Elizabeth Fournier

Working out of a remodeled goat barn in the small town of Boring, Oregon, [pop. 8,000], Elizabeth Fournier is doing her part to change the way Americans bury their dead.

"We've become more closed off to death than we were in the past," Fournier, who is affectionately known as the "Green Reaper," tells PEOPLE. "We're very uncomfortable with it. We teach sex education, but we don't teach death education. Death is definitely part of the circle of life."