Green burials reflect care for earth, family finances

Growing up in small-town Georgia, John B. Johnson had family friends who ran the funeral home down the street, so the particulars of a typical American funeral—the embalming, the heavy casket and remarks about how great the deceased’s hair looked—were all familiar to him.

When the time came, he assumed, his funeral would look much the same.

But Johnson, now 44, envisions a different sort of send-off for himself: a “green burial” that draws upon both his faith and his commitment to the environment.