Yes. There are no laws prohibiting green or natural burials. However, you should be familiar with federal regulations and the respective laws of the states where a person may be buried naturally. “It`s almost exhausting at this point to argue with people in the industry about whether it`s good or bad,” she said. “You`ve taken a body that would have broken down naturally, you`ve put chemicals in it, and a big part of what`s left out is that most chemicals don`t stay in the body: they`re thrown down the drain when they`re left out of the body`s arterial system.” For a more conventional approach, there are many ways to ensure that your final arrangements are environmentally friendly. And with each option, there are many things to consider. Do you want to be buried in a designated place that your visitors know? Would you like to be cremated and have your ashes scattered? Would you like to have a traditional funeral, but do it through a green funeral home/cemetery? The specifics of a green burial vary greatly, but they usually require far fewer resources to care for the body and skip a number of traditional steps, making them better for the environment. In addition, they can save families money on funeral costs. Because funeral costs vary not only from state to state, but also from cemetery to cemetery, hybrid cemeteries — or those that offer both conventional and green burials — offer a balanced view of the financial aspect of death.
According to the Green Burial Council, a nonprofit that promotes environmentally sustainable euthanasia, most hybrid cemeteries report that graves intended for green burials cost “the same or a little less” than their conventional counterparts; After factoring in the cost of the vault, coffins and embalming, the savings offered by a green burial are “significant.” Some green burial plots are cheaper than conventional plots, but they still cost more than cremation. However, due to the cost of embalming, coffins and vaults, green burials are often cheaper than the total cost of a conventional burial. The cost of burial and burial ranges from $200 to $1,000 for cremated remains. Note that this fee does not include the cost of the cremation process itself, which averages $1,000 to $2,500 and is managed by a funeral home, morgue or crematorium. Be sure to buy multiple funeral homes to find a fair price. Keep in mind that you can save money by providing your own casket. Funeral homes are required by law to accept any appropriate funeral home at no additional cost. So-called “green caskets” can be useless and add thousands of dollars to the final bill. Buller, who manages the reservation in southern Washington, said she would like to see chaplains and hospice staff present a green burial as an option when talking to families about their end-of-life choices.
No state law requires the use of a casket for burial or cremation. When a grave is used, there is no inherent obligation to use a casket. A person can be buried directly in the ground, in a shroud or in a vault without a coffin. Natural burials do not use traditional embalming fluid. There are other chemical-free embalming oils that can be used instead if needed. These essential oils are broken down without leaving traces of chemicals in the soil. Natural burial promotes the restoration of poor land and allows for long-term reuse of land. Natural burial sections generally do not allow vertical monuments. Individual graves are marked with a flush mark on the head of the body. The marks can be a natural stone or a plaque, although they are not usually set with concrete. Some natural burial sites choose not to have physical markers, but rather to display GPS-recorded grave locations.
To preserve the pristine natural landscape and protect native plants and wildlife, most green cemeteries limit personal planting and commemorative decorations such as potted flowers, wreaths, flags, chimes, and balloons. The characteristics of a green burial vary, but most have several similarities aimed at reducing the environmental impact of end-of-life arrangements. In most cases, these burials use biodegradable, environmentally friendly storage materials and containers by avoiding: Freddie Johnson, executive director of Florida`s Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, said the cemetery doesn`t sell sites in advance, freeing it from state laws that would have required more than $250,000 upfront. However, this requirement makes it difficult for clients who cannot plan their funerals in advance. Many of our Simple Pine Box caskets, although intended for natural burial, are enclosed in concrete vaults in conventional cemeteries. Individuals often want to stay on their family properties and close to loved ones, but still want a “greener” burial. The 100 trees we plant for every casket we make help offset the carbon footprint of the vault in four years. “Most people know what green burial is,” said Lee Webster, who directs education for the Green Burial Council. “They just don`t know how to do it.” A hybrid cemetery is a conventional cemetery that provides the essential aspects of natural burial, either on the entire cemetery or in a specific section.
Hybrid cemeteries can obtain certification that does not require them to use vaults. This allows you to use any eco-friendly and biodegradable funeral container such as a shroud or soft wood casket. You need to choose a suitable green cemetery and make arrangements. You usually have 2 options. You can use the services of a funeral home that offers a green funeral services package. This would involve preparing the deceased without chemicals, providing a biodegradable casket and transporting the deceased for a simple burial in the cemetery of your choice. Cemeteries were poorly regulated until the late 1800s, experts say, when officials began adding rules primarily for consumer protection. The aim was to prevent fraudsters or ill-prepared operators from opening cemeteries that could later be abandoned. But regulations that establish best practices for conventional cemeteries often inhibit ecological burial practices. While no organization maintains a comprehensive database of all national and local cemetery laws, operators have no shortage of stories about the obstacles they have faced.
Some laws, for example, require paved roads to be burial sites. Others require cemetery fencing – both as opposed to the natural environments required for conservation cemeteries. The reason why others choose a green burial is in the name: it is ecological. Green burials remove both embalming chemicals and the cement, steel, or other superfluous non-biodegradable materials that conventional burials bring into the earth, and don`t have the carbon footprint of cremation equivalent to a 500-mile road trip. In short, the answer to the question “Is natural burial legal?” is yes. There are no laws prohibiting green or natural burials. The long answer is to familiarize yourself with federal and state laws. There is also no state law that dictates what a casket must be made of. A casket can be made of paper, cardboard, cotton, willow, banana leaves, felt, wood or any other [legally available] material. The only limit is our creativity.
Providing your own green casket instead of buying an expensive option from a funeral home saves a lot of money, but opting for a shroud and abandoning the casket altogether can further reduce costs. You can sew a shroud (or hire a tailor to make one for you at a reasonable price) or you can simply have your loved one wrapped in a favorite blanket or quilt made of natural materials like cotton or wool. Some states require a licensed funeral director to handle transportation, and some laws require refrigeration or embalming once a person has been dead for more than 24 hours. Proponents of green burial say families should be allowed to make arrangements themselves, and these laws are based on erroneous fears that the dead carry disease. In many places, local authorities may not grant green cemeteries the zoning permits they need or enact other regulations to block them. In 2008, commissioners in Mason-Bibb County, Georgia, passed an ordinance requiring watertight containers for burials after neighbors complained about a proposed green cemetery. Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, said it`s important for customers to know they can opt for green burial in many traditional cemeteries and save money by simply turning down options that aren`t green.