Green funerals and burials have fewer environmental impacts then regular funerals and burials. This refers to a number of options: funeral activities and transportation, embalming, donation to science, cremation or ground burial, container – none, shroud, casket or urn of natural materials, concrete use in grave, grave marker choice…
RESOURCES – These are simply resources not endorsements
Home Funerals
Final Passages, http://www.finalpassages.org/, based in Sebastopol, great resources and training for Green and Loving Family-Directed Home Funerals
Home Funeral Directory, http://homefuneraldirectory.com/
Green Cemeteries
So far research suggests there are only a few cemeteries in the Bay Area that offer green burials:
Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery , 707 823-7434
Pleasant Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary – green burials available – landscaping in progress, http://pleasanthillsmemorialpark.com, 707 823-5042
Fernwood Cemetery, Mill Valley, http://www.foreverfernwood.com
The Green Burial Council (GBC), http://www.greenburialcouncil.org/faqs-fiction/
GBC certified services: 12 in California – None listed are in Sonoma County
Articles:
Green Burials Reflect Shift To Care For The Body, Soul And Earth, By Lauren Markoe, Huffington Post, 01/26/2014
The Green Hereafter – How to leave an environmentally friendly corpse, By Nina Rastogi, Slate.Com, 2009, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/26/green-burials-_n_4654586.htmlhttp://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2009/02/the_green_hereafter.html
AARP Funeral and Burial Planners Survey, 2007, http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/consume/funeral_survey.pdf
Additional resources welcome!