Better Place Forests creates memorial trees, an alternative to cemeteries

SANTA CRUZ — Better Place Forests is transforming the way people are remembered when they die, by creating the U.S.’s first conservation forest where ashes can be spread.

A San-Francisco start-up founded in 2015 by Sandy Gibson, Brad Milne and Jamie Knowlton, Better Place Forests provides an alternative to cemeteries for people who are cremated by creating a family memorial under a protected tree in the forest. A person or family member picks a tree for someone who did or will die, and once cremated, his/her ashes are spread at the base of the tree. Pets can also be buried at the family site.

Better Place Forests does not do cremations; the family must bring or deliver the ashes of a loved one to the forest. The ashes are combined with local soil, which balances the pH levels of the soil so that the bone ash will break down into nutrients for the forest. After the memorial ceremony, Better Place Forests manages the tree for the family, as well as its impact trees which are included in the purchase of a tree. Through a partnership with One Tree Planted, young impact trees are planted in drought and fire-affected areas to help restore those regions. The company also maintains the forests they own by clearing it of invasive species, making it accessible for people to visit memorial trees and preserving memorial monuments.

“It’s all about creating a moment,” Gibson said. “The person they love has returned to nature.”

People’s ashes are spread in forests owned by Better Place Forests. The company buys forests and then partners with local land trusts to arrange conservation easements to protect the forest. It must be privately-owned land, not a public forest that is already protected. Better Place Forests has purchased a forest in Point Arena and Santa Cruz. People can spread ashes in Point Arena, but in Santa Cruz, people can only reserve trees until building permits are finalized. Located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the forest stretches more than 80 acres. Better Place Forests will establish future forests in Seattle, Denver, Portland, Oregon and Flagstaff, Arizona.

Funding comes from venture capital. Better Place Forests has raised $12 million in venture capital funding, according to the New York Times. The company has 46 employees, including seven who work remotely in Santa Cruz County.

Prior to Better Place Forests, Gibson and Milne co-founded Elevate Inc., a Toronto-based company that simplifies email marketing. Gibson came up with the idea for Better Place Forests after his father died when he was 10 years old and his mother died a year later.

“The end of her life [his mother’s] ended with a black tombstone,” he said, adding that she is buried on a busy street with cars passing by. “Her life shouldn’t have ended that way.”

He said it is incredibly important that if a parent dies young, he/she can be reunited with their child, and unlike expensive family burial plots in a cemetery, this is a more affordable way to be buried in a beautiful place.

“We remember endings,” he said, adding that family members will remember three things when someone they love dies: their death, the memorial ceremony was like and their resting place. “It reminds you your life is a story and all stories have an ending.” When people are picking a memorial site, Gibson asks them, ‘Where do you want your story to end?’

A tree costs $2,900 to $12,000, depending on its size and how many impact trees are planted, which can range from 25 to a few thousand trees. Trees include coastal redwoods, tanoaks, Douglas firs and madrones. In each tree purchase, from one to six memorial ceremonies are included in the price. Gibson said thousands of people have reserved trees throughout Point Arena and Santa Cruz. Families, couples and people choosing in advance for themselves have reserved trees. On average, people who are 60 to 70 years old are reserving trees. Gibson said some young couples have even chosen a memorial tree as a wedding gift to themselves, so that they have “a place to be together forever.”

Better Place Forests is launching a new service this summer: a memorial video. Filmed in San Francisco, the video lasts 12-15 minutes and tells the story of “what you wish you knew about your grandparents.” Videos will cost up to $8,000 when the service is first released, but Gibson expects to eventually lower the cost.

Some people will still choose to be buried in cemeteries because it is traditional, Gibson said.

At Santa Cruz Memorial, a traditional funeral service costs $3,895 and a traditional cremation funeral service costs $3,695. Prices vary depending on the extent of the services. A bronze niche and nameplate costs about $4,000, according to Randy Krassow, funeral director at Santa Cruz Memorial . He said cemeteries are important for family legacies to be able to visit a site in the future. “It brings that great grandpa to life for them,” he said. “It makes him more real.” He said having a loved one buried in a cemetery is also therapeutic.

With a cremation casket and urn, an adult funeral with cremation costs approximately $6,260, according to 2016 median prices from the National Funeral Directors Association.