CORRECTIONS:
The man identified as "Gary McRae, General Manager, Forever Fernwood" is actually James Cirulli, a neighbor of the cemetery who enjoys taking his dog for a walk in its open spaces.

Gary McRae appears earlier in the show talking about Fernwood's first green burial.

Also, "Sebastopol" was misspelled at the beginning of the story.

We apologize for these errors and hope that you enjoyed the story.

Sincerely,
Gabriela Quiros
QUEST segment producer

Check http://www.funerals.org/faq/green.htm

This is the website for the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a national non-profit dedicated to distributing coinsumer information about how to get the kind of funeral you want. Lots of great info at "funerals.org."

Our family just chose Forever Fernwood in Mill Valley to manage the cremation of and to bury our father. We have enjoyed the option of having this be an affordable, environmentally conscious, and peaceful way to go.
The video clip of this story has some good representative shots of the views at Fernwood; there are several good choices for burial sites, from meadows to wooded areas, easily accessible to not so…and even a couple of actual small formations made with holders to place containers of ashes into, in case you want the view and accessibility but don't have the desire to put the ashes into the ground.
Anyway, the sales service was excellent, with a tour and a sensitive discussion of the options, and then when our father passed away his body was transported almost immediately, with no muss or fuss, just as he would have liked it.
Nice place, nice cause, and nice folks.
As a matter of fact, our dad's parents are buried in the other cemetery featured in this story — the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery — and I went there to check out the "green burial" area. Having attended a few graveside services at this cemetery, besides my grandparents', I was already familiar with the place. It's got an old, rundown area of the oldest graves, and a more kept-up, colorful area of newer ones, and an overall kinda "cozy" feeling to it (as much as that can be possible in that kind of place, I suppose!). Not the spacious views of the Mill Valley cemetery hillsides, but lots of trees around the perimeter and a few scattered on the grounds — especially near the mausoleum. Right next to it, on the east side, is a Luther Burbank garden/park, so that helps keep the feel of it on the natural side, too.
Lots to ponder for many of us….and there's nothing like planning a loved-one's funeral to make you think about your own preferences, huh?