What is a green burial?
Green burials are designed to focus on reducing the environmental impacts on the earth by promoting simplicity and sustainability. Also called “natural burials,” all the materials used in this service, including the casket, shroud, and even the deceased’s clothing, are made up entirely out of biodegradable materials. Materials that are typically used in traditional burials, such as concrete vaults and grave liners, are not used. In lieu of a tombstone or monument, a communal boulder, plaque, garden, or fence is erected for memorialization. In some cases, an indigenous plant or rock can also be placed at the gravesite.
Graveside Service
$2595
Includes the following:
- Professional Services
- Basic Documentation
- Local Transfer from Place of Death
- Professional Staff Services
- Biodegradable Shroud or Casket
- Transportation to Green Burial *Location
*Within 100km radius.
Green Boutique
At Trinity Funeral Home, we have always offered traditional services that create meaningful experiences for our clients and their loved ones. Now, we are also offering a service that can help minimize the overall environmental impact we have on this planet.
Our green burial service aims to reduce the number of carbon emissions, toxins released, and waste produced. From caskets and urns made of biodegradable materials to a partnership with Edmonton’s only Green Cemetery, we hope to aid in maintaining the environment, conserving natural resources, and preserving our habitat for the benefit of those who come after us.
Why choose a Green Burial?
Aside from the goal of reducing our carbon footprint, green burials aim to make the burial process more sustainable and preserve our Edmonton greenspaces for future generations. Traditional services often use non-biodegradable grave liners and utilize toxic embalming fluids that seep into the earth and, in turn, harm the environment. This eco-friendly burial alternative is an excellent choice that gives back to Alberta by promoting cleaner options in order to preserve biodiversity and animal habitats.
While our Green Burial service is done without any traditional monuments to mark the site of your loved ones, the family of the deceased can visit the Green Cemetery site here in Edmonton as a park and commemorate the lives of those who have passed while also cherishing the land we are giving back to.
Think Green
The Green Burial Society of Canada defines green and natural burials by five simple principles:
No Embalming — In green burials, embalming is not done as the chemical agents used in this process are harmful to the environment. With that in mind, bodies that are not embalmed can still be prepared for burial and viewing in a dignified fashion.
Direct Earth Burial — The decedent is wrapped in biodegradable material, often a shroud, and interred directly into the Earth. There is also the option of using a locally-sourced and fully biodegradable casket or container.
Ecological Restoration and Conservation — Visitation to the Green Burial site is sensitively managed, such as staying on designated pathways, to ensure the peaceful cohabitation of wildlife and visitors wanting to commemorate loved ones. Preservation is a key component, as green burials aim to integrate gravesites into the natural ecosystem.
Communal Memorialization — Edmonton’s green burial site serves as a living memorialization to your loved one and everyone interred there; hence no individual decors or memorials are permitted.
Optimized Land Use — The site is designed to optimize land use to promote further natural sustainability and the environment it is located in.
For more information on Green Burials, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.
We also offer traditional burials
We understand how heart-rending and difficult planning a funeral can be; that is why our staff at Trinity Funeral Home strive to make the process as straightforward as possible so you and your family can be allowed the time needed to grieve.
Trinity offers traditional burial services for families wishing to uphold longstanding traditions, personal or cultural preferences, follow religious requirements, or adhere to financial budgets. Regardless of whether you are planning a traditional burial or want to memorialize your loved one with a green one, our staff at Trinity Funeral Home is here to support you every step of the way.
Get in touch with
Trinity Funeral Homes:
10530-116 Street
Edmonton, AB T5H3L7
Trinity Funeral Homes Provides Green
Burial services to the following
regions within Alberta:
Calgary
Edmonton
Red Deer
Lethbridge
Fort McMurray
Medicine Hat
Grand Praire
Airdrie
Spruce Grove
Lloydminster
Leduc
Okotoks
Cochrane
Fort Saskatchewan
Chestermere
Camrose
Beaumont
Stony Plain
Sylvan Lake
Brooks
Strathmore
High River
Wetaskiwin
Lacombe
Canmore
Don’t see your location here? Call us at 780-474-4663 or contact us to find out if we can service your area!
Frequently Asked Questions
A green burial is a funeral alternative where the aim is to lessen the environmental impact while laying your loved ones to rest. It is a sustainable and eco-friendly option that honours the land we are living on. According to the Green Burial Council, these burials meet the following criteria: caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact, aiding in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat.
Green burials are less expensive than traditional burials as they reduce the need for other services, such as embalming, gravesite preparation, and traditional site markers. Our green burial services start at $2295 and include the following services: professional graveside services, basic documentation, local transfer from place of death, professional staff services, biodegradable shroud or casket, and transportation to a green burial location within a 100 km radius.
Yes. A person can be directly interred in the earth, in a shroud, or in a vault without a casket. It is not illegal, as some assume, to be buried without a casket.
By choosing to purchase a green burial package, you will be able to minimize the impact on our environment by utilizing biodegradable and recycled materials and reducing your carbon footprint.
Following Chapter C-3 of the Alberta Cemeteries Act: “no person shall bury a dead human body in any place other than a cemetery in respect of which a final certificate of approval has been issued by the Director under this Act or the regulations”, our Green Burial service can only be done at a Green Burial location.
As green or natural burials aim to reduce carbon emissions, decedents who have been embalmed, cremated, or are in a non-biodegradable container cannot be interred in as part of the green burial service.