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What green burial is
In the plainest definition, a green burial means a person is buried in a container that can decompose, along with their remains, and return to the soil. Every part of it is as organic as possible. The body is not filled with embalming chemicals, and nothing is put in the ground that the earth can't take back.
It is how nearly everyone was buried for most of history. Four choices make it green:
1 · A biodegradable casket, or a shroud
Earth-friendly caskets are made from natural materials — bamboo, sea grass, banana leaves, even woven willow branches — and they are fully biodegradable. They break down to nothing, because they carry no traces of metal, toxic glue, plastic, or varnish.
And a casket isn't required at all. A person can simply be wrapped in a favorite unbleached, undyed cloth, a blanket, or a tapestry — and burial shrouds and wraps made for the purpose are sold as well.
2 · No burial vault or grave liner
A burial vault is the concrete or plastic box that surrounds a casket in the ground. Green cemeteries prohibit them entirely, and traditional cemeteries are beginning to drop the requirement. A green burial is designed to let the body return to the earth at the fastest rate possible — without a vault, that is exactly what happens.
3 · No embalming
Standard embalming fluid contains formaldehyde, a likely carcinogen that is hazardous to the environment and to the embalmer. Skipping it can mean a funeral happens a little more quickly — and there are honest alternatives for the days in between: refrigeration and dry ice preserve a body perfectly well for a moderate period, and we handle that here.
One fear worth retiring: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is clear that an average dead body is neither dangerous nor contagious.
4 · A green burial place
Ideally, the burial happens in a fully green burial ground — a place whose purpose includes caring for the land itself — or in the green section of a traditional cemetery, a hybrid arrangement many cemeteries now offer. Wisconsin has both kinds. Which places allow what is a conversation, and it changes — call us for the current picture and we will walk through the options near Eau Claire with you.
Questions families ask
Is this legal in Wisconsin?
Yes. No Wisconsin law requires embalming, and no law requires a burial vault — vaults are a cemetery's own rule, which is why the choice of cemetery matters. We handle the permits and paperwork either way.
Can we still have a funeral?
Yes — a visitation, a service at our chapel or your church, music, readings, all of it. Green describes how the burial is done, not whether people gather. The timing is a little quicker than an embalmed service, and we plan around that with you.
Can family take part?
Often, yes — carrying the casket or shroud, lowering it, even helping to fill the grave. Many families tell us those are the moments they remember most. It depends on the cemetery's rules, and we will sort out what is possible before the day.
What does it cost?
Usually less than a conventional burial: no vault to buy, a simpler casket, no embalming. The cemetery's charges are its own. Call us and we will lay the whole figure out plainly, the way we do with everything.
Can this be planned ahead?
Yes, like any other plan — your wishes recorded with us, free, and funded ahead only if you want. Green burial wishes are exactly the kind a family is relieved to find written down.
Take it with you
Green burial, on one sheet
This page as a printed handout — the definition, the four choices, and the questions families ask. Download it, or pick one up at the funeral home.
Every kind of service
Green burial sits alongside everything else we do — traditional, cremation, memorial, and graveside services, all on one page.
Thinking about a greener goodbye?
Call us for more information — which cemeteries, what it costs, how the timing works. No pressure and no obligation; we would rather a family understand it fully and choose something else than wonder about it later.
Call (715) 832-1141 Contact Us