What Is a Natural or Green Burial

For most of human history, what we now call green, or natural, burial was simply considered "burial." When someone died, the family, community, or other custodians of the dead would dig a shallow hole in the earth and place the shrouded, unembalmed body inside. The process was simple, unintentionally eco-friendly, and meaningful - an integral religious and cultural practice that became marginalized by colonization and modernization.

Today, green burials are an alternative to embalming fluids and concrete vaults, prioritizing decomposition over preservation, which can wreak havoc on the environment. Each year, conventional funerals in the United States require an estimated 20 million board feet of casket wood, 64,500 tons of steel, 1.6 million tons of concrete for burial vaults, and 4 million gallons of embalming fluid, a carcinogen. By eliminating the need for these materials, natural burials are often more eco-friendly and less expensive than conventional ones.

Each year, conventional funerals in the United States require an estimated 20 million board feet of casket wood, 64,500 tons of steel, 1.6 million tons of concrete for burial vaults, and 4 million gallons of embalming fluid, a carcinogen.

Green burials tend to be shallower than most conventional burials, at 3 to 4 feet rather than 5 to 6 feet; the soil closer to the surface is more amenable to decomposition. It can take two to 20 years for the body and bones to fully decompose, depending on factors like soil type and bacterial and moisture content.

Notably, green burials are legal in every state - but not every cemetery allows them. (If a cemetery requires the purchase of a casket and vault, that is their policy rather than the law.)

Green burials can be performed at green cemeteries, legally designated family burial plots, and conservation burial grounds, which are protected via conservation easements that prohibit development of the land and, often, restore the land with native plants and community management.

However, just because green burial is legal throughout the United States doesn't mean there is a green burial ground established everywhere yet. Find a green cemetery in the United States or Canada here. To locate a conservation burial ground, visit the Conservation Burial Alliance. To learn about starting a green burial in your community, the Green Burial Council offers talking points.

A Greener Disposition

Discover greener burial and cremation options that honor your values - and your final environmental impact - at "Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Burial and Cremation Options," from which this article was excerpted.