As part of the estate planning process, you can make end‑of‑life choices that both reflect your values and do your loved ones a favor by making decisions ahead of time. “Green burial” is a growing natural burial movement that offers a sustainable alternative to conventional practices. For some people, reducing their final environmental impact in a big way feels like honoring themselves, their families, and the planet.
Why Green Burial Matters
Green burials typically omit chemical embalming, concrete vaults, and metal caskets, using biodegradable materials instead. They often cost significantly less, too.
An August 23, 2025 New York Times article highlights this shift (When I Go, I’m Going Green) and discusses a variety of different green methods of burial. The article features a Massachusetts family that purchased a green burial plot in a town cemetery that now exclusively offers eco-friendly burials. According to the Green Burial Council, the number of US cemeteries permitting green burials has grown to over 497 in the last decade. Most accommodate both conventional and green burial services.
For Oregonians and Washingtonians: Check out The Green Reaper in Boring, Oregon
For families in the Portland-Vancouver region, Elizabeth Fournier, known as The Green Reaper, offers a local and personal alternative. She operates Cornerstone Funeral Services in Boring, Oregon, just outside Portland. As a one‑woman funeral director, educator, and green burial advocate, Fournier specializes in sustainable, low‑impact funeral arrangements.
Fournier rejects unnecessary costs and chemicals. She helps families plan burials that allow the body to return naturally to the Earth, reflecting burial practices common in earlier generations. In her many appearances on podcasts and YouTube videos, she emphasizes authenticity, familial involvement, and environmental stewardship.
Why This Matters for Your Estate Plan
- Values-aligned: Green burials reflect environmental awareness and authenticity for clients who make these values central during their life.
- Local and personal: With providers like the Green Reaper, you can choose deeply personalized services. You can state your specific green burial wishes in your estate planning documents.
- Cost-effective: Eco-friendly burials often incur lower financial burden on families.
In the end, planning is a gift to your family. Regardless of what someone choses for themselves, be it a typical burial, cremation, or a green alternative, making your wishes known in advance as part of an effective estate plan eases the decisions your family needs to make at a time when they are grieving, time is limited, and conflict sometimes arises due to heightened emotional states. At Bridgeport Law Group, our trust or will-based estate plans include a document called “Disposition of Remains.” This document states, essentially: “this is who is in charge of my remains and this is what I’d like done with them.”
How we want our remains to be treated or disposed of may seem like too grim a topic for much thought during life. It certainly isn’t something most of us think much about. Many people do not feel urgency about estate planning in general. But, like creating a revocable living trust and other planning options, thoughtful planning for your legacy is a gift to you and your family, and in some cases, can also be a gift to the environment.