Cynthia Beal, former owner of the natural grocery store the Red Barn and 2002 Slug Queen, left the natural grocery business behind to feed a need near and dear to a true slug’s heart—preserving the actual earth that sustains both slugs and humans by promoting completely natural burials.
Beal started the Natural Burial Company locally to create and sell attractive biodegradable burial vessels made from natural and recycled materials. Some are even edible! Beal also publishes the online Alternative Funeral Monitor and her fascinating blog beatree.com — her bid for expanding safe slug habitat.
Thanks to Beal’s efforts to draw Pacific Northwest artist’s attentions to the natural burial movement, slug and earth lovers alike now have many stylish choices when it comes time to become one with the earth– including many handsome handmade funeral urns sexy enough to be awarded an exhibition at the notable downtown gallery, Opus 6ix.
Can’t get enough sustainability? Pick up a copy of Queen Radia’s book: Be a Tree, the Natural Burial Guide for Turning Yourself into a Forest, published by New Society Publishers. (See her website for details).
And be sure to take a gander at Queen Radia’s naturally slug shaped caskets on her website: http://www.naturalburialcompany.com
It’s the one and only thing you’ll really want to take with you.