Green burial is simply a way to bury our loved ones with minimal impact on the earth.
It is how people have been buried for centuries, and around the world, where family and community members are active participants in returning a loved one to the earth.
Bodies are not embalmed, nor encased in metal caskets, nor concrete vaults. They are simply returned to a place of rest in the earth, with biodegradable materials such as a pine box, a cloth shroud, a favorite quilt, or nothing at all. Their burial site is recorded just as in any other cemetery, and family and friends can return to visit their site whenever needed.
This is how people have been buried for centuries. Green burial is a common practice around the world.
Conservation Cemeteries and Burial Grounds
Conservation cemeteries and burial grounds are green burial sites with permanent protections, called conservation easements, placed upon them. Conservation easements are voluntary, legal agreements between a landowner and a land trust (or government agency) that permanently limits the uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values.
Conservation cemeteries are found throughout the United States, frequently in relationship with land trusts or other conservation organizations.
A conservation burial ground looks and feels like the natural area that surrounds it. Where nature is enough.
