Options for Green Burial
Green Burial Council established and set standards in the three categories of hybrid cemetery, natural cemetery, and conservation cemetery
https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/our_standards.html
Environmental Impact of Conventional Burial
Statistics – Mary Woodsen
https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/media_packet.html
Benefits of Natural Burial
Photograph by Ramsey Creek Preserve, Westminster, SC
https://www.memorialecosystems.com
Green Burial Supplies
Funerary Artisans Collective
Find eco-friendly funeral containers and related products designed and made by cottage artists and craftspeople with locally-sourced native materials when possible using time-honored techniques.
https://www.funeraryartisanscollective.org
Green Burial Council Products
Funeral containers and related products are eligible for certification through Green Burial Council by companies and distributors who choose to do so.
https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/funeral_products.html
Maryland Arts Council Directory
Find a local Maryland artist or craftsperson to make caskets, shrouds, and other funeral containers and products.
https://www.msac.org
Nonprofit Organizations
The Funeral Consumers Alliance has been dedicated to protecting consumers’ right to choose a meaningful, dignified, and affordable funeral for over 30 years. The local Maryland affiliate has specific information for Maryland residents.
Funeral Consumer Alliance National https://funerals.org
Funeral Consumer Alliance Maryland Affiliate https://mdfunerals.org
The Green Burial Council has educational materials to help learn more about green burial and how to find certified cemetery stewards, funeral professionals, and funerary product sellers who share the commitment to create more sustainable after-death options for you, your community, and the planet.
Green Burial Council https://www.greenburialcouncil.org
The Conservation Burial Alliance is a group of conservation burial operators and those interested in promoting and developing sites that utilize burial on protected land as a way of saving land while increasing social and environmental access to natural spaces.
Conservation Burial Alliance https://www.conservationburialalliance.org
Coming soon! Funeral Partnership.org websites explain the law, the how-tos, and the fine points of funerals in each state, with particular emphasis on family-directed funerals in preparation for natural burials.
Maryland Funeral https://www.marylandfuneral.org
Books, Articles, Videos
Books
- Grave Matters by Mark Harris
- Greening Death by Suzanne Kelly
- Reimagining Death by Lucinda Herring
- Our Last Best Act by Mallory McDuff
- Changing Landscapes by Lee Webster
- The Natural Burial Cemetery Guide by Ann Hoffner
- The Green Burial Guidebook by Elizabeth Fournier
- The After-Death Care Educator Handbook by Lee Webster
- Final Rights by Carlson & Slocum
- The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford
- This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust
- Home Funeral Ceremonies by Donna Belk and Kateyanne Unullisi
Articles
Options for ‘green’ burials grow in Chesapeake region | Pollution & Solutions | bayjournal.com by Whitney Pipkin
Maryland’s First Green Cemetery to Open Next Month in Windsor, Baltimore Sun, November 29, 2022
Serenity Ridge Burial Cemetery and Arboretum, Baltimore Sun, November 28, 2022
Maryland family seeks to turn property into a new green graveyard in Baltimore County, by Taylor DeVille, November 7, 2021
Videos
Deeply Rooted, a film about conservation burial by the Conservation Burial Alliance, 2021
The Grave Realities of Graveyard Realty Equity, inclusion, and diversity in the conservation burial space with Carlos Gonzales of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, EBECC, 2022
Cremation Curious a short video that explores incomplete disposition processes, including flame cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, and natural organic reduction, Lee Webster, November 2022
The Natural Burial Experience takes a visitor through a typical green burial with photos and information to helpful as well as see, Lee Webster, October 2022
The Underground Truth About Vaults explains how grave liners came into being, Lee Webster, September 2022
Taking Back the Process: The Handmade Funeral of Loie Knowles, Jan Sturmann, 2019
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DISCLAIMER: This list of resources is provided as a public service only. Inclusion on this webpage does not constitute or imply an endorsement or indicate a financial exchange of any kind between the Green Burial Association of Maryland and those businesses listed. Any business conducted between a member of the public and a listed consultant is purely between the parties involved.
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Maryland Cemeteries
Baltimore Hebrew Belair Road Cemetery
Hybrid Cemetery
2100 Belair Road
Baltimore MD 21213
410-764-1587
www.baltimorehebrew.org/about/cemetery/
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Cemetery
Hybrid Cemetery
318 Berrymans Lane
Reisterstown MD 21136
410-764-1587
www.baltimorehebrew.org/about/cemetery/
Bestgate Memorial Park
Private Hybrid Cemetery
814 Bestgate Road
Annapolis MD 21401
410-841-6255
www.mdgreenburial.com
Chevrei Tzedek Cemetery
3101 Fallstaff Road
Baltimore MD 21209
443-992-7485
shalom@chevrei.org
Garden of Remembrance
Gan Zikaron Memorial Park
Hybrid Cemetery
14321 Comus Road
Clarksburg MD 20871
301-428-3000
www.gardenofremembrance.org
Mount Olivet Cemetery
Hybrid Cemetery
515 S. Market Street
Frederick MD 21701
301.662.1164
www.mountolivetcemeteryinc.com
Reflection Park
In progress
Silver Spring MD
413-840-6775
www.reflectionpark.org
Serenity Ridge Natural Burial Cemetery And Arboretum
Windsor Mill, MD 21244
410-419-3012
www.serenityridgemd.com
United Hebrew Cemetery
Hybrid Cemetery
3901 Washington Blvd.
Halethorpe MD 21227
410-242-1444
www.mmae.org/cemetery.html
Woodlawn Memorial Park
Hybrid Cemetery
11365 Ocean Gateway
Easton, MD 21601
410-822-4282
info@woodlawneaston.com
www.woodlawneaston.com
This widely-shared list from NH Funerals, Education & Advocacy consists of cemeteries and burial grounds that have been reported to provide natural burial options, including conservation preserves, natural burial grounds, hybrid cemeteries that allow some space for burial without a vault, and even a handful of known municipal cemeteries that simply do not require vaults that do not intentionally identify themselves as green.
https://www.nhfuneral.org/green-burial-cemeteries-in-the-us-and-canada.html
The Green Burial Council offers certification programs for burial grounds. Certification is awarded to providers that demonstrate compliance with the established Green Burial Council standards, designed to create sustainable practices in the funeral industry, and to preserve and steward land through burial. https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/cemeteries.html
Consumer Advocacy
Funeral Consumers Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting a consumer’s right to choose a meaningful, dignified, affordable funeral. Here is a link to the Maryland branch. The Funeral Consumers Alliance website lists local contacts in adjoining States.