Going green becomes way of death in US

KANSAS CITY, Missouri: Someday soon, the grass may be greener for people laid to rest in a section of one Lawrence, Kansas, cemetery.

The first plot has been sold in a city-owned cemetery that offers the dearly departed a chance to be buried without being embalmed, in a biodegradable casket, with no concrete grave liner or a traditional cut or polished headstone.

When the Lawrence City Commission decided to set aside about a third of an acre in Oak Hill Cemetery for "green" funerals, the college town with an environmentally friendly reputation joined a growing national trend.