F A Q

Green Burial

Green or natural burial is an old idea that is gaining popularity again not just because of the fact that it is much better for the environment but because it is less invasive, cost effective and can be deeply meaningful. 

Green burial is a more natural, environmentally-conscious approach to death care. It prioritizes placing the body directly in the Earth, forgoing embalming, and using biodegradable materials.  Not a new method, it is a return to how humans have buried their dead for generations, and how many cultures bury their dead today.  Hopefully the information below will answer some of your questions.

Some Key Features of Green Burial

  • No Embalming: Toxic chemicals like formaldehyde are avoided; refrigeration or natural preservation methods are used instead. 
  • Biodegradable Containers: Bodies are placed in a simple shroud, wicker basket, or untreated wooden casket without metal screws or synthetic glues. 
  • No Concrete Vaults: Skip the heavy concrete liners or boxes typically required by conventional cemeteries. 
  • Bodies are buried at 3.5 -4 feet deep.
  • Natural Markers: Traditional upright headstones are often replaced by native plants, trees, natural flat stones, or GPS coordinates to preserve the natural landscape.  Exceptions may be in conventional cemeteries that allow green burial.
    Benefits

     

    • Environmental Protection: Conserves natural resources, reduces carbon emissions, and prevents toxic chemicals or synthetic materials from entering the soil and groundwater. 
    • Habitat Restoration: Many green cemeteries double as conservation projects that protect native forests, meadows, and wildlife. 
    • Lower Cost: They are generally more affordable than traditional funerals because they eliminate expensive metal caskets, vaults, and embalming fees.
    • Never once has a body been reported to be dug up by animals

     

    How Green Burials Protect Water

    • No toxic chemicals: Green burials avoid toxic embalming fluids like formaldehyde, which are known to leach into soil and water in traditional burials. 
    • Shallow depth: Graves are dug at a shallower depth (about 3.5 to 4.5 feet) where active soil microbes, oxygen, and moisture quickly break down organic matter safely. 
    • Natural filtration: Soil acts as a powerful natural filter that catches and breaks down pathogens long before any liquids reach the water table. 
    • No synthetic upkeep: Natural burial grounds do not use artificial lawn fertilizers or pesticides that commonly threaten local water quality. 
    • Strict rules: Local laws require safe set-back distances between any burial site and local water tables, wells, or bedrock. 

     

    Home Funeral or Vigil

    Home Vigils and "Home-based" post-death care can take place not only in private residences but also in hospitals and care facilities. With willing family and/or friends, a Death Doula/Home Funeral Guide can support and guide personalized deathcare.  This loving, after-death care helps create a sacred space where friends, family, and community can gather to offer presence, care, and ceremony.  

    State laws grant the legal custody of a deceased person to their next of kin—not to commercial funeral homes or government entities. Caring for our own dead is an ancient tradition. Armed with the right guidance, your family can guide this sacred moment on your own terms, finding deep personal comfort and peace in directing these final steps yourself.

     

    California Law states you may direct your family member’s funeral.

    Home Death Care

    The use of a funeral establishment and funeral director is not required by law when preparing a body for disposition. You can arrange for your body, or that of a loved one, to be cared for and prepared for disposition by family and friends at home. If you choose home death care, you must:

    1. 1.  File a properly completed Certificate of Death, signed by the attending physician or coroner, with the local registrar of births and deaths.
    • 2. Obtain a Permit for Disposition from the local registrar of births and deaths.
    • 3. Provide a casket or other suitable container.
    • 4. Make arrangements directly with the cemetery or crematory.

    Your local county health department may be able to help you file a Certificate of Death and/or a Permit for Disposition.
    (NOTE: Human remains may be kept at home without embalming or refrigeration until disposition. Generally, decomposition will proceed more rapidly without refrigeration or embalming.)

    Embalming: "The law does not require embalming."  http://www.cfb.ca.gov/consumer/funeral.shtml#lega

    What is embalming?
    Embalming is almost never required by law.  It is a practice that began during the US Civil War that involves puncturing internal organs, draining the body of fluids and injecting a formaldehyde-based fluid, along with other chemicals and dyes, to provide for temporary preservation of the body.  It exposes embalmers to chemicals that are known carcinogens.  There is alternatives to embalming.  This includes the use of dry-ice and other refrigerants such as a cooling plate and techni-ice placed under and top of the abdomen.  These are simple to use and may be as effective as embalming.

    Who may complete the death certificate? 
    The next-of-kin, a designated agent, or a funeral director may complete the death certificate, with information provided by the family in any case. It must be written clearly in black ink or typed, with no erasures, cross-outs or corrections. The information will then be transferred electronically by the Town Clerk or a funeral director to Vital Statistics. A Transit/Transport/Burial permit will then be generated that is required to accompany the body to final disposition.

    Transportation

    Once arrangements for the final disposition are settled, initiate a plan for transportation of the body. In most states, a family can transport the deceased with the necessary permit and a rigid container. Some states require the casket be transported in an enclosed space. Note: the family may have already transported the body from place of death to another location.

    For more information:  National Home Funeral Alliance https://www.homefuneralalliance.org/​