1406 Hickory Grove School Road (across the street from Sugar Creek Cemetery off Hwy UU). The first green cemetery in Missouri is being developed west of Columbia by Bill Goddard and Chuck Worstell to offer cheaper burials and an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burials. Green Acres will follow burial criteria established by the Green Burial Council, a nonprofit organization based in Sante Fe, N.M. These include no embalming, no vaults and a requirement that the body be buried directly into the ground in a biodegradable and nontoxic shroud or coffin. Goddard said two types of people will be interested in his business model: Those who see green burials as the ultimate way of returning to a natural state, and people who can't afford burials with coffins and vaults or think that spending thousands of dollars on a funeral is too much. Goddard plans to selectively cut down trees to clear space for graves and pathways. Trees, plants and flowers that are designated by the Missouri Native Plant Society as native will be grown without the use of herbicides or pesticides, he said. For each plot sold, a tree will be planted. "We want the land to look like it did when Lewis and Clark walked across the state," Goddard said. For grave markers, native stone with a maximum size of 400 square inches can be carved to be situated at ground level. Other plans include building a split-rail fence made from native wood, gravel parking, a gazebo with a plant garden to scatter ashes from cremations and a boulder to engrave the names of those cremated. Pushing Up Daisies will also conduct traditional funerals in Sugar Creek Cemetery, which holds graves dating to the beginning of the 18th century. On the opposite side of the road is the 4-acre site for Green Acres. It contains one acre of an old slave cemetery, which will be preserved. GPS and a satellite mapping system will be used to track plots. Any natural markers the family chooses may be used. Green Acres is going to be a nonprofit cemetery with funds donated to the Foundation for the Higher Good, an organization founded by Worstell that he said raises money for a milk program, classes that teach livestock raising and the delivery of food and medicine in lesser-developed countries.

From the ColumbiaMissourian [online] 7-19-08.