A green burial is a way of laying someone to rest that allows the body to decompose naturally and return to the earth. There’s no embalming with formaldehyde, no concrete vault, and no metal casket. The body is placed in a biodegradable container or simple shroud and buried directly in the soil, typically at a shallower depth than conventional burial to encourage natural decomposition. The result is a process that’s simpler, less expensive, and far lighter on the environment than a traditional funeral.
How Green Burial Differs From Traditional Burial
A conventional American burial typically involves embalming the body with formaldehyde-based chemicals, placing it in a lacquered hardwood or metal casket, and lowering that casket into a concrete vault beneath the ground. The vault exists not for any legal reason but to keep the ground level so cemeteries can mow easily. Every step in this process is designed to slow decomposition, which is the opposite of what green burial aims to do.
Green burial strips all of that away. The body is not embalmed, or if any preservation is used, it involves only nontoxic, approved chemicals. No vault, concrete box, slab, or liner goes into the grave. The container holding the body, whether a casket, coffin, or shroud, is made entirely of natural, biodegradable materials. The goal is full decomposition: the body nourishes the soil rather than being sealed away from it.
What the Body Is Buried In
Most green burials use one of three options: a simple shroud made from cotton, linen, or wool; a casket built from untreated wood, wicker, or bamboo; or a cardboard container. Some newer options include caskets made from mycelium (mushroom root structures), which can biodegrade in roughly a month, dramatically faster than the ten to twenty years a traditional casket takes to break down underground.
The key requirement is that everything in the grave will eventually disappear. No metal handles, no synthetic linings, no polyester padding. If you’re wearing clothing, it should be natural fiber. Some families choose to wrap the body in a favorite quilt or blanket, as long as the material is biodegradable.
Three Levels of Green Cemeteries
Not all green burial grounds are the same. The Green Burial Council, the main certifying organization in North America, recognizes three tiers, each with progressively stricter environmental standards.
- Hybrid cemeteries are conventional cemeteries that offer a green burial section. They follow the basic rules (no vault, biodegradable containers) but otherwise operate like a standard cemetery with manicured grounds and traditional headstones nearby.
- Natural burial grounds go further. They limit burial density to no more than 500 burials per acre and require an ecological impact assessment of the site. The landscape is maintained in a more natural state, often resembling a meadow or woodland rather than a lawn.
- Conservation burial grounds are the most rigorous. They cap density at 300 burials per acre, must conserve or restore a minimum of 20 acres (or 5 acres if the land borders other protected land), and operate alongside a government agency or nonprofit conservation organization. The burial ground is permanently protected by a conservation easement or similar legally binding agreement that cannot be revoked. These sites function as nature preserves where burial funds directly support habitat conservation.
At conservation burial grounds, your burial fee essentially purchases permanent land protection. The graves are typically marked with native plants, flat natural stones, or GPS coordinates rather than traditional headstones, allowing the landscape to remain wild.
What Green Burial Costs
Green burial is significantly cheaper than a traditional funeral. Costs range from about $500 to $5,000 depending on location and services, with an average around $2,600. A traditional funeral with viewing, embalming, casket, and vault runs roughly $10,000 on average.
The savings come from every stage. You’re not paying for embalming, a sealed casket, or a concrete vault. Cemetery plot fees at green burial grounds tend to be lower because there’s less infrastructure to maintain. That said, prices vary widely by region. A green burial plot in a rural conservation cemetery in the Southeast will cost far less than one near a major city on the East or West Coast.
Environmental Impact
Traditional burial in the United States consumes enormous resources at scale. Each year, American cemeteries bury roughly 4.3 million gallons of embalming fluid, 20 million board feet of hardwood in caskets, and 1.6 million tons of concrete in vaults. Cremation, often assumed to be the greener alternative, still requires burning natural gas at temperatures exceeding 1,400°F for one to three hours per body, releasing carbon dioxide, mercury from dental fillings, and particulate matter.
Green burial sidesteps nearly all of this. No fossil fuels are burned, no toxic chemicals are introduced to the soil, and no non-biodegradable materials are manufactured or buried. At conservation burial grounds, the process actively improves the environment by funding land restoration and creating protected habitat.
Other Natural Alternatives
Green burial in the ground is the oldest and simplest option, but two newer methods share similar environmental goals.
Alkaline hydrolysis, sometimes called aquamation or water cremation, uses warm water and a mild alkaline solution to break the body down over several hours. The process uses roughly one-seventh to one-eighth the energy of flame cremation. It produces a sterile liquid that can be safely returned to the water system and bone fragments that are processed into a powder and returned to the family, similar to cremated remains. It’s currently legal in about half of U.S. states.
Natural organic reduction, commonly called human composting, places the body in a vessel with wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. Over the course of several weeks, microbial activity transforms the body into roughly a cubic yard of nutrient-rich soil. Families can use that soil in gardens, donate it to conservation land, or both. This option is legal in a growing but still small number of states, including Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, California, and New York.
How to Plan a Green Burial
If you’re considering a green burial for yourself or a family member, the practical steps are straightforward. Start by locating a certified green burial cemetery near you. The Green Burial Council maintains a directory of certified providers on its website. Availability varies significantly by state, with some areas having multiple options and others having none within a reasonable distance.
You don’t necessarily need a funeral home to arrange a green burial. In most states, families have the legal right to handle burial themselves, including transporting the body, preparing it at home (washing, dressing, wrapping in a shroud), and burying it on the cemetery grounds. Many families find this hands-on involvement meaningful. If you prefer professional help, look for a funeral home that explicitly offers green services and doesn’t pressure you into unnecessary add-ons.
Refrigeration or dry ice can preserve the body for several days without embalming, which is usually enough time for a viewing or ceremony before burial. Some families hold a vigil with the body at home in the days before burial, a practice that was standard in the U.S. before the modern funeral industry emerged in the early 20th century.
One practical consideration: green cemeteries typically don’t look like conventional ones. There may be no upright headstones, no paved paths, and no manicured grass. For some families, this feels peaceful and fitting. For others, it takes adjustment. Visiting a green cemetery before making a decision can help clarify whether the setting feels right.