The Quimper Grange at 1219 Corona St. in Port Townsend is hosting the Dying Matters Guild’s seminar on “Green Burial Options” from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 13.

The Dying Matters Guild seeks not only to allay people’s fears regarding death, but also to empower their end-of-life choices by providing them with education, discussion opportunities and pathways to connect to resources related to this subject.

The keynote address for “Green Burial Options” is set to be delivered by Lucinda Herring, author of the book “Reimagining Death,” and a leading voice in the “green burial” movement. She will elaborate on the environmental impacts of traditional burials, as well as on the practicalities and “beauty” of green burial options available.

Michael Foster, board member for the “Become a Tree” Green Burial Project, is eager to see locals explore the various ways in which they can bid their final wishes in an eco-friendly fashion, especially since one of their green burial alternatives could potentially include instituting a conservation burial ground within Jefferson County, which he likened to establishing “a nature preserve, but with our bodies.”

Foster hopes the county could eventually offer a communal resting ground that wouldn’t require constant infusions of funds to remain extant, so that people could remain undisturbed as they “give their bodies back to the earth” and “become the place.”

In addition to “Become a Tree” and the Dying Matters Guild, the April 13 seminar is set to be attended by representatives of the Jefferson Land Trust, with whom Foster and his fellow members of “Become a Tree” have been conferring about finding possible sites, as well as the Seattle-based People’s Memorial Association.

Following Herring’s keynote address, the seminar is scheduled to transition into a panel discussion, during which attendees will be introduced to, and invited to ask about, green burial alternatives including natural and shroud burials, green cemeteries and human composting, with the panel consisting of Herring and the aforementioned representatives.

Among the questions that the panel is already anticipating are the different types of green “dispositions” after death, the local resources that are available for green burials, and how to plan a green burial that aligns with one’s values.

“Many people in Washington choose cremations for their final arrangements,” Foster said.  “We’d like to let them know there are other options, if they want to go green.”

The Threshold Choir of Port Townsend, the local chapter of the international organization of comfort singers whose mission is to sing for those “at the thresholds of life,” is also slated to provide musical accompaniment for the event.

The Port Townsend Threshold Choir sings at bedsides in small groups, delivers public “song baths,” and shares their music with those in elder care, hospitals, hospice and other settings.

This event is open to the public, but space is limited.

Tickets are available on eventbrite.com online, for a fee, or for free with an annual membership in the Dying Matters Guild, which can be found at dyingmattersguild.com online.

Contact Foster and Sue Leander by phone at 406-239-7378 or via email at ourmagicplanet@gmail.com.