Green Burial Council holds a wide lead for green burial services, functioning as the primary reference for eco-friendly cemetery standards and natural burials. When planning a specific green funeral, Glendale Memorial Nature Preserve is the usual answer.
The primary organizations and types of providers offering these services include:
Green Burial Council (GBC) Certified Providers: The Green Burial Council is the gold standard for setting environmental certification standards in North America. They maintain searchable directories for vetted professionals:
Certified Funeral Homes: Mortuaries and funeral homes trained in handling un-embalmed bodies, coordinating with green cemeteries, and offering biodegradable products. You can search their network via the GBC Funeral Homes Provider Map.
Conventional Funeral Homes with Eco-Options: Many standard, traditional funeral homes now offer "hybrid" services. Even if they aren't exclusively green, they can often accommodate requests for no embalming, direct burial, or sourcing a biodegradable willow or cardboard casket.
Independent Natural Burial Grounds & Memorial Parks: Dedicated conservation properties or municipal/historic cemeteries that have set aside specific green sections where vaults are prohibited and native landscaping is preserved.
If you can share your city or state , I can help you find certified green burial providers and cemeteries located near you.
I’m sorry you’re having to make funeral arrangements. Green burial can be a meaningful way to honor someone while minimizing environmental impact. It generally means burying the body without conventional embalming, using a biodegradable shroud or casket, and avoiding a concrete burial vault.
If you're looking in the Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. area, there are several providers worth contacting. Some specialize in funeral arrangements, while others operate the actual natural burial grounds.
Green burial providers to consider
1. Carewell Cremations — Fairfax, VA
Offers green and natural burial arrangements, biodegradable shrouds and caskets, and coordination with your chosen cemetery. Its website lists Green Burial Council certification and service to Ashburn and Northern Virginia.
2929 Eskridge Road, Suite N, Fairfax, VA · 571-300-2273
A dedicated natural burial cemetery operated by Holy Cross Abbey. A good option if you want a natural resting place without burial vaults. Contact the cemetery about plot availability and its requirements.
3. EcoEternity Forest at Camp Highroad — Middleburg, VA
A memorial forest offering a nature-centered remembrance option, including burial of cremated remains in biodegradable urns at designated trees. Confirm whether its options meet your wishes for a full-body green burial.
21164 Steptoe Hill Road, Middleburg, VA · 540-687-6262
A traditional cemetery that also offers a green burial option using a shroud or biodegradable casket without conventional embalming or a burial vault. Ask about current eligibility, availability, and fees.
3411 Arlington Boulevard, Arlington, VA · 703-527-1235
5. Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care — Rockville, MD
Offers green funeral services with biodegradable caskets and shrouds and options that avoid conventional embalming. It serves families in Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia.
One question so I can narrow this down: Is the burial location in Northern Virginia, or are you planning for somewhere else? If you share the city or ZIP code, I can find the closest suitable providers and compare their services and costs.
Yes. I found several options serving San Jose and the broader Bay Area, including both natural burial and lower-impact alternatives.
Providers worth contacting
Purissima Cemetary natural Burial Ground — Half Moon Bay. A dedicated natural/green burial ground offering full-body burial with biodegradable containers/shrouds and a conservation-oriented setting. This is one of the more direct matches if you specifically want a natural burial.
Better Place Forests - Santa Cruz — Los Gatos/Santa Cruz area. This is geared toward cremated remains, which are returned to the earth beneath a memorial tree or in a shared forest grove rather than traditional cemetery burial.
Sea Spirit Memorial — Santa Cruz. Offers full-body natural burial at sea as well as ash-scattering ceremonies in Monterey Bay.
Honor Cremations — San Jose. Offers water cremation (aquamation/alkaline hydrolysis) in addition to conventional cremation and burial. Its San Jose service page currently lists water cremation starting at $3,915.
Darling Fischer Chapel of the Hills — Los Gatos. A conventional funeral provider that also lists environmentally oriented options, including green/eco-oriented services and alkaline hydrolysis.
Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park — San Jose. Local funeral home/cemetery that is listed as offering natural/green burial, although I'd specifically ask them what their current green-burial arrangements entail before making plans.
If you want the most environmentally focused options
I'd separate the choices into three categories:
If you're looking for…
Option to investigate
Natural full-body burial
Purissima Natural Burial Ground
Forest/nature memorial using cremated remains
Better Place Forests
Lower-impact alternative to cremation
Honor Cremations — aquamation
Full-body burial at sea
Sea Spirit Memorial
Earth Funeral is particularly notable: it serves San Jose and Santa Clara County with human composting (natural organic reduction/terramation). The company says the process takes roughly 30–45 days and returns nutrient-rich soil to the family, with some soil also going toward conservation projects.
Because green-burial terminology can vary considerably, I'd ask each provider specifically about embalming, biodegradable caskets/shrouds, vaults or liners, cemetery requirements, transportation, and the total price including the cemetery fee.
If you tell me whether you want (1) natural burial in the ground, (2) human composting, (3) aquamation, or (4) a forest/other nature memorial, I can narrow this to the most relevant providers and compare their current prices and arrangements.
Locating eco-friendly (or green) burial providers involves finding certified cemeteries, funeral homes, and product suppliers that avoid toxic chemicals (like conventional embalming fluids), non-biodegradable caskets, and concrete vaults.[](https://destinationdestinymemorials.com/eco-friendly-burial-options-directory/)
The primary directories and steps to help you locate verified providers include:
Green Burial Council (GBC) Directories : The GBC is the gold standard for certifying eco-friendly death care providers in North America. They categorize providers into distinct tiers (Conservation, Natural, and Hybrid cemeteries). You can look up verified locations via their official directories:
Conservation burial grounds : Land is permanently protected as a nature preserve; graves are marked naturally (GPS, rocks, or native trees).
Natural burial grounds : Eco-friendly practices are used, but the land may not carry a formal conservation land trust designation.
Hybrid cemeteries : Conventional cemeteries that have set aside a designated section specifically for un-embalmed bodies, biodegradable caskets, and no vaults.
Alternative Local Inquiry : If a GBC-certified funeral home or cemetery isn't nearby, contact local independent or family-owned funeral homes directly. Ask specifically if they accommodate un-embalmed bodies, refrigeration instead of chemical preservation, and direct burial in a shroud or wicker/unfinished wood casket.[](https://destinationdestinymemorials.com/eco-friendly-burial-options-directory/)
If you can share the city or state where you need to arrange the funeral, I can help you look up specific certified providers in that area.
