Natural Burial: How Death Can Support Life

What Is a Natural Burial?

Natural burial is growing in popularity due to its environmental benefits. There is increasing awareness that while cremation releases greenhouse gases, traditional burial creates a significantly larger carbon footprint. Chemicals used to preserve the body pollute the earth, and the use of unsustainable hardwoods, with non-biodegradable varnish, linings and fixtures, make standard coffins a less ecofriendly option than you might imagine.

If you are exploring more environmentally conscious funeral choices, our natural burial options can offer a gentle, sustainable alternative.

Why Natural Burial Is Better for the Environment

If you care about what you leave behind, a good alternative might be a natural burial. Being laid to rest in a coffin made from biodegradable materials such as willow or wicker, without the use of embalming chemicals, can actually be climate positive.

The process enables natural composition to take place as the body is returned to nature, supporting the growth of the plants and trees which surround the plot and the wider biodiversity.

Now Natural Burial Supports Mental Health and Grief

As well as being good for the planet, it’s also worth considering the benefits of a natural burial for the people we leave behind. Evidence strongly supports the positive impact that being in nature has on mental health, and there is no more significant time for this than when we are grieving. Our approach is rooted in supporting families through grief, offering care that continues beyond the funeral itself.

Being in the natural environment reminds us of the cyclic nature of life and the inevitability of death, from a systemic rather than an individualistic perspective. Its vastness encourages reflection on our place within a complex ecosystem - life is temporary, but the cycle continues. And as the seasons change, we are shown how decay can bring new life.

The Restorative Power of Natural Burial Grounds

Natural burial grounds can be situated within a forest or a wildflower meadow, and some are regenerative, creating an environment which is not only restorative for wildlife but grows more beautiful and wild as the years pass. These settings allow for fully personalised funerals that feel authentic, unhurried and free from convention.

Instead of visiting a graveyard, with its sombre atmosphere or oppressive reverence, natural burial grounds can offer opportunities for greater freedom and fewer social constraints. Children can play in the trees or meadows as insects buzz and birds sing. Rather than just reminding us of death, natural burial grounds also celebrate life.

The Physical Benefits of Being in Nature During Grief

Being out in nature has positive physiological effects, too. At a time of grief when we might feel like we want to hide away indoors, moving around actually helps us to process difficult emotions somatically. Movement can enhance endorphin and serotonin production, which makes us feel happier. Even light exercise reduces the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine, which can be over-produced in times of grief and have the potential to cause health problems. Just being in nature has evidenced benefits to heart health and the immune system.

Is Natural Burial Right for You?

So if the footprint you want to leave on the Earth is carbon-negative, and you’d like to encourage your loved ones out into nature when you’re gone, a natural burial might be right for you. If you’d like to explore this further, please talk to us about natural burial and we can guide you through some beautiful options in meadows, orchards or woodlands, so you can choose a suitable environment as your final resting place.

Natural burial is a practice that harks back to our ancestors, and it helps to protect the planet and its inhabitants for generations to come.