Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Burial and Cremation Options

Death is a forgone conclusion of life — it is one thing we all have in common. What remains to be decided, and where we each have the opportunity for personalization, is everything that comes after the last breath.

Once there were two conventional funerary methods: embalming followed by a casket burial and fire cremation. Now, a growing number of options for greener disposition — the final arrangements for a body after death — are available across the United States. Natural deathcare alternatives, like green burials and water cremation, make it possible to align our postmortem choices with the environmentally conscious values we live by.

“Natural deathcare, at its heart, offers disposition options that are gentler on the earth,” says mortician Angela Woosley, MA, the founder of Inspired Journeys, a full-service, woman-owned deathcare provider. “Often they’re options that have been around for millennia — far longer than embalming and wood-casket burials, which were developed during the Civil War era and popularized by funeral homes in the 1950s.”

“Green” can mean a lot of things, Woosley explains, and the primary consideration is finding options that feel right for you, whether you’re making decisions around postmortem care for yourself or for a loved one. From that starting point, she advises thinking about eco-friendly disposition options on a spectrum.

On one end of the spectrum is the modern, conventional burial: embalming through a process that uses a formaldehyde-based chemical solution to slow decomposition, followed by burial in a lacquered wood or metal casket placed within a concrete outer burial container or vault and topped off with a granite or bronze grave marker. This combination can preserve the body and ward off full decomposition for many years.

On the other end of the spectrum, “the gentlest disposition on the earth is to open a hole in the ground in a cemetery by hand and place the person’s naked body in the hole,” Woosley describes. “That would make Mother Nature’s job easiest.”

The options between these funerary poles are nearly endless and highly customizable according to personal preferences and familial, cultural, and religious expectations.

For Sarah Kerr, PhD, the founder of the Centre for Sacred Deathcare, the logistics of greening a death unravel from a central question: “How green do you want to be?”

“Navigating death well is about tending the needs of the soul — spirit, consciousness, that which is more than the physical — as well as the body,” says Kerr. “The soul is healed by beauty. It resonates with relationship. It is fed by meaning. Meaning is at the heart of all of this. We’re always looking for the choice that has the most meaning. In all my work with clients, when we go through the array of choices and they really start scanning the options for what has the most meaning, there’s kind of a penny drop.”

Being open to the possibilities within the realm of green burials requires a willingness to question what we think we know about death and dying. “The dominant materialist approach to the world says we pop into existence, live in a straight line, and pop out of nature,” Kerr says.

“But our bodies and souls are part of nature. We exist in cycles just like everything else in the cosmos. Our bodies are formed, we live in them, and they return to the earth. Recognizing this cyclical existence in how we attend to the disposition of our bodies is a way to put ourselves back into alignment with nature, instead of fighting against it with concrete vaults.”

Just as there is no perfect way to live a green life, there is no perfectly green death. The following guide explores a few ways to make your, or your loved one’s, disposition not just more eco-friendly but also more aligned with the rest of your, or their, life and values. As you explore your options, pay attention to what resonates — the penny drop, as Kerr puts it — and don’t be afraid to make your death your own by planning and talking about it ahead of time.

Natural Burial

For most of human history, what we now call green, or natural, burial was simply considered “burial.” When someone died, the family, community, or other custodians of the dead would dig a shallow hole in the earth and place the shrouded, unembalmed body inside. The process was simple, unintentionally eco-friendly, and meaningful — an integral religious and cultural practice that became marginalized by colonization and modernization.

Today, green burials are an alternative to embalming fluids and concrete vaults, prioritizing decomposition over preservation, which can wreak havoc on the environment. Each year, conventional funerals in the United States require an estimated 20 million board feet of casket wood, 64,500 tons of steel, 1.6 million tons of concrete for burial vaults, and 4 million gallons of embalming fluid, a carcinogen. By eliminating the need for these materials, natural burials are often more eco-friendly and less expensive than conventional ones.

Each year, conventional funerals in the United States require an estimated 20 million board feet of casket wood, 64,500 tons of steel, 1.6 million tons of concrete for burial vaults, and 4 million gallons of embalming fluid, a carcinogen.

Green burials tend to be shallower than most conventional burials, at 3 to 4 feet rather than 5 to 6 feet; the soil closer to the surface is more amenable to decomposition. It can take two to 20 years for the body and bones to fully decompose, depending on factors like soil type and bacterial and moisture content.

Notably, green burials are legal in every state — but not every cemetery allows them. (If a cemetery requires the purchase of a casket and vault, that is their policy rather than the law.)

Green burials can be performed at green cemeteries, legally designated family burial plots, and conservation burial grounds, which are protected via conservation easements that prohibit development of the land and, often, restore the land with native plants and community management.

However, just because green burial is legal throughout the United States doesn’t mean there is a green burial ground established everywhere yet. Find a green cemetery in the United States or Canada here. To locate a conservation burial ground, visit the Conservation Burial Alliance. To learn about starting a green burial in your community, the Green Burial Council offers talking points.

Water Cremation

Water cremation — also known as aquamation or alkaline hydrolysis — is an alternative to flame, or fire, cremation.

Like flame cremation, water cremation is a process that reduces human remains to bone fragments. But instead of flame, it uses water and an alkali solution of potassium hydroxide that, when heated, dissolves the body, leaving behind bone fragments and a sterile liquid. Alkaline hydrolysis accelerates the natural decomposition process from the decades required of a conventional casket burial to hours.

During the process, the remains are placed in an airtight capsule with alkalized water, and through gentle water flow, all organic material is broken down. When the process is complete, the bone remains are collected, dried, and processed before being returned to the family.

Environmentally speaking, it’s estimated that water cremation can cut energy use by 90 percent and greenhouse-gas emissions by 35 percent. (Flame cremation produces about 1.04 billion pounds of carbon dioxide each year in the United States.) The effluent is returned to wastewater for processing, so the water is not wasted.

Environmentally speaking, it’s estimated that water cremation can cut energy use by 90 percent and greenhouse-gas emissions by 35 percent.

From a financial perspective, water costs about the same or slightly more than flame cremation.

The aquamation process yields about 20 to 30 percent more ashes. These are typically white or tan, while the ashes from flame cremation are grayer in color.

Water cremation is legal in about half the states, and even where it is legal, few facilities offer the service, making access an ongoing issue.

As such, it’s worth noting that alkaline hydrolysis is the greener cremation option, but fire cremation is considered more eco-friendly than conventional burial. Moreover, there are environmentally conscious steps you can take to make fire cremation an even greener option. (Again, “green” exists on a spectrum.)

The Order of the Good Death, a nonprofit dedicated to “building a meaningful, eco-friendly, and equitable end of life,” offers the following tips to green your fire cremation:

• Choose the crematory closest to you that has the newest equipment.
• Buy carbon offsets yourself or find a funeral home that purchases these for every cremation.
• Don’t buy funeral products that insist they are going to make a tree out of the ashes. (Learn more in “Greenwashing in Deathcare” below.)

Human Composting

Natural organic reduction (NOR), also known as human composting, supercharges the process of going from human to dirt. It uses a system similar to backyard composting, relying on microbes, oxygen, and plant matter to transform human remains into soil that can support new life. This process was developed and first offered by Katrina Spade through the public-benefit corporation Recompose. As legalization spreads, other companies have also begun providing NOR services.

During NOR, a body is laid in a large, individual vessel with straw, wood chips, and other natural materials. The decomposing process generates heat exceeding 131 degrees F, which kills viruses, bacteria, and pathogens. It also stabilizes heavy metals rather than volatilizing them, or releasing them into the atmosphere. (Testing has shown that the compost resulting from NOR is well below Environmental Protection Agency limits for heavy metals.)

Microorganisms involved in the decomposition process break down the smelly gases into water and CO₂. In addition, biofilters and mechanical ventilation are used to aerate the process and ensure there is no smell.

The process to transform the whole body into soil, including bones and teeth, takes approximately eight to 12 weeks.

[The rich compost] can be divided among family members and used to nurture plants, trees, and home gardens. It can also be donated to conservation spaces for rehabilitation of natural habitats. Because it produces such a large amount of compost, the carbon offset is significant.

When complete, you’re left with about one cubic yard of rich compost — almost enough to fill a compact pickup truck bed — that is indistinguishable from other compost. It can be divided among family members and used to nurture plants, trees, and home gardens. It can also be donated to conservation spaces for rehabilitation of natural habitats. Because it produces such a large amount of compost, the carbon offset is significant.

Still, notes Woosley, human composting was not designed to be a substitute for green burial. “It was meant to be an alternative for densely populated areas where green burial is not possible,” she emphasizes. “Imagine dying in Manhattan — you would have to go hours to get to a place where green burial is possible. NOR is, at its best, an urban green-burial option.”

Human composting is currently available in 11 states, with legalization in a 12th — California — slated to go into effect in 2027. In the states where NOR is legal, human composting facilities are licensed, highly regulated, and run by professionals, just like a crematorium or funeral home.

Burial at Sea

For as long as humans have been sailing, people have been buried at sea. Today, this ancient practice is legal and available in the United States. While it is most often associated with naval branches of the military, anyone can be “buried” in federally approved waters if they follow the guidelines set out by the EPA under the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA) general permit.

Water burials of noncremated remains must take place at least three nautical miles from shore, in water that is at least 600 feet deep. The body is either placed in a weighted metal casket or shrouded in natural, biodegradable fabric weighted with stones, and then released from a boat to sink to the ocean floor. Cremated remains can be scattered with or without a biodegradable vessel in waters of any depth, as long as they’re taken three nautical miles from shore.

The MPRSA does not permit burial in rivers, lakes, or bays; if you want to legally scatter ashes in any of these bodies of water, check with your local officials. Additionally, the act does not permit floating pyres, so do not set a boat or other craft carrying a body on fire.

Burial at sea is considered an eco-friendly option if you don’t have to travel far to reach federally approved waters and you forgo embalming. It can also cost less than a conventional burial, especially if you have access to your own boat.

Greenwashing in Deathcare

As with any industry, “greenwashing” — the use of feel-good phrases or imagery that implies a product is good for the earth — is a legitimate concern in deathcare. Death tech, in particular, is a fascinating blend of promising innovation and clever marketing.

Mushroom burial suits and coffins, freeze-drying, burial pods, tree urns, memorial forests, reef-ball burials, ash-infused tattoo ink, lab-grown ash diamonds, and space burials are just a few examples of new, strange, technologically driven disposition options. (Many are still theoretical technologies and not yet available to consumers.)

“Different and unusual does not mean it’s green,” warns mortician Angela Woosley. “If you are concerned about greenwashing in your funeral options, I would simply ask: ‘Who benefits from this? Does this get me closer to the earth than putting a body in the hole in the ground?’”

If ecological soundness is fundamental to your decision-making process, “start with a hole in the ground and work your way back from that,” Woosley says. “You don’t need a tree capsule to become a tree. You don’t need a mushroom suit to become dirt. There are few products you need to purchase to get closer to Mother Earth. There are very few people you need to pay to get closer to being green.”

“Don’t buy funeral products that insist they are going to make a tree out of the ashes. For one thing, the tree doesn’t grow from the ashes because [the ashes] basically turn to cement when they get wet.”

According to The Order of the Good Death, a death-positive information clearinghouse, even the most green-sounding options are suspect: “Don’t buy funeral products that insist they are going to make a tree out of the ashes. For one thing, the tree doesn’t grow from the ashes because [the ashes] basically turn to cement when they get wet. Second, the product was most likely shipped, or needs to be shipped, to you, creating more of a carbon footprint.”

Moreover, Woosley adds that cremated remains are quite alkaline and have a high sodium content; adding cremains directly to the soil can stress the roots of your plant and hinder growth. (Burying cremains in a biodegradable urn or shroud and adding a neutralizing soil mix can help mitigate the environmental impact.)

Beyond greenwashing is the phenomenon of soul-washing. “As new options come into the market, they are often driven by capitalism rather than by soul,” says sacred deathcare guide Sarah Kerr.

“Just because a funeral home offers you something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good fit,” Kerr continues. “If you are going to have someone’s ashes shot as fireworks into space, or compressed into diamonds, or even saved in a locket, know that all of those things have spiritual significance. It’s really important to consider if that’s the spiritual impact you want. Don’t choose something just because it’s on the menu and appeals to some kind of quick knee-jerk response. ‘Wouldn’t that be cool?’ is not a reason to do it. Seek out a deep knowing that this is the right choice.”

What to Do With Cremains

Cremated remains, or cremains, are the byproduct of flame and water cremation. They’re composed mainly of crushed bone fragments as well as small amounts of salts and other minerals and, sometimes, pieces of metal.

Cremains are not the person whose body they once made up. And yet, for many of us, cremains are a connection to those we have lost.

“Cremation is a way to get the person back to you,” says mortician Angela Woosley. “It’s easier for us to conceptualize the loss. It can be a comfort.”

“Returning cremated remains to the earth — by scattering them over land or water, or burying them in a biodegradable urn or shroud — is the most natural thing you can do with them. But, Woosley notes, it can also be one of the most difficult acts for some people to take because of its perceived finality.

As a result, it’s common to want to use cremains to memorialize a person and our relationship to them.

If your loved one was an avid home cook, you might choose to keep their ashes in, say, an antique soup tureen. Or, if you do pottery, you might make a ceramic urn to hold their remains. You might want to wear their ashes in a devotion pendant. Or turn the remains into stones that you can carry with you for a time and eventually leave behind in natural spaces.

Other, sometimes exorbitantly expensive, options for cremains include: shooting a tiny amount of them into space, turning them into synthetic diamonds, swirling them into glass art, or incorporating them into tattoos or into a vinyl record.

“These options aren’t necessarily considered green, neither are they necessarily soul-healing,” says sacred deathcare guide Sarah Kerr. “What is important is to choose what is meaningful to you as you adjust to your loss.”

Still, Kerr says, there is no obligation to do anything with the cremains other than return them to the earth. “When we’re conceived, the elements of this dimension start to coalesce around us,” she says. “All our lives, these elements make and remake our bodies. When we die, it’s time for these elements to be returned to the land. The task of our survivors is to fulfill that contract — to put us back into circulation so we can become something else.”

New commercial options can get in the way of that.

Adds Kerr: “If people are not feeling ready to return ashes to the earth, that’s a sign that they may need support and resources and time … in order to get to the place where they can actually let go. Because the person is gone. Holding onto their physical remains can be an attempt to keep them close. Moving forward in grief means transforming your relationship with their physical remains.”

She’s not suggesting that anyone bypass their grief and force the process by disposing of their loved one’s cremains before they’re ready. “There are real reasons why you might not be able to let go yet,” Kerr says. “Ask yourself: How can I get what I need?

“You’ll know what feels true when you find it.”

More Resources

Green Burial Council

The GBC is an educational nonprofit that offers guidance on green burial and how to find certified cemetery stewards, funeral professionals, and funerary product sellers who share a commitment to sustainable after-death options. Visit the GBC at: https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/.

Funeral Consumers Alliance

The FCA is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering people to choose simple, meaningful, affordable after-death arrangements. Find information about sustainable burial options, financial assistance, state-by-state rights, and more. Learn more at: https://funerals.org/.

The Order of the Good Death

The Order of the Good Death is a nonprofit committed to building a meaningful, eco-friendly, and equitable end of life. Find information about alternative deathcare options, the death-positive movement, deathcare legislation, and end-of-life resources and support at: https://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/.