Environmentally friendly burials grow in popularity

(14 Oct 2010) SHOTLIST
Goldendale, Washington - 20 June 2010
1. Wide of Rock Creek canyon
2. Mid of Steve Sall exiting family van in motorised wheelchair
3. Mid of Steve Sall on wheelchair moving through country terrain with wife Teri Sall and son David Sall and Daniel Dancer from White Eagle Memorial Preserve
4. Close of Steve Sall's face.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Teri Sall, wife of Steve Sall:
"I know that Steve loves nature so much. Finding him, having him rest somewhere in a place that he loves more than, you know a cemetery that is kind of sterile and has sad things associated with it, it just seemed like the thing to do."
6. Wide of Sall family moving through the forest UPSOUND (English) Teri Sall, wife of Steve Sall:
"You're getting your off-road experience, aren't you?."
7. Wide of family talking to burial representative about price UPSOUND (English)
(Teri) "What is the price for two?" (Burial representative )"It's 2,200 for one and the second one gets 15 percent off of that."
8. Wide of family picking plot UPSOUND (English)
(David) "I think he wants it just right by the tree."
(Teri) "Well yeah, Steve wants it right by the tree."
9. Close of burial ground map
10. Mid of horses at ranch next to burial ground
11. Close of bird on a branch
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Daniel Dancer, White Eagle Memorial Preserve, natural burial ground:
"You know 70 percent of people in this country want to be cremated, that's almost the standard in the world. And you know, it creates, your last act, if you get cremated, it creates global warming gases. So our argument is why rob the Earth of the nutrients that your body can provide. That our bodies don't really belong to us, is our philosophy, they belong to nature."
Goldendale, Washington - 18 September 2010
13. Wide of Sall family van, containing Steve's body, arriving for funerals
14. Wide of relatives loading Steve's body into a 4x4 vehicle
15. Close of Teri Sall embracing a friend
16. Wide of relatives walking toward the burial area
17. Wide of relatives carrying Steve's body in a shroud
18. Wide of relatives lowering Steve's body into a hole in the ground
19. Wide of burial ceremony
20. Mid of Teri and David Sall with friends looking over the burial spot
21. Close of woman playing guitar
22. Close of David and Teri Sall
23. SOUNDBITE (English) (no name given) Steve's brother:
"This is a place that Steve chose, a place where, he said in his own words, that his atoms could become tree."
24. Mid of friend shovelling soil into grave
25. Close of shovelling
26. Wide of David Sall shovelling
27. Close of soil being shovelled
28. Mid of Teri, David embracing relatives as others shovel in foreground
29. Flowers being put on Steve's grave
30. Close of flowers
31. Pan up from Steve's grave to trees
LEAD IN:
A small but growing number of Americans are choosing to be buried in environmentally friendly cemeteries.
That means no embalming and no extravagant coffins.
In many cases, people choose to be buried in just a shroud.
Steve Sall of Oregon was one of them.
STORYLINE:
Before he was struck by a muscle wasting disease that took the use of his legs, Steve Sall was an avid outdoorsman, hiking the mountains in the Pacific northwest and California.
When he heard about green burials he began researching his options and found a natural burial ground in a remote part of south central Washington state.
On a sunny day last June, Steve, accompanied by his wife and son, visited the private forest, located next to a canyon, dotted with ponderosa pines, sage brush and wildflowers.

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