Green Burial
Green burial, also known as natural burial, is an eco-friendly alternative to traditional burial practices. It emphasizes simplicity and sustainability, allowing the body to return to the earth naturally. This guide provides a detailed overview of green burial, including its history, process, benefits, costs, and practical considerations.
What is Green Burial?
Green burial involves interring the body in a manner that allows for natural decomposition, minimizing environmental impact.
This practice avoids the use of embalming fluids, metal caskets, and concrete vaults, instead opting for biodegradable materials that facilitate the natural breakdown of the body.
History of Green Burial
Green burial is a return to the traditional methods of interment used before the advent of modern funeral practices.
Historically, bodies were buried directly in the ground without embalming or the use of non-biodegradable materials. The modern green burial movement began gaining traction in the late 20th century as environmental awareness grew and people sought more sustainable end-of-life options.
What is Green Burial?
Green burial involves interring the body in a manner that allows for natural decomposition, minimizing environmental impact.
This practice avoids the use of embalming fluids, metal caskets, and concrete vaults, instead opting for biodegradable materials that facilitate the natural breakdown of the body.
History of Green Burial
Green burial is a return to the traditional methods of interment used before the advent of modern funeral practices.
Historically, bodies were buried directly in the ground without embalming or the use of non-biodegradable materials. The modern green burial movement began gaining traction in the late 20th century as environmental awareness grew and people sought more sustainable end-of-life options.
How Green Burial Works
The process of green burial typically involves the following steps:
- Preparation: The body is prepared without embalming, using only refrigeration or dry ice for preservation if necessary.
- Coffin or Shroud: The body is placed in a biodegradable coffin, shroud, or other natural container. These materials decompose naturally along with the body.
- Gravesite: The burial site is usually located in a designated green cemetery or natural burial ground that follows specific environmental standards.
- Interment: The body is interred directly into the ground without a concrete vault or liner, allowing for natural decomposition.
- Marking the Grave: Gravesites are often marked with natural stones, plants, or GPS coordinates instead of traditional headstones.
How Green Burial Works
The process of green burial typically involves the following steps:
- Preparation: The body is prepared without embalming, using only refrigeration or dry ice for preservation if necessary.
- Coffin or Shroud: The body is placed in a biodegradable coffin, shroud, or other natural container. These materials decompose naturally along with the body.
- Gravesite: The burial site is usually located in a designated green cemetery or natural burial ground that follows specific environmental standards.
- Interment: The body is interred directly into the ground without a concrete vault or liner, allowing for natural decomposition.
- Marking the Grave: Gravesites are often marked with natural stones, plants, or GPS coordinates instead of traditional headstones.
Benefits of Green Burial
Environmental Sustainability
Green burial has a minimal environmental impact. It avoids the use of toxic embalming fluids, reduces carbon emissions from cremation, and conserves natural resources by using biodegradable materials.
Conservation
Many green burial grounds are located in nature preserves or conservation areas, contributing to land conservation and habitat protection.
Cost-Effective
Green burials can be less expensive than traditional burials as they avoid the costs of embalming, metal caskets, and concrete vaults.
Natural Decomposition
This method allows the body to decompose naturally, returning nutrients to the soil and fostering new life.
Costs of Green Burial
The costs of green burial can vary based on location and specific services chosen. Generally, it includes:
-
Burial Plot: The cost of a plot in a green cemetery, which may be less expensive than in traditional cemeteries.
- Biodegradable Coffin or Shroud: These are typically less expensive than traditional caskets.
- Preparation and Preservation: Costs associated with preparing the body without embalming, which may include refrigeration or dry ice.
- Interment Services: Fees for digging and closing the grave.
Practical Considerations
- Legal Requirements: Ensure compliance with local regulations regarding burial practices. Some areas may have specific requirements for burial depth and cemetery standards.
- Cemetery Selection: Choose a certified green cemetery or natural burial ground that adheres to recognized environmental standards.
- Family and Cultural Practices: Discuss green burial options with family members and consider any cultural or religious practices that may influence the choice of burial.
- Advance Planning: Pre-plan your green burial to ensure your wishes are documented and known to your loved ones. This can include selecting a burial site, purchasing a biodegradable coffin or shroud, and making financial arrangements.
- Burial Plot: The cost of a plot in a green cemetery, which may be less expensive than in traditional cemeteries.
- Biodegradable Coffin or Shroud: These are typically less expensive than traditional caskets.
- Preparation and Preservation: Costs associated with preparing the body without embalming, which may include refrigeration or dry ice.
- Interment Services: Fees for digging and closing the grave.
Practical Considerations
- Legal Requirements: Ensure compliance with local regulations regarding burial practices. Some areas may have specific requirements for burial depth and cemetery standards.
- Cemetery Selection: Choose a certified green cemetery or natural burial ground that adheres to recognized environmental standards.
- Family and Cultural Practices: Discuss green burial options with family members and consider any cultural or religious practices that may influence the choice of burial.
- Advance Planning: Pre-plan your green burial to ensure your wishes are documented and known to your loved ones. This can include selecting a burial site, purchasing a biodegradable coffin or shroud, and making financial arrangements.
Green burial offers a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to traditional burial methods. By returning to natural interment practices, green burials reduce environmental impact, conserve resources, and foster a connection with nature.
Whether driven by environmental concerns, cost considerations, or personal beliefs, green burial is an option worth considering for those seeking a more natural end-of-life solution.
- Green Burial Council
- Funeral Consumers Alliance
- National Funeral Directors Association – Green Funerals
Bluestem Conservation Cemetery in Cedar Grove, NC
If you’re looking for a truly natural burial site, Bluestem Conservation Cemetery offers a serene landscape on 87 beautiful acres in Northern Orange County. This conservation burial ground is dedicated to preserving the land’s natural beauty while providing a peaceful final resting place for your loved ones.
Bluestem is a conservation area. This means, in their own words:
Bluestem Conservation Cemetery is an 87-acre nature preserve of three habitat types: grassland, early transitional and woodland. Grasslands and early successional habitats are among the most endangered in our region. That’s why one of our founding principles is preserving and protecting ours.
Through conservation easements with our partners the Eno River Association and Triangle Land Conservancy, Bluestem will be permanently protected by December 2024.
Restoring crucial habitat returns the balance of species availability to the ecosystem. Our namesake, the little bluestem grass, is a core species in our fields. A stabilizing force, their deep root systems store carbon and survive through periods of drought or rain.
They encourage dozens of other native companion plants like larkspur, tickseed and narrow-leaf sunflower. Our grassland hosts diverse pollinators that benefit our community’s farms and fields and encourages the resurgence of animal species like the bobwhite quail and northern harrier.
Bluestem’s conservation mission extends to our old oak and hickory forest habitat including beech, sassafras, tulip poplar, sweetgum and several pine species. It’s a welcoming home for fungi, lichens, woodland birds and larger animals like squirrels, deer, foxes and coyotes.
Our efforts have made Bluestem a popular destination for amateur and recreational naturalists and an eBird Hotspot and iNaturalist location.
At Bluestem, you won’t find traditional burials with embalming fluids or conventional caskets. Instead, Bluestem focuses on natural burials that allow the body to return to the earth naturally, in the most environmentally friendly way possible.
The cemetery emphasizes minimal environmental impact, using biodegradable materials and eco-friendly practices. When you choose Bluestem, you’re not just selecting a burial plot; you’re contributing to the conservation of the local ecosystem.