Environmental Benefits

What are the environmental benefits associated with green burial?

Negative environmental impacts from chemicals, plastics, and metals are avoided. By eliminating the use of embalming fluid components such as formaldehyde, methanol, and benzene, worker health is safeguarded, and water quality is protected.
Not only are carbon emissions avoided, but carbon is sequestered in a green burial. While conventional burial produces an estimated 225 lb of carbon, and cremation produces 419 lb, green burial sequesters an estimated 25 lb of carbon.

The burial grounds are protected forever by a nonprofit land trust or government agency.
For Blazing Star Sanctuary, the Coastal Prairie Conservancy will ensure land is protected and managed as a natural area to provide critical wildlife habitat.
The natural burial grounds must be at least 20 acres, or 5 acres if contiguous to other protected lands.
The 7.7 acres of Blazing Star Sanctuary are contiguous to and part of the protected Katy Prairie Preserve, which encompasses over 19,000 acres.
The density may not exceed an average of 300 plots per acre, compared to 1000+/acre in a conventional cemetery.
At Blazing Star Sanctuary, the 1754 natural burial plots result in an average of 228 plots per acre.
Protocols must be in place to ensure ecological restoration and ecosystem health.
At Blazing Star Sanctuary, the land will be managed to restore tall grass prairie, including plantings of native wildflowers and grasses, prescribed fire, and other activities to support grassland health and biodiversity.

The coastal prairie is an imperiled ecosystem, and preservation and restoration of this land directly contributes to its conservation, supporting biodiversity by establishing a permanent refuge for grassland birds and other prairie species.
Deep roots from prairie grasses and wildflowers enhance soil health and increase water infiltration, helping mitigate flooding from severe storms.
While in-ground markers and precise GPS coordinates locate each grave, the lack of conventional headstones protects the wide-open landscape.
All proceeds support the restoration and management of Blazing Star Sanctuary and the non-profit conservation mission of the Coastal Prairie Conservancy.