The GBC was founded in 2005 by Joe Sehee to ensure that consumers would be served by having verifiable standards for green funeral enterprises as the movement grew (see History)
There are two entities that make up the GBC: a certification 501(c)(6), and an educational 501(c)(3), all managed by volunteers (see intro to Board Members)
The certification wing engages independent, third-party experts to provide verification of standards for three types of cemeteries, funeral homes, and product manufacturers and distributors (see Our Standards)
The three types of cemeteries we certify are: hybrid, with an area within a conventional cemetery where burial occurs without a concrete vault, chemical embalming, and with a biodegradable container; natural, where all three elements are employed in a cemetery dedicated to natural burial; and conservation, where a land trust entity preserves land that is in part used for burial (see Green Burial Defined)
Please note that the total number of GBC-Certified cemeteries(see Cemeteries) and the total number of green burial cemeteries in the United States and Canada (see list here) is NOT the same thing
Educational work entails research and development of original materials (see GBC Publications), designing and offering a green funeral course to inform professionals about environmentally responsible funeral service(see Green Funeral Course), a curated collection of written and video resources (see Text and Audio-Visual), and providing opportunities for public and professional engagement (see Outreach Tools and Speakers Bureau)