What is a natural burial?

A natural burial is possibly the best way to give back to the Earth after a lifetime of taking from her. It is a choice that people make who care about our planet and our individual impact upon it.

Firstly, a natural burial begins with how your body is prepared. Anyone who is embalmed is filled with toxic chemicals, so therefore they would be polluting the earth with those chemicals, so the more naturally we are prepared, the better for returning to the earth. Finding a funeral home that will naturally prepare your body by simply washing and dressing you, or leaving you as you died, is the most natural way a body can be enter the earth.

Next, in choosing the vessel you will be buried in, to have a completely natural burial the coffin must be made of eco-friendly material such as cardboard or wicker with no plastic lining. The other option is to be buried in a shroud, which is a piece of material made of natural fibres such as calico or cotton. The body is wrapped in the shroud and placed onto a shrouding board made of wood. The shrouding board may be left in the burial plot or taken after the body is placed in the plot.

A natural burial plot is not as deep as a normal burial plot. Usually the depth is one metre from the nose to the ground level, so the plot is usually dug at 1.5 metres deep. The reason for this is that the body breaks down as nutrients for the earth more readily at this level.

Now, where can you be buried naturally? This will depend on where you live as there are different rules in different places. Some places are lucky enough to have devoted natural burial grounds, but they are currently rare as hens teeth unfortunately. Hopefully this will change as the demand for natural burials increases. Some cemeteries have dedicated areas of their sites where they allow natural burials. Another option is to have a private land burial. For a private land burial you need to check with your council whether this is available to you, and then adhere to whatever rules and regulations there are in your area regarding being buried on your own property.