What is GBC Certification?
The Green Burial Council offers certification programs for burial grounds, funeral homes, and products. Certification is awarded to providers that demonstrate compliance to the established Green Burial Council standards. Our standards are designed to create sustainable practices in the funeral industry and to preserve and steward land through burial.
Approved providers are granted permission to display the Green Burial Council logo on their website and pre-approved marketing materials. Approved providers are also listed on our website. Our website is a resource for consumers searching for providers that offer environmentally sustainable options.
As an approved provider with the Green Burial Council, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate:
Approved providers are granted permission to display the Green Burial Council logo on their website and pre-approved marketing materials. Approved providers are also listed on our website. Our website is a resource for consumers searching for providers that offer environmentally sustainable options.
As an approved provider with the Green Burial Council, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate:
- respect for families’ wishes
- commitment to worker safety
- support of green burial initiatives
- trust in maintaining verifiable standards
- dedication to protecting the environment
- participation in shaping the future of funeral service
- commitment to an ethic rooted in transparency, accountability, and ecological responsibility
Why Certification Matters
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What the GBC does is simple: we recognize the effort of each provider making significant changes that support the American public’s emerging ethic of environmental sensitivity that includes foregoing the use of toxic chemicals, expensive, resource and energy intensive caskets, concrete, fiberglass or plastic vaults.
This is mirrored by the GBC’s commitment to working with the industry, not against it, to improve practices and products that will meet the needs of Americans. We are interested in how to effect real change by providing a realistic, verifiable standards-based rating system so the public has a reliable measure when making environmentally sensitive and responsible funeral choices. |
Graveside service at Foxfield Preserve, Wilmot, Ohio
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The GBC makes sure that green burial means something. This is becoming increasingly important given the pervasiveness of greenwashing when “green package" offerings include items such as embalming fluid that contains toxic chemicals, caskets from manufacturers whose environmental claims are not backed up by material safety data sheets or life cycle analysis, and cemeteries claiming to offer green burial that won’t accept shrouds and require the use of burial vaults, inverted or otherwise.
The GBC is both a 501(c)3 (Education) and a 501(c) 6 (Certification) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization. The general public understands the nature and structure of nonprofits that foster trust, as opposed to a business or corporate-styled entity that self-certifies. We seek to honor that trust. By expanding efforts to educate the public, we are creating awareness that will lead to greater acceptance and demand for environmentally friendly choices.
The GBC is always there for providers and the public. We talk to our providers about ways to navigate uncharted territory to aid in providing this option to the public at no cost. We work with professionals in various fields to discover and facilitate sharing of best practices between our providers, policymakers, field experts, thought leaders and the public. We also spend a great deal of time providing information directly to the public through our website and outreach, as well as to individuals who come to us over the death of a loved one looking for green solutions to meet their needs and desires.
With GBC certification, you can expect greater public recognition of the GBC logo, which identifies you as a provider who is in alignment with the GBC’s standards, goals, and mission. The GBC seal is an increasingly powerful marketing tool and a way to connect to consumers who have a preference for using a nonprofit trust provider. At a time when the FTC is saying that consumers need to be skeptical about environmental claims (60% of which they say are empty or misleading), a seal of approval from a credible organization that uses verifiable standards is what distinguishes GBC providers from any others.
Most importantly, being a certified provider creates a credible opportunity for you to demonstrate leadership both in the funeral industry and in the environmental movement. With your support and participation in the GBC, you can be part of leading the challenging conversation about how best to serve the public that aims to make green burial economically viable, ecologically robust and psychologically and spiritually meaningful.
The GBC is both a 501(c)3 (Education) and a 501(c) 6 (Certification) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization. The general public understands the nature and structure of nonprofits that foster trust, as opposed to a business or corporate-styled entity that self-certifies. We seek to honor that trust. By expanding efforts to educate the public, we are creating awareness that will lead to greater acceptance and demand for environmentally friendly choices.
The GBC is always there for providers and the public. We talk to our providers about ways to navigate uncharted territory to aid in providing this option to the public at no cost. We work with professionals in various fields to discover and facilitate sharing of best practices between our providers, policymakers, field experts, thought leaders and the public. We also spend a great deal of time providing information directly to the public through our website and outreach, as well as to individuals who come to us over the death of a loved one looking for green solutions to meet their needs and desires.
With GBC certification, you can expect greater public recognition of the GBC logo, which identifies you as a provider who is in alignment with the GBC’s standards, goals, and mission. The GBC seal is an increasingly powerful marketing tool and a way to connect to consumers who have a preference for using a nonprofit trust provider. At a time when the FTC is saying that consumers need to be skeptical about environmental claims (60% of which they say are empty or misleading), a seal of approval from a credible organization that uses verifiable standards is what distinguishes GBC providers from any others.
Most importantly, being a certified provider creates a credible opportunity for you to demonstrate leadership both in the funeral industry and in the environmental movement. With your support and participation in the GBC, you can be part of leading the challenging conversation about how best to serve the public that aims to make green burial economically viable, ecologically robust and psychologically and spiritually meaningful.
Green Burial Council
2720 Cold Springs Road Placerville, CA 95667 888-966-3330 info@greenburialcouncil.org |
