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Green Cemeteries in the Puget Sound Area
Washington state now has two cemeteries certified "green" by the Green Burial Council, a group formed to reform the deathcare industry regarding ecological issues. White Eagle Memorial Preserve near Goldendale, northeast of and across the Columbia River from The Dalles, Ore., opened as a green, conservation burial ground in July 2008. The Meadow in Ferndale, near Bellingham in Washington's northwest corner, was approved as a Hybrid Burial Ground in November 2008. The Meadow's developers boast sustainable burial methods including Earth-friendly excavation.
Green cemeteries do not allow embalming fluids, nonbiodegradable caskets, or permanent grave liners or vaults. Green cemeteries promote natural decomposition of a body. Conventional cemeteries frequently require grave liners or vaults to maintain ground stability.
Green cemeteries seek to preserve natural, unmussed landscape. Many such cemeteries let visitors use GPS tracking devices to locate remains of loved ones.
The Green Burial Council certifies three levels of burial grounds:
• Conservation burial ground is a green cemetery that partners with an established conservation group, holds a conservation easement on the property, and operates on principles of restoration ecology.
• Natural burial ground is a green cemetery that must engage in restoration planning and land stewardship. It needn't hold a conservation easement but it must use deed restrictions or covenants that keep the land as a green cemetery.
• Hybrid burial ground combines conventional practices with green aspirations. In some instances, this means vaultless burials. In other cases, land-use principles come into play.
WELCOME White Eagle Memorial Preserve!
Washington State's first Green Conservation Burial Ground
Goldendale, Washington 
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WELCOME The Meadow at Greenacres Natural Burial Ground!
Washington State's first Hybrid Burial Ground
Ferndale, Washington
