A directory of certified green burial cemeteries is a good place to start, but it can’t tell you which cemeteries back up what they say. Every listing looks equally official, which makes it hard to tell who earned the label and who borrowed the language.
The good news is that you can check most of it yourself. Your kitchen table works for the first three steps, and one walk through the grounds finishes the job. We’re Serenity Ridge Natural Burial Cemetery, Maryland’s first 100% natural burial cemetery, and we’re certified by the Green Burial Council. We’ll use our own rules as an example, and you’re welcome to check us like anyone else.
What Can You Check Without Taking the Cemetery’s Word?
Four checks cover most of what a cemetery tells you, and none depends on its sales material. Here’s the order we’d follow:
- Certification, confirmed with the Green Burial Council
- Legal standing, confirmed with Maryland’s state cemetery office
- Written rules and contract, read at home
- Conditions on the ground, seen on a visit in autumn
Start with certification, since the other three checks matter much less if the label doesn’t hold up.
How Do You Confirm a Green Burial Cemetery Is Certified?
Look the cemetery up on the Green Burial Council’s map, then check that its materials name the same certification level. The council certifies at three levels, called hybrid, natural and conservation. Its standards also ask certified cemeteries to describe their earned level accurately in their marketing, on their websites, and in conversation.
Match the claim to the GBC provider map
Start by searching the council’s provider map for the cemetery’s name. A certified cemetery should appear there, and if one calls itself certified without a listing, ask why before you go any further.
Notice whether every page states the same level
Next, put the cemetery’s homepage, brochure and contract side by side. Do they all name the same level? If one differs, or none names a level at all, ask about it directly. Words like green and eco-friendly sound reassuring, yet only a named level gives you something to check.
With certification confirmed, the next question is whether Maryland recognizes the cemetery as an operating one.
How Do You Check a Cemetery’s Maryland License?
Search for the cemetery’s legal name in the public Registration Search run by Maryland’s Office of Cemetery Oversight. Part of the state Department of Labor, the office requires commercial cemeteries and most nonprofit ones to hold a license. A few kinds are exempt, including bona fide religious nonprofit cemeteries, so a missing listing isn’t always a red flag. It still deserves a follow-up question. If a search comes up empty, ask for the cemetery’s legal name, which can differ from the sign out front.
The same office handles consumer complaints, so you have somewhere to turn if a problem comes up after you sign. You’re welcome to look up Serenity Ridge the same way, since the state licenses us as a Maryland cemetery.
Once the license checks out, the cemetery’s own paperwork is next.
What Should the Written Rules and Contract Say?
Ask for the written rules and a sample contract up front, since anything a cemetery promises should appear in both.
Burial rules worth seeing in writing
Our own published protocols show what to look for. They keep burial simple, and they include three limits:
- Caskets, shrouds and urns made only of biodegradable materials
- No vaults
- No planting of flowers, shrubs or trees on graves
The Green Burial Council’s standards bar vaults and call for containers made only of natural, biodegradable materials. A certified cemetery’s rules should say the same. If the wording on either point is vague, ask about it.
What an Interment Right includes and what costs extra
An Interment Right is the right to bury in a specific grave named in your contract. The Interment Service Fee is a separate charge, and according to our published price list it doesn’t cover the Interment Right or a memorial stone. We’ve sold memorials separately since February 1, 2026. Interment Rights bought before that date include the memorial in the interment fee paid at the time of burial.
We’re a cemetery rather than a funeral home, so our services begin at the cemetery gate, and the funeral home you choose handles the steps before that. Whichever cemeteries you compare, ask each one for a line-by-line list that separates what the grave covers, what the service fee covers, and what’s sold on its own.
With the paperwork in hand, the last thing to check is the land itself.
What Should You Look for on the Grounds in Autumn?
Late fall makes invasive shrubs, signs of upkeep, and grounds that match the rules easy to spot.
Our guided tours run at 11 a.m. on the first and third Sundays of each month and every Tuesday. They last 40 minutes to an hour and involve a moderate amount of walking, so sturdy shoes help. Other cemeteries set their own schedules, so ask each one when you can walk its grounds.
Shrubs still green after the trees go bare
Invasive shrubs like bush honeysuckle are easy to spot in late fall. Penn State Extension notes that shrub honeysuckles leaf out early and drop their leaves late compared to most native woody plants. As a result, they often stay green after the trees around them have gone bare.
A patch of green under a bare canopy deserves a closer look, though evergreens stay green too, so ask a staff member to identify what you’re seeing. If it is an invasive, ask what the cemetery is doing about it and how often.
Signs that someone is managing the land
Look for upkeep you can point to, such as cleared brush, maintained paths and marked work areas. Ask whether the cemetery keeps a written plan for caring for the land, and ask to read it.
At Serenity Ridge, the preserve around the cemetery is actively restoring its land, so expect to see management in progress rather than a finished, manicured setting.
Markers, paths, and the ground itself
Compare the markers, paths and graves with what the written rules describe. Ask which markers the cemetery allows and how it records where each grave sits, since the answers should match the rules you read at home. If the ground between graves tells a different story than the rules, that’s worth a question.
One autumn visit is one look, and fallen leaves can hide what’s happening at ground level. Treat what you see as one piece of evidence, and ask your questions before you leave.
What Should You Ask Before You Leave?
Bring these six questions and ask for the answers in writing. Each one maps to something you checked at home:
- Which Green Burial Council certification level do you hold, and where does the council list it?
- What’s your legal name, and where will I find it in the state’s Registration Search?
- Where are your rules on containers, vaults and planting written down?
- What does the Interment Right cover, and what’s billed separately?
- Who manages the land, and is there a written plan I can read?
- Will you confirm these answers in writing?
A cemetery that keeps good records can answer these directly. A written reply also holds up better than a pleasant conversation if a disagreement comes up later.
How Do You Compare Two Cemeteries Afterward?
Fill in the table below once for each cemetery. Write down what you were told, what the public records show, and how the grounds looked, then compare the two side by side before you decide.
Claim-to-record checklist
| What the cemetery says | Where to confirm it | What a solid answer looks like |
|---|---|---|
| “We’re certified.” | Green Burial Council provider map | The name appears on the map, and every page and contract names the same level |
| “We’re licensed.” | Maryland Office of Cemetery Oversight Registration Search | The legal name appears, or the cemetery explains an exemption in writing |
| “We allow no vaults and only biodegradable containers.” | Written rules and contract | Both limits appear in plain words, and the contract refers to them |
| “The Interment Right covers the grave.” | Price list and contract | A line-by-line list separates the right, the service fee and any memorial |
| “We manage the land.” | A written plan and an autumn walk | Staff can show the plan, and the grounds show upkeep in progress |
| “We limit markers.” | Written rules and the grounds | The rules name the allowed markers, and what you see matches them |
A row with no clear answer is worth raising with the cemetery directly.
Check the Record, Then Walk the Land
Check the records first and the land second, and a cemetery that holds up on both has earned your confidence, while one that doesn’t has given you a reason to keep looking. When you’re ready, bring this checklist to a guided tour at Serenity Ridge. Reach out to our team any time you’d like an answer in writing.