Eco-Friendly Caskets: Materials, Costs and How to Choose

An eco-friendly casket is a burial container made from natural, biodegradable materials, such as untreated wood, woven willow, bamboo, seagrass, cardboard or a mushroom-based material, with no metal or plastic. The Green Burial Council (GBC) says green burial means placing the body directly in the earth in a biodegradable container, with no embalming and no burial vault. One large online retailer listed pine caskets from $1,199 and woven caskets from $2,399 in September 2026.

The casket is only half of the picture. If the cemetery requires a concrete vault, the casket cannot return to the soil the way it was designed to, so choose the cemetery first.

What makes a casket eco-friendly?

There is no legal definition of "green" or "natural" on a casket label, so the word alone tells you little. The GBC says green burial containers are made from plant-derived, natural, animal or unfired earthen materials. In practice, that means you should look for:

• Natural materials only. Untreated wood, plant fibers, cardboard or a fungal material, not steel, copper, plastic or synthetic fabric.
• Safe finishes and glues. Ask what adhesives, stains, varnishes and liner fabrics were used. Natural-looking wood can still be sealed with a synthetic finish.
• No metal hardware. Rope or fabric handles and wooden pegs are common on green caskets.
• A third-party check. The GBC lists certified product providers for caskets, shrouds and urns on its burial products page. Certification is one way to test a marketing claim. Not every good product is certified, so you can also ask the maker for a written materials list.

What materials are used, and what do they cost?

Prices below come from one large online retailer's listings in September 2026 and are a snapshot, not a market average. Funeral homes price differently, and handmade or locally built caskets vary.

Two points are easy to miss. First, a green casket is not automatically cheaper than a conventional one, because the lowest-priced featured steel caskets at the same retailer sit in the same range. Second, the savings in green burial usually come from what you skip around the casket, such as a vault and embalming, not from the casket itself. See wicker and willow caskets, cardboard caskets and metal vs wood caskets for material-by-material detail.

Mushroom (mycelium) caskets

The Loop Living Cocoon is a mushroom-based casket, grown from mushroom material and hemp fibers in the Netherlands over about seven days. The maker says it biodegrades within 45 days in ideal soil conditions and is certified for natural burial, traditional burial and cremation. That 45-day figure is the company's own claim, and real decomposition depends on soil, moisture, climate and how the grave is prepared. Loop is listed among the GBC's certified casket providers, and the company is based in Delft, in the Netherlands. Ask Loop directly for current US pricing, delivery times and cemetery acceptance.

Shrouds and no casket at all

Many natural burial grounds accept a simple cloth shroud, often on a board or a carrier, instead of a casket. The GBC describes acceptable containers as caskets or shrouds made from natural materials. See the shroud burial guide if that appeals to you.

Will your cemetery accept an eco-friendly casket?

This is where most green burial plans succeed or fail. The FTC says that in most areas of the country state or local law does not require an outer burial container, but many cemeteries require one to keep the grave from settling. A cemetery can also set its own rules about containers, markers and grave depth.

The GBC certifies three kinds of green cemetery:

• Hybrid: a section within a conventional cemetery that allows natural burial with minimal extra requirements.
• Natural: land set aside only for natural burial, with ecological assessments and limits on sensitive areas.
• Conservation: land protected by conservation law, with stronger preservation and restoration rules.

Before you buy a casket, ask the cemetery:

1. Do you allow burial without a vault or grave liner?
2. Which containers do you accept: casket, shroud, or both?
3. Do you have rules on materials, such as no metal, or on finishes?
4. What are the marker rules and the depth requirements?

Use find a green burial cemetery, natural burial grounds and conservation cemeteries to look for options near you. For the vault question, see burial vaults explained and grave liner vs vault.

Embalming, viewings and green burial

The GBC says toxic embalming is not performed in green burial, and that embalming is rarely required by law and never legally necessary for a viewing. The FTC says no state law requires routine embalming for every death, and that refrigeration is often an acceptable alternative. Some cemeteries and religious traditions have their own timing rules, so ask. If you want a viewing or visitation, read viewing without embalming.

Can you cremate an eco-friendly casket?

Often, yes, if it is entirely combustible. The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) says a cremation container must be completely enclosed, rigid, leak resistant and combustible. It lists cardboard, particleboard, rental caskets, wooden caskets and polished wooden caskets as acceptable when combustible and non-toxic, and says metal caskets cannot be cremated. The FTC adds that no state or local law requires a casket for cremation, and funeral homes that offer cremation must make an alternative container available.

The crematory, not the casket seller, makes the final call, so confirm in writing before you buy. If a greener ending is your goal, cremation has its own footprint, which is covered in eco-friendly cremation.

Your rights when buying a casket

• Outside purchases. The FTC says a funeral provider cannot refuse to handle a casket you bought online, at a casket store or elsewhere, or charge a fee to do it. Read more in buying a casket online.
• Price information. Funeral homes must give you a casket price list before you see the actual caskets, so you can ask about lower-priced models that are not on display.
• No required extras. The FTC Funeral Rule bars funeral providers from requiring you to buy goods or services you do not want as a condition of getting the ones you do.
• No preservation promises. A funeral provider cannot claim that goods or services will delay the natural decomposition of remains for a long or indefinite time. Be wary of any seller that makes that claim about a casket.

How many people want green options?

The National Funeral Directors Association's 2025 Consumer Awareness and Preferences Report found that 61.4% of consumers said they would be interested in exploring green funeral options, up from 55.7% in 2021. Interest does not always turn into purchases. Availability, cemetery rules and cost all shape what families actually choose.

If you are comparing other low-impact options, natural organic reduction (human composting) does not use a casket in the same way, and its legal status varies by state. See where human composting is legal for the current picture, and the wider green burial guide.

What to do next

1. Decide between a casket and a shroud, and say so in writing in your funeral wishes.
2. Choose the cemetery first and get its container and vault rules in writing.
3. Ask for the funeral home's casket price list, and compare it with outside sellers who ship to the funeral home.
4. Check any "green" label against the maker's materials list or the GBC's certified provider list.
5. Check the casket's size and weight limit against the person's measurements. The casket sizing guide explains how.