About Us

"Lay me out in the wilderness
and let me return to the earth."
--Mary de La Valette

Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary is the first and only dedicated natural burial ground in the Cincinnati area. Our commitment to creating a nature preserve where people may be laid to rest naturally calls us to compassion both for the earth, and for our fellow human beings. By centering environmental stewardship in our end-of-life choices, we can leave a legacy for future generations by protecting land from development, preserving habitats and ecosystems, and allowing our bodies to return naturally to the earth.
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Our Mission

Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary is the first and only dedicated natural burial ground in the Cincinnati area. We provide natural burial of people, pets, and cremains.

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Why Green Burial?

Preserve the environment

Protect the natural environment, which would be negatively affected by conventional burial or cremation, preventing contaminated ground water and air pollution.

Conserve natural resources

Conserve resources that would otherwise be used as part of conventional burial or cremation, such as wood, concrete, and steel.

Save Money

Natural burial is significantly less costly compared to conventional funerals with caskets, embalming, and concrete vaults.

Conventional Burial in the U.S. Uses:

800

THOUSAND gallons of the carcinogen formaldehyde ANNUALLY

116

MILLION tons of steel--enough to build 2,000 Empire State Buildings

2,300

MILLION tons of concrete--enough to pave 28 sidewalks to the moon

4

MILLION acres of forest--which could have built 4.6 million single-family homes

Source: Qeepr Blog

Cremation in the U.S.

Cremations are only 10% greener than a conventional burial.

Source: Funeral Trend

Fossil fuels

Uses enough fossil fuels per year to drive halfway to the sun.

Heavy metals

Releases multiple heavy metals into the air, including mercury, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, and formaldehyde.

Dioxins

Accounts for 0.2% of all global dioxin emissions.

Resources

Often involves cremating embalmed bodies and their containers.

Source: Qeepr Blog

Green Burial Options at Heritage Acres

Burial

Be buried in a casket or shroud made of biodegradable materials

Cremains

Ashes may also be buried, under a tree or among wildflowers

Pets

Provide a beautiful final resting place for your beloved pet

Marker

Leave no mark or choose a simple flat marker of native stone

From A Will for the Woods–feature documentary. Photo by Jeremy Kaplan.