Prairie Green had restorations | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Prairie Green had restorations 

 

Prairie Green, the green burial space at Milwaukee’s Greenwood Cemetery, has bloomed after restorations by Marek Landscaping beginning in 2019.  

“This is what we had envisioned,” John Pereles, the president of the Greenwood Cemetery Association, said as he looked over the slice of yellow wildflowers.  

In green burials like those done at Prairie Green, embalming fluid is avoided, the body is not buried with metal or nondegradable materials, and a biodegradable casket is used to allow the body to naturally decompose.  

“The green burial is just one more option that we can offer our patrons,” Pereles said. 

Greenwood Cemetery was the first Wisconsin cemetery to join the Green Burial Council and remains the only Jewish cemetery in Wisconsin on the Council, according to Pereles.  

Fifteen spots have been sold at Prairie Green since it launched in 2014. 

“With what’s going on with global warming, the whole environmental situation, it’s a way people can give back to the environment and help protect it,” Pereles said.