Who We Are
Eternal Ecosystems is a start up (and future 501(c)(3) non-profit) with the goal of bringing green burial and sustainable death care options to NE Wisconsin and the greater Fox Cities area. Eternal Ecosystems seeks to lead the effort to open NE Wisconsin’s first conservation cemetery, providing long-awaited alternatives to what has become standard burial practice in the US.
Our Mission
To provide a protected green space dedicated to land conservation through a reawakened interest in natural burial practices, serving families in the Fox Cities and beyond.
“Green burial is a way of caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat. ”
— The Green Burial Council
Leading the Cause
The idea to bring conservation burial to NE Wisconsin was born from the experience of Eternal Ecosystems founder, Michelle Vandeyacht, after suddenly losing her mother in 2007 to a rare brain disease. Faced with the unexpected, a funeral and burial was planned with only the options immediately in front of the family. While doing the best they could to honour her legacy, Michelle was left feeling like there had to be more choices that would have been closer in alignment with the values her mother held during her lifetime. For the next nearly two decades, Michelle has been reading every available book, blog, and article on the topic. In 2020, Michelle was honoured to receive a scholarship from the RiverStyx Foundation to attend The Green Burial Conference that year. It was a defining moment that would drive home the need to create and promote some big, much-needed societal shifts in death and funeral care in Wisconsin.
A small business owner and native of Combined Locks, Wisconsin, Michelle has continued to build on knowledge and connections, most recently completing a proficiency in Green Burial Cemetery Operation with the Green Burial Council in partnership with Redesigning the End. Michelle is passionate about the topics of ethics, empathy for the dying and their family, social intersectionality, environmental impact of death care, and memorialization. Michelle strongly believes that this project belongs to the community and is much bigger than any one organization or individual. Agreeing to look after the body of someone’s beloved family member in perpetuity is not something taken lightly. As the project unfolds, every detail will be explored together with community experts to ensure we are a trusted death care entity capable of handling all of the legal, personal, and nuanced parts of your loved one’s choice to have a natural burial.