The Centre for Natural Burial

Peaceful Islands of Biodiversity
By Mark Wexler, National Wildlife Federation
Cemeteries often provide ideal habitat for wildlife, particularly in urban areas; some also serve as vital links to the nation’s ecological past
IN THE SHADOW of Mt. Tamalpais, more than 150 graves lie scattered across a windswept hillside in Marin County, California. Though the hill makes up a […]

Some cemeteries are requiring eco-friendly burials, including such things as biodegradable caskets.
By David Colker, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
It’s the ultimate recycling.
With environmental matters getting ever more popular in life, it was only a matter of time before they spread to death too.

When It Comes to Honoring the Dead, If It’s Not ‘Dangerous or Illegal,’
Tyler Cassity Will Do It
By John Berman and Sarah Rosenberg, ABC News
Imagine a burial with no casket or tombstone, incessant chanting, and no embalming. Such ceremonies are not only occurring in distant countries with distinctive cultures, but also in the great state of […]

More are choosing to be buried simply — without elaborate caskets or preparations — to lessen their final impact on the environment
By Cynthia Hubert - Bee Staff Writer
Hannah Wit once told her longtime boyfriend what should happen to her body after her death.No toxic embalming fluid for preservation, she insisted. No fancy metal casket lined […]

A hands-on, spiritual facet of the green burial movement takes the funeral director and the funeral home out of the picture
By Bill Strubbe, Common Ground
Home funeral guide Jerrigrace Lyons, director/founder of Final Passages in Sebastopol, was the first to facilitate a green burial at Fernwood.

Green burial lets humans feed the daisies, not just push them up
By Jaye Christensen, Common Ground
Last year 22,500 cemeteries across the United States buried 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid, 104,272 tons of steel, 2,700 tons of copper and bronze, 30-plus million board feet of hardwoods and 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete.

Tyler Cassity puts new life back into the business of burial
David Ian Miller, The New York Observer
Tyler Cassity at Fernwood cemetery in Mill Valley. Photo … Tyler Cassity at Fernwood cemetery in Mill Valley. Photo … A green grave site at Fernwood cemetery in Mill Valley. P… Preparing for a green burial at Fernwood cemetery […]

The latest trend in undertaking gives new meaning to the term ‘dust to dust’
By Patricia Leigh Brown, The Sydney Morning Herald
TOMMY Odom’s remains lie on a steep, windswept hill at Fernwood Cemetery, New Jersey, beneath an oak sapling, a piece of petrified wood and a bundle of dried sage tied with a lavender ribbon. When […]

Fernwood Cemetery in Marin County now offers green burials.
By - 30 Minutes Bay Area, CBS-5 (San Francisco)
The green burial movement started in the United Kingdom where there are now about 150 sites. Dr. Billy Campbell founded the US’s first green burial cemetery in Westminster, SC. Opened in 1998, the Ramsey Creek Preserve now has had […]

By Patricia Leigh Brown, New York Times
MILL VALLEY, Calif. - Tommy Odom’s remains lie on a steep wind-swept hill at Forever Fernwood, beneath an oak sapling, a piece of petrified wood and a bundle of dried sage tied with a lavender ribbon.
When he died in a traffic accident last year, Mr. Odom, 41, became the […]