Resources

The GBC is the leading organization in the green burial movement. Founded in 2005, they’ve established the standards for the growing green burial movement, provide certifications to cemeteries and funeral homes, and are a wealth of knowledge and resources. With a team of experts from the fields of sustainable landscape design, restoration ecology, conservation management, law and consumer affairs, they developed the first set of environmental standards for green cemeteries and the funeral professionals and product manufacturers that support them. This is an excellent place to start for more information.

NHFREA is an organization founded to support informed funeral consumer choices ​through education and advocacy. The organization was founded and is led by Lee Webster, a pioneering voice in the green burial movement. Lee was the former President and Vice Chair of Education of the Green Burial Council, and was a six-year VP and President of the National Home Funeral Alliance. She is a founding member of the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization's End-of-Life Doula Council, and the Conservation Burial Alliance. And we’re lucky that she’s based in NH! Find her on Youtube and Vimeo to view her extensive video library.

The Funerary Artisans Collective is group of artists and craftspeople dedicated to making unique, responsibly sourced, eco-friendly funeral vessels using time honored techniques. They make and sell caskets, shrouds, urns, trays, and other specialty items for natural burial. And there are plenty of makers right here in New England!

In 2007, Joyce and her now late husband Peter opened their property to green burials, becoming the first green burial cemetery in New England. Cedar Brook is located in Limington, ME and is a simple and beautiful natural burial ground.

Spirit Sanctuary is a private burial ground in Essex, NY. They coordinate their burials with the care of a death doula and live their conservation values by offering a greatly discounted burial price for members who have remembered a conservation organization in their end-of-life financial planning.

The Life Forest is a unique and growing entity that has taken the popular dream of wanting to becoming a tree and turned it into a reality. This conservation cemetery pairs cremated ashes with a hand-picked, native tree and maintains the memorial arboretum with love. They’re located in Hillsboro, NH and just opened a new location in Auburn, ME.

Baldwin Hill Cemetery is a 10 acre conservation burial ground in Fayette, ME that’s a part of a 90 acre parcel of conservation land. They seek to provide ecologically sound burial to people of all faiths and serve as a model of conservation green burial practices in Maine and beyond.

Higher Ground is a conservation burial cemetery in Williamsville, VT and is a part a 223 acre wilderness sanctuary of forest and wetlands. Their passion for community has expanded to create a network that supports each other around the end of life, called Caring for our Own.

Vermont Forest Cemetery is a conservation burial ground in Roxbury, VT whose mission includes Burial, Conservation, Art, Learning and Community. This forest cemetery provides a place where people can return their bodies naturally to the ecosystem, making burial a final act of generosity and gratitude for the land that nurtured them in life & sustaining the planet for future generations.