A green burial is a way of burying a body that allows it to decompose naturally, without embalming chemicals, metal caskets, or concrete vaults. The body is placed in a biodegradable container or simple cloth shroud and buried at a shallower depth than conventional graves, typically about 3.5 feet, so it can return to the soil through natural processes. The average cost is around $2,597, compared to roughly $9,995 for a traditional funeral with a viewing, burial, and vault.
How Green Burial Differs From Traditional Burial
Traditional burials in the United States put enormous amounts of manufactured material into the ground each year: more than 4 million gallons of embalming fluid, 64,000 tons of steel, and 1.6 million tons of concrete. The embalming fluid contains formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, which is injected into the body to slow decomposition for viewing. The steel goes into caskets. The concrete goes into burial vaults, the large boxes that line most cemetery graves to prevent the ground from settling.
Green burial eliminates all of that. No embalming. No metal or hardwood caskets. No concrete vault lining the grave. The goal is to let the body break down as it would in nature, returning nutrients to the surrounding soil rather than sealing them away in a waterproof box inside a concrete shell. Concrete production alone accounts for 4 to 8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, making even a single vault a meaningful piece of environmental impact for a one-time-use product.
What Happens to the Body
Without embalming, the body needs to be kept cool between death and burial. Cooling should begin within four to six hours of death for the best results. Families and funeral homes use several approaches: dry ice blocks placed beneath and on top of the body, reusable polymer refrigerant sheets, cooling vests, or simply keeping the room below 65 degrees with air conditioning. Dry ice placed underneath the body typically lasts about three days before needing replacement, while ice on top is usually changed once a day.
This cooling can preserve the body well enough for a home vigil or private viewing lasting several days, all without injecting any chemicals. Green Burial Council-certified funeral homes are required to offer visitation without embalming and to accommodate home vigils using these non-invasive methods.
Containers and Shrouds
The body is placed in something fully biodegradable. The most common options are woven caskets made from willow or seagrass, planks of bamboo shaped into a simple coffin, or a burial shroud, which is a large piece of cotton or bamboo cloth wrapped around the body. Cardboard caskets and sustainable timber boxes also qualify. Certified funeral homes must offer at least three approved biodegradable containers or shrouds on their price list.
For families who choose aquamation (a water-based cremation alternative), green burial urns made from sand, paper, or salt gradually dissolve when placed in water or buried, leaving nothing behind.
How Deep the Grave Is Dug
Green burial graves are shallower than conventional ones, and that’s by design. The ideal depth is 3.5 to 4 feet from the bottom of the grave to the soil surface. Most states require at least 2 feet of soil above the burial container, which means the grave is dug to about 3.5 feet and then covered with at least 18 inches of soil. This creates what’s called a “smell barrier” that prevents animals from detecting anything, while keeping the body close enough to the surface for oxygen, moisture, and soil organisms to do their work.
In a conventional burial, the concrete vault and sealed casket deliberately block this process. A green burial grave is designed to welcome it.
What Happens After Burial
Decomposition in soil is a continuous process that can take anywhere from weeks to years, depending on temperature, moisture, soil type, and the depth of the burial. In the first few days, bacteria already present inside the body begin breaking it down from within, many of them working without oxygen. Within 10 to 20 days, the body’s soft tissue is actively breaking down and fluids begin seeping into the surrounding soil, delivering nutrients directly into the ecosystem. Over the following months, remaining tissue dries and continues to decompose. In warm, well-aerated soil, the process moves much faster than in cold or waterlogged ground.
Green burial cemeteries are often designed as conservation land. Rather than manicured lawns with rows of granite headstones, they may look like meadows or woodlands. Graves are typically marked with native plants, flat stones, or GPS coordinates rather than traditional monuments. The idea is that the cemetery itself becomes a protected natural area.
Cost Breakdown
Green burial costs range from about $500 to $5,000, depending on location and how much service you want. The wide range reflects some basic choices. At the low end, you might use a simple shroud, skip a formal service, and bury in a natural cemetery with minimal fees. At the higher end, you’re paying for a woven casket, a graveside service led by a funeral director, and a plot in a dedicated green cemetery.
Either way, you’re saving significantly compared to the traditional route. The roughly $9,995 average for a conventional funeral includes embalming, a metal or hardwood casket, a concrete vault, and cemetery fees for opening and closing the grave with heavy equipment. Green burials cut out the most expensive line items entirely.
How to Find a Certified Provider
The Green Burial Council certifies funeral homes, cemeteries, and product manufacturers that meet specific environmental standards. A certified funeral home must list green burial as a main service option on its price list and website, with no language designed to steer you toward more expensive conventional options. It must offer body care without embalming, accommodate viewings without chemicals, and stock at least three biodegradable caskets or shrouds.
Not every funeral home advertising “green options” meets these standards. Some may offer a single biodegradable casket while still defaulting to embalming and vaults. Looking for Green Burial Council certification is the most reliable way to confirm a provider is genuinely set up for this type of service.
Other Eco-Friendly Alternatives
Green burial isn’t the only option for people looking to reduce the environmental footprint of death care. Two newer alternatives are gaining legal approval in more states.
Aquamation
Also called water cremation, this process places the body in a steel vessel filled with water and an alkaline solution, then heats it. High-temperature systems run at about 150°C under pressure and take 3 to 6 hours. Low-temperature systems operate just below 100°C and take up to 18 hours. The process breaks down all soft tissue, leaving only bone fragments, which are crushed and returned to the family like cremation ashes. Metal implants and dental work can be recovered and recycled.
Human Composting
Known formally as natural organic reduction, this places the body in a specialized vessel with wood chips, straw, and alfalfa. Over about 30 days, the mixture is turned and aerated while naturally generating enough heat to kill harmful bacteria. The resulting soil-like material is then removed and aerated for several more months before being returned to the family or used to enrich conservation land. The full process yields roughly a cubic yard of usable soil.
Both alternatives are legal in a growing number of states but not yet available everywhere. Green burial, by contrast, is legal in all 50 states, making it the most widely accessible eco-friendly option.