Green Burial

Green burial or Natural Burial is the burying of a dead person in the earth in a manner that does not inhibit decomposition but allows the body to be naturally recycled. It is an alternative to contemporary Western burial methods and funerary customs and matches the methods used in many ancient and indigenous cultures.

The corpse may be prepared without chemicals or disinfectants such as embalming fluid, which destroy microbial decomposers that break the body down. It may be buried in a biodegradable coffin, casket, or shroud. The grave does not use a chamber or outer burial container that would prevent the body's contact with soil. The grave has to be shallow enough to allow microbial activity similar to that found in composting. Natural burials can take place on private land (subject to regulations) and in a cemetery that will accommodate the burial.

While all green burials seek to prevent environmental damage done by conventional techniques, some go a step further by using burial fees to acquire land to restore native habitat and save endangered species. Such land management techniques are called "conservation burials"^. In addition to restoration ecology, and habitat conservation projects, others have proposed alternative natural uses of the land such as sustainable agriculture and permaculture, to maintain the burial area in perpetuity. Natural burials also require digging the grave by hand to avoid using machines which would conflict with the natural pretext. Landscaping methods may accelerate or slow down the decomposition rate of bodies, depending on the soil system.

The first official conservation burial was established in the United States; however, natural burial grounds have been used previously in Europe and many other countries.