Natural burial is the practice of placing an unembalmed body directly into the ground in a biodegradable container or shroud, allowing it to decompose and return to the earth without interference. There are no concrete vaults, no chemical preservatives, and no metal caskets. It’s the way humans buried their dead for most of history, and it’s gaining significant traction as an alternative to both conventional burial and cremation.
How Natural Burial Differs From Conventional Burial
A conventional burial in the United States involves embalming the body with formaldehyde-based fluid, placing it in a metal or hardwood casket, and lowering that casket into a concrete or steel vault in the ground. The vault exists primarily to keep the ground from settling, which makes cemetery maintenance easier. None of this is legally required in most states, but it has become so standard that many people assume it is.
Natural burial strips all of that away. The body is not embalmed. The container is made entirely from biodegradable materials: a simple pine or wicker casket, a bamboo coffin, or just a cotton or linen shroud. No vault lines the grave. The goal is for the body and everything buried with it to break down completely, enriching the soil rather than sealing remains away from it. A body in a simple biodegradable container can decompose in roughly a month under the right conditions, compared to ten to twenty years inside a traditional sealed coffin.
What Happens to the Body Without Embalming
Embalming is the main thing people wonder about when they first hear about natural burial. Without it, the body begins decomposing within hours, which raises an obvious question: how do you hold a viewing or wait several days before burial?
The answer is refrigeration. A body kept at cold temperatures remains presentable for several days without any chemical treatment. Funeral homes use refrigerated storage, and for families keeping the body at home, dry ice works well. Placed on the torso and around the body, dry ice (which is carbon dioxide frozen to negative 96 degrees) effectively preserves the body in the vast majority of cases. This is actually the older, more traditional approach to body care, and it works reliably for the typical window between death and burial.
Some families also use essential oils or other natural preparations to manage odor, and they may place the body on a cooling board. The key legal consideration varies by state. Some states set time limits on how long an unembalmed body can remain unburied or require specific containment for transport, so it’s worth checking your state’s regulations.
The Environmental Case
The environmental argument for natural burial is straightforward. Every year, U.S. cemeteries put more than 4 million gallons of embalming fluid into the ground, along with 64,000 tons of steel and 1.6 million tons of concrete. Formaldehyde, the primary chemical in embalming fluid, is a known carcinogen that poses risks to funeral workers and eventually leaches into surrounding soil.
Cremation avoids the vault and embalming problem but carries its own footprint. A single cremation produces roughly 400 to 600 pounds of CO2, equivalent to driving a car about 500 miles. It also requires significant fossil fuel to reach the temperatures needed for incineration.
Natural burial sidesteps both issues. The body becomes part of the soil ecosystem. Many green cemeteries go further, functioning as conservation land. They minimize herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers, and some operate as protected green spaces that double as wildlife habitat. Rather than rows of manicured lawn and granite headstones, these cemeteries often look like meadows or woodlands, with graves marked by native plantings, flat stones, or GPS coordinates.
What a Green Cemetery Requires
Not every cemetery that calls itself “green” operates the same way. The Green Burial Council, the primary certifying body in the U.S., sets specific standards. Certified cemeteries must bury without vaults, accept only unembalmed remains (or remains prepared without toxic chemicals), and use containers made entirely from plant-derived, natural, animal, or unfired earthen materials. That includes the shell of the casket along with any liner, finish, adhesive, or dye. Nothing that releases toxic byproducts into the ground is permitted.
Certified cemeteries also commit to transparency with the public about their practices and pricing, and they follow sustainable land management practices. Some conventional cemeteries have added a “green section” where natural burials are permitted alongside their traditional offerings, giving families an option without requiring a dedicated green cemetery nearby.
Approved Containers and Materials
The simplest option is a burial shroud: a piece of natural fabric, typically cotton, linen, wool, or silk, that wraps the body completely. Shrouds usually cost around $300 and are sometimes made by the family themselves.
For families who prefer a casket, biodegradable options include wicker, bamboo, seagrass, willow, and unfinished pine. These range from about $900 to $1,500. What matters is that every component, not just the outer shell, breaks down naturally. Metal handles, synthetic linings, and chemical finishes disqualify a casket from green certification. Some companies now make “living coffins” from mycelium (the root structure of mushrooms) that actively accelerate decomposition.
What It Costs
Natural burial is significantly cheaper than a conventional funeral, which averages over $7,000 in the U.S. before factoring in a burial plot and vault. A green burial plot typically costs around $2,500, though prices start as low as $550 depending on the cemetery. Opening and closing the grave runs $300 to $800.
If you handle much of the process yourself, keeping the body at home and transporting it to the cemetery without a funeral home, a complete natural burial can come in under $3,000. Working with a funeral home for a green funeral typically costs between $3,500 and $5,000 total, including their service fee of $2,000 to $4,000, the plot, and a biodegradable container. Either way, you’re looking at roughly half the cost of a conventional burial, sometimes less.
Growing Demand
Interest in natural burial has risen sharply. A 2023 survey by the National Funeral Directors Association found that 60% of respondents were interested in exploring green funeral options. A 2024 study published in the Wake Forest Law Review confirmed the trend: 57.7% of the 430 adults surveyed said they would consider green burial, and nearly 38% ranked it as their first or second choice for their own end-of-life arrangements.
This demand is driving real change in the funeral industry. More cemeteries are adding green burial sections, more funeral homes are offering natural options, and several states have updated regulations to make home funerals and green burials easier to arrange. The number of certified green cemeteries has grown steadily over the past decade, though availability still varies widely by region. Urban areas and the coasts tend to have more options than rural or inland communities.
How to Plan One
If you’re considering natural burial for yourself or a family member, the practical steps are simpler than you might expect. Start by locating a cemetery that accepts green burials in your area. The Green Burial Council maintains a directory of certified cemeteries and providers. Check whether your state has specific requirements for unembalmed remains, particularly around timing and transport.
You can work with a funeral home that offers green services, or in most states, families can handle the entire process themselves: caring for the body at home, obtaining the death certificate and burial permit, and transporting the body to the cemetery. A funeral director is not legally required in the majority of states, though a few do mandate professional involvement for certain steps. Putting your wishes in writing and discussing them with family ahead of time removes much of the guesswork and pressure that comes with making these decisions in the immediate aftermath of a death.