................................................................ B2 Association News . ......................................................................................... A31 Deaths ............................................................................................................. A37 Educational News .......................................................................................... A34 Suppliers News ................................................................................................ B1 COLUMNS: Aftercare by Linda Findlay. ................................................................................ A8 Embalming 101 by Wally Hooker...................................................................... A16 Facebook Made Easy by Jason Troyer PhD..................................................... A10 The Foundations of Success for Funeral Directors by Mark Bowser............. A18 HearseHub by Mike Jamar. ................................................................................ B6 Memoires des choix des Jacque by Kate Frediani-Gorman. ........................... A32 Museum Corner ............................................................................................... A34 Observations by Steven Palmer....................................................................... A12 Powerhouse Marketing With Welton by Welton Hong....................................... A6 Random Musings by Nancy Weil. ...................................................................... A4 Rest In Peace Mr President by Todd Van Beck................................................ A22 Working With Widowers by Fred Colby and Herb Knoll .................................. A20 NOTICE The FUNERAL HOME AND CEMETERY NEWS is now sent in two parts. Section A, which in - cludes pages A1-A40 and Section B, which contains the Classified Advertising and consists of pages B1-B24. If you do not receive both sections please call 1-800-321-7479 or email info@nomispublications.com. FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Online Directories US & International Funeral Homes • Supply Companies Cemeteries • Pet Memorialization Companies Trade Associations • Plus Much More... www.nomispublications.com Like Us On Continued from Front Page Herland Forest NOR License Continued on Page A24 FRONT COVER c/o Nomis Publications, PO Box 5159, Youngstown, OH 44514 Funeral Home and Cemetery Directory 1-800-321-7479 www.nomispublications.com 2022 FEATURING HERE No Charge to Submit Submit your photograph or line drawing , along with your firm’s name , address , phone number , contact person , and a short description of your facility Send to: Be Featured on the 2022 Front Cover “It is truly an honor that our family owned and operated funeral home was chosen by Nomis Publications as the featured funeral home for the cover of the 2021 Directory. I have read the monthly newspaper since it was first published in 1974 and we depend on the directory for our out of the area needs.” – Dean W. Kriner, President, Dean W. Kriner, Inc., Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Bloomsburg, PA, 2021 Cover “We are truly pleased that Nomis Publications has selected our funeral home as the cover of the 2020 directory. This publication has been on my desk as long as I have been in funeral service and it is humbling to have been given this honor” – Matthew R. Bailey, CFSP, B.C. Bailey Funeral Home, Wallingford, CT, 2020 Cover For more information, call Kim 800-321-7479 kim@nomispublications.com • www.nomispublications.com