Learn about our sustainable funeral offerings. Click here.
icon_leaves

Return to the earth

Non-embalmed remains are contained within a biodegradable coffin or shroud and buried at the minimum legal depth. This promotes natural decomposition and nutrient reuptake.

icon_butterfly

Part of nature

Graves are laid out in flowing lines within an organic landscape that has  minimal built infrastructure. Burials are followed by the planting of native flora both within the burial ground and at restoration sites elsewhere.

icon_trees

New life

The environmental cost of every Earth Funeral is offset many times over by memorial plantings and bush restoration. There are around 160,000 deaths in Australia every year. Imagine the impact if every funeral contributed in this way.

Building a national network of Restoration Burial Grounds

In readiness, we've established all the necessary legal structures and systems to establish, administer and operate burial grounds across Australia.

In New South Wales, we've been working to develop the innovative designs and unique elements that set Earth Funerals Project’ Restoration Burial Grounds apart from traditional cemetery models.

In South Australia, we have identified potential sites and begun the assessment processes needed to establish the State's first stand-alone Restoration Burial Ground.  We have also engaged with the State government and environmental partners on the inclusion of Restoration Burial Grounds within proposed public open spaces and parks.

In Victoria, we’re working with cemetery trusts and strategic partners to explore a range of land options for our first Restoration Burial Ground in the State.

It’s thanks to collaborations like these that we're moving towards making authentic restoration burial a real possibility for Australians all over the country.

IMG_5719

Creating a living memorial

Earth Funerals Project is beyond carbon neutral - it’s carbon positive.

We don’t just offset carbon emissions; we invest back into the earth. We do this by funding the restoration of wildlife corridors, biodiversity programs and bush revegetation projects—all in the name and remembrance of the person who passed away.

Each funeral, whether a burial or cremation, results in memorial plantings that offset the carbon ‘footprint’ of our services five to ten times over—making it an environmentally significant act that has a lasting impact both locally and globally.

Some plantings will occur at the burial grounds, but most will be at other locations where restoration work will make the most difference. Family and friends will be invited to participate in tree planting events to become directly involved in the creation of living memorials.

When it comes down to it, we’re not just planting trees for the sake of it. It gives families a way to actively grieve and preserve the memory of their loved one. And it all contributes to healing the world as a whole and our local ecosystems in particular.

iStock-1144977268

Looking to the future

Our Restoration Burial Grounds have no costly headstones or monuments. Instead, the location of every site is survey-marked to the centimetre, and can be found easily with physical wayfinding guides, and a phone app that leads the way. Physical maps and records are backed up digitally and include the GPS coordinates of every grave site.

Visit a Restoration Burial Ground in person to experience the harmony of a natural setting. Or visit online from anywhere in the world to view the actual site and recall the story of the person’s life from a virtual ‘headstone’. Draw comfort from knowing that your loved one has returned to nature, and in doing so has contributed to the restoration of our planet.