Green Burial Options & Services

Unlike conventional burials, with green burial the body is interred directly in the earth, with no embalming, and sometimes with no headstone or other permanent marker. A green burial cemetery will not require that an outer burial container be used, but hybrid cemeteries may require a permeable grave liner. If a headstone is not used, records are kept by the green cemetery, and often GPS is used, to record the identity and location of the individuals buried in their land.

Green burial allows the body to naturally reduce over time, the nutrients contained in the body can be returned to the earth, and the carbon in the body is sequestered from the atmosphere by the land. In addition, this type of burial preserves greenspace, as the burial sites can be in approved natural areas or in grassy hybrid cemeteries.

In February 2023 Interra Green Burial by Mueller became the only green burial services provider in the state of Minnesota to be certified by the national Green Burial Council. Interra was also granted the National Funeral Directors’ Association’s Green Funeral Practices Award.

Once water cremation takes place, just like with flame cremation, the body has legally met the requirements for “final disposition” by the Minnesota Department of Health. These remains are then typically placed in an urn or other container and returned to the family.

To avoid cremated remains from being forgotten in a closet or abandoned when they are unexpectedly inherited, which really does happen, it is a good idea to create a plan for meaningful permanent memorialization.

Auqamated remains often find permanent memorialization by being interred in a cemetery plot or placed in a columbarium niche, scattered in a meaningful place, being solidified into stones, or being incorporated into a conservation preserve. As an example, Better Place Forests in Marine on St Croix, MN offers scattering under a personally dedicated tree in their lush, established forest.

For those who wish to have their cremated remains incorporated into a planting or say, “just turn me into a tree,” cremated remains are not comparable to soil, they are very alkaline and contain concentrations of salt. So the ashes would need to be chemically manipulated or greatly diluted with soil in order to actually sustain a plant or tree.

Matthews Environmental Solutions, a company which makes and sells cremation retorts, estimates that each traditional flame cremation produces an average of 534.6 pounds of carbon dioxide. The amount of carbon released in the form of CO2 is directly proportional to the amount of fuel used in the cremation process plus the 27% of the human body that is carbon.

So crematories which run efficiently and allow the retort to remain at a high temperature between cremations will likely have a lower CO2 output. But using Matthews calculation leads to an estimate that flame cremations in the United States create about 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Alkaline Hydrolysis (or water cremation) has no direct emission of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. The process does not use fossil fuels and is reported by the vessel’s manufacturer to create a 90% energy savings over traditional cremation.

Natural Organic Reduction, or NOR, is a natural means of disposition that has been in use for animals for a very long time, but is only recently being permitted for humans. The process is very similar to traditional composting, in that a human body is entered into a vessel with fibrous material, like wood chips and alfalfa hay, and allowed to naturally compost over a matter of months.

This process, which is backed by science from Washington State University, goes by many names. At WSU it is called natural organic reduction, it is also known as human composting, body composting, recompostion, terramation, and soil transformation.

Though each provider has a different means of delivering the desired result, the science is similar. Inside the enclosed vessel the aerobic bacteria that naturally exists in and on every human body begin the decomposition process. The sturdy fibrous material added ensures there are pockets of air for the desirable thermophilic (heat loving) bacteria to consume proteins and sugars. This large amount of microbial activity creates heat elevating the temperature to the desired 131 degrees Fahrenheit. Gentle, intentional turning of the vessel allows for continued aeration and to keep the temperature in the desired range of 131 to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

The amount of time it takes to compost tissue depends on the size of the person and the NOR provider, but most processes take about 8-16 weeks. Recomposition produces roughly one cubic yard of nutrient-rich compost very suitable for planting. Families can choose to claim either all or some of the resulting compost material, and in the case of our partners in Washington, any remaining compost will be donated to their nearby Woodland property where they revitalize local flora.

As of early 2023, terramation is currently permitted in only six states, with roughly 15 additional states currently making efforts to legalize it, Minnesota is one of the states working on legalization.

Human composting is not yet legal in Minnesota, but transporting a body to a state where it is legal is absolutely possible. Interra Green Burial by Mueller Memorial has relationships with body composting facilities in Washington state and can manage the care and transportation of unembalmed human remains to Return Home Green Funeral Home in Auburn, WA for terramation composting.

There are several reasons why people are increasingly choosing green funerals and alternative forms of disposition, such as green burial, aquamation, or terramation.

• Environmental concerns: Many people are concerned about the impact that traditional burial practices have on the environment, particularly the use of embalming chemicals and non-biodegradable caskets and burial vaults. Green funerals and alternative forms of disposition minimize the environmental impact by using natural, biodegradable materials.
• Personal values: For some people, a green funeral or alternative form of disposition aligns with their personal values and beliefs about the natural cycle of life and death.
• Cultural and religious traditions: Some cultures and religions have long-standing traditions of natural burial practices, such as shrouding the body and burying it directly in the earth. Green funerals and alternative forms of disposition can be seen as a way to honor these traditions.
• Comfort with the process: For some people, the idea of a more natural, less invasive form of disposition can be more comforting and less intimidating than traditional funeral practices.

Overall, the growing interest in green funerals and alternative forms of disposition reflects a growing awareness of the impact that our choices have on the environment, as well as a desire to honor personal values, traditions, and beliefs about death and dying.