The Green Burial Guidebook: Everything You Need to Plan an Affordable, Environmentally Friendly Burial

136 Pages·2018·4.55 MB·English

by  Elizabeth Fournier

Praise for The Green Burial Guidebook
“The landscape of death care is shifting, and Elizabeth Fournier is a wonderful
guide. She brings us gently through green burials, home funerals, and more.
The Green Burial Guidebook is essential for anyone planning for a sustainable
death-care experience.”
— Katrina Spade, founder of Recompose
“The Green Burial Guidebook is an engaging primer for first-timers looking to
understand the fundamentals of the rapidly changing world of end-of-life and
after-death care practices and possibilities. Through firsthand stories and
insider savvy, Elizabeth Fournier has laid out some of the most doable,
practical steps, choices, and skills you will need for planning your final affair.
Thoughtful, well organized, and easy to take in.”
— Lee Webster, home funeral and green burial advocate and editor of
Changing Landscapes: Exploring the Growth of Ethical, Compassionate, and
Environmentally Sustainable Green Funeral Service
“Elizabeth Fournier continues to help change the landscape of death care as we
know it today. A wonderful guide for the layperson and funeral professional
alike, The Green Burial Guidebook is a comprehensive treasure trove of
information and personal experiences. It sheds light on the cemetery industry
and the grassroots movement that seeks to return after-death care to what it
used to be: families lovingly caring for their deceased in a final act of kindness.
Bravo!”
— Ed Bixby, president of the Green Burial Council and owner of Steelmantown
Cemetery and Purissima Natural Burial Grounds
“Elizabeth Fournier introduces The Green Burial Guidebook as a ‘simple,
straightforward guide,’ and it is — but it’s also much more. This book is
lovely, thoughtful, and beautifully crafted, and Fournier is the gracious guide at
your side. She walks you through what it takes to make a loved one’s green
burial both uplifting and down-to-earth. The what, when, where, why, who, and
how? She’s got them covered. Read The Green Burial Guidebook not only for
all you’ll learn but for the message of hope and joy it brings.”
— Mary Woodsen, founding president of Greensprings Natural Cemetery
Preserve and advisory board member of the Green Burial Council
“A straightforward handbook on more sustainable and meaningful death care in
the United States and how to plan for it.”
— Suzanne Kelly, PhD, author of Greening Death: Reclaiming Burial
Practices and Restoring Our Tie to the Earth
“Elizabeth Fournier’s Green Burial Guidebook will change the way you think
about death. The book is an informative and consoling read, offering tips and
tools that will endure through the years. Fournier speaks with candor and
kindness, as if she were seated right beside us at our kitchen table. She teaches
about the realities and sacred possibilities in green burial, offering a life-
affirming guide for those who wish to have a deeper connection to the earth, to
the natural processes of life and death, and to their beloveds.”
— Lisa Smartt, author of Words at the Threshold and founder of the Final
Words Project (www.finalwordsproject.org)
“The Green Burial Guidebook speaks to one of the deepest responsibilities of
being human: caring for and burying our dead. This friendly guide will help
you consider how your approach to death can be kinder to the earth and leave
your community stronger.”
— Holly Pruett, life-cycle celebrant, home funeral guide, and Death Talk
Project founder (www.hollypruettcelebrant.com and www.deathtalkproject.com)
“Truly everything you need to plan a green send-off. A lively, informative, and
uplifting book.”
— Mark Harris, author of Grave Matters: A Journey through the Modern
Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial

New World Library
14 Pamaron Way
Novato, California 94949
Copyright © 2018 by Elizabeth Fournier All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or
in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical,
or other — without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief
passages in a review.
The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of legal advice from a
licensed attorney.
Text design by Tona Pearce Myers Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.
First printing, May 2018
ISBN 978-1-60868-523-3
Ebook ISBN 978-1-60868-524-0
Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper
New World Library is proud to be a Gold Certified Environmentally Responsible Publisher. Publisher
certification awarded by Green Press Initiative. www.greenpressinitiative.org
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In loving remembrance of my gentle parents who shine their light on me from
above. I am truly nothing without you.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Part 1. What Is Green Burial?
Chapter 1. Green Burial, the Funeral Industry, and the Environment
Chapter 2. Green Burial Practices: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Part 2. A Guide to Green Burials
Chapter 3. Making a Plan: Green Burials and Home Funerals
Chapter 4. Legalities to Consider
Chapter 5. It Takes a Village: Getting Help and Hiring Professionals
Chapter 6. A Place to Rest: Green Cemeteries and Backyard Burials
Chapter 7. Green Burial Containers: Handmade Caskets and Shrouds
Chapter 8. Green Embalming and Handling the Body
Chapter 9. Conducting a Home Funeral or Green Burial
Chapter 10. Cremation
Chapter 11. A Green Goodbye: Memorials and Mementos
Acknowledgments
Endnotes
Resources
Green Burial Grounds in the United States and Canada
Index
About the Author