Minimize the environmental impact
About Green Burial
Traditional burial with a coffin and especially with a vault uses 2.3 billion tons of concrete, 115 million tons of steel, and enough wood to be equivalent to 4 million acres of forest each year. In addition to reducing environmental impacts by not using these materials, green burial allows the body to return to the earth quickly. It eliminates the use of toxic embalming fluids and the burial of the metals in traditional caskets. Instead of being embalmed, the body may be washed and prepared, then wrapped in a sheet of simple fabric (often called a shroud). Alternatively, green burial may also involve use of a biodegradable casket. Cardboard or wicker caskets are two examples of green caskets that many people choose.
During a green shroud burial, we hand-dig our graves with a built-in earthen ‘niche’ that acts as a natural coffin. After digging 2.5 feet down we create a ledge that acts as both footing for family and friends who may wish to lower their loved one into the ground as well as a platform to support wooden boards that are laid across the ledge. In this way, the body is beneath the boards and no soil is directly placed onto the body. Instead, the body lies below the boards in a rectangular earthen ‘coffin.’ However, if loved ones desire this, the soil can go directly onto the body instead. Natural items may be placed in the grave with the body, for example, rose petals or other flowers. Shovels are available so that family and friends can fill the grave if they should wish.