The Good Earth, LLC

The Good Earth, LLC Home Funeral Guide and owner of the first independently owned all green/natural burial ground/cemetery in the State of Alabama. Decomposition happens!

THE GOOD EARTH, LLC
Home funerals and green burials

Shelia Champion
Hazel Green, AL 35758
256-655-2170
www.thegoodearthllc.com

Introduction:

The Good Earth, LLC was formed to educate, empower and encourage people to take control of the bodies of their loved ones at the time of death. As hospice care gains popularity, it seems to me that it would be a natural progression for families to care for

their dead as well. I am planning a green/natural cemetery in Madison County, Alabama, so that families can have a place to bury their loved ones that does not require the use of a funeral home; no need to embalm for viewings; no need for a casket; no need for a vault; and no need to spend thousands of dollars. I am also available for family consultations and can train you in the methods I’ve learned in caring for the deceased. I want to share what I have learned through my life experiences, my research, by being a hospice volunteer, and my recent training by a licensed Funeral Director. I hope to bring about change in how we handle death, making it more of a family function. People are returning to having babies at home so home funerals should not be nearly as uncommon. Home births can have life threatening complications; the results of a home funeral will not change the outcome. What is a home funeral and why would you want that? HELP WITH THE GRIEVING PROCESS:

A traditional funeral takes the body away from the family. Usually within a few hours after death, the body is taken to a funeral home and often not seen again for one or two days until it is prepared for viewing. If not embalmed, many funeral homes will not allow a viewing. I believe this process has caused death to become mysterious and frightening instead of a natural occurrence. A body is no more infectious after death than it was before death. Death will never become easy to deal with and grieving will always take place. By having time to sit with your loved one, to care for them one last time, and creating your own funeral experience, your healing may start sooner. You are in control and can do as much or as little as you choose. COST:

A “home funeral” is what we used to call a funeral in the days before funerals became an industry. Embalming started during the Civil War so soldiers’ bodies could be returned to their loved ones in a somewhat preserved condition. That spurred the current funeral industry as we know it. Prior to the custom of what we now see as a traditional funeral, families, friends and neighbors always took care of their own deceased. Deceased loved ones were bathed, dressed, and vigils were held in their own homes prior to burial. Now the average funeral costs consumers approximately $7,000.00, and does not include the cost of the cemetery plot or a vault, which may be required by the cemetery. Item Median Cost
Non-declinable basic services fee $1,975
Removal/transfer of remains to funeral home $285
Embalming (required for most viewings) $695
Other preparation of the body $225
Use of facilities/staff for viewing $400
Use of facilities/staff for funeral ceremony $495
Hearse $295
Service car/van $130
Basic memorial printed pkg (e.g., cards, etc) $150
Metal casket (low end) $2,395
Median Cost of a Funeral with Casket $7,045
Some cemeteries require a vault:
Vault $1,298
Median Cost of a Funeral with Vault $8,343

http://nfda.org/about-funeral-service-/trends-and-statistics.html
Many, if not most, families go into debt to bury their loved ones which causes more stress and often guilt. Cremation is rapidly becoming an alternative to traditional burial for several reasons: costs less, less traditional, “no-fuss”, and more eco-friendly. A local Huntsville funeral home charges $2595.00 for direct cremation. That means that once your loved one’s body is picked up by the funeral home, you spend no time with them and do not have a family viewing. Most funeral homes require embalming if you want a viewing. There is also discussion of the ecological effect of the cremation process (burning of fossil fuels, etc.). Ecology:

Statistics show that every year conventional burials place the following materials into the ground:
• More than 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde (a known carcinogen)
• More metal from caskets than was used in the Golden Gate Bridge
• Enough reinforced concrete from vaults (1.6 tons) to build a two-lane highway from New York to Detroit
• 30 million board feet of hardwoods used in caskets each year

What is a green (also known as natural) burial? A green/natural burial takes place when there is no embalming or other chemical means of preservation of a body. There is no metal or treated wooden casket, no artificial flowers, and only natural fabrics are allowed (cotton, silk, bamboo, etc.). Some cemeteries are allowing green burials while strictly green burial grounds are becoming more popular. Many times a green burial ground is used as a preservation of land, keeping green spaces and preserving natural resources and making wildlife habitats. Green burials can go hand in hand with home funerals allowing families to have control of the entire process of disposition of the deceased. From death to grave, no one else has to be involved. Returning the deceased to the earth allows for natural, normal decomposition. Many believe that by embalming, providing a casket and a vault the body will be preserved indefinitely. No casket is leak proof or waterproof and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will not allow anyone to claim otherwise. A vault is only for the benefit of the cemetery to keep the ground level for maintenance. Some may want you to think that green burials can cause ground water contamination. It is no bigger risk to ground water contamination than a traditional burial, especially since there is no chemical (as found with embalming) involved. There is no evidence of animal disturbance of green burial sites which are quite popular in the United Kingdom. There must be a minimum of 18 inches of soil over the remains which provides an adequate barrier. I am a member of the National Home Funeral Alliance. To learn more about home funerals and green burials please contact me or visit the following sites:

http://homefuneralalliance.org/
http://finalrights.org/
http://greenburialcouncil.com/
https://www.funerals.org/
www.returninghomecs.com

06/17/2026
06/17/2026

Discover local peer support resources and nearby crisis centers! Call 988 to find immediate, confidential help. https://buff.ly/ZgIWnEH

06/17/2026
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06/17/2026

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UPDATE: The US Air Force has confirmed that all eight people aboard the B-52 Stratofortress that crashed at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Monday were killed, the deadliest crash involving the bomber in more than 40 years.

The aircraft went down on a routine test mission shortly after takeoff, at 11:20 a.m. local time. At an afternoon news conference, Col. James Hayes, deputy commander of the 412th Test Wing, told reporters, "We lost eight great Americans." The base had said earlier that initial indications were the crash was not survivable.

Those on board were a mix of uniformed military personnel, government civilians, and contractors supporting the flight. Boeing confirmed two of its employees were among the dead, saying it is in contact with their families and offering support. The names of those lost have not yet been released; officials said they will be made public 24 hours after the families have been notified.

The Air Force confirmed the aircraft was B-52H tail number 60-0061, a jet with a notable place in the bomber's future. In December 2025, it became the first B-52 to receive the new AESA radar as part of the Air Force's modernization program, and it was supporting that radar testing when it crashed. That program is part of a broad effort to keep the B-52 flying into the 2050s.

It is the deadliest B-52 accident since 1982, when nine crew members died near Sacramento, and the first loss of a B-52 since 2016. The cause of Monday's crash is under investigation.

Eight people went to work on a test flight and did not come home. Our thoughts are with their families, their colleagues, and the entire Edwards community.

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06/17/2026

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The Gorrie family has contributed $10 million to UAB to fund research and teaching efforts toward treating Alzheimer’s Disease.

Miller Gorrie is the founder of Brasfield & Gorrie, one of the nation’s largest privately held construction firms, and the Gorries have been among UAB’s biggest supporters.

In an announcement, the school said the donation will “catalyze medical innovation, strengthen the pipeline of rising Alzheimer’s specialists, attract internationally recognized experts in the field, enhance the quality of patient care in the region and connect communities across the state to critical resources.”

06/17/2026
06/15/2026

Months before the January 1986 disaster, Roger Boisjoly, a mechanical engineer for NASA contractor Morton Thiokol, became deeply concerned about the synthetic rubber O-rings used to seal the joints of the Space Shuttle’s solid rocket boosters.

In July 1985, he authored a prophetic memo warning his superiors that if the primary O-ring failed to seal properly, it could result in "a catastrophe of the highest order, the loss of human life." The night before the fateful launch, as temperatures in Florida plummeted well below freezing, Boisjoly and a team of fellow engineers fiercely argued during a high-stakes teleconference that the extreme cold would harden the rubber, destroy its elasticity, and prevent a proper seal.

Despite these intense objections, NASA officials pushed back, demanding definitive proof that the launch would fail rather than proof that it was safe, which pressured Morton Thiokol executives into overriding their own engineering team and giving the "go" for launch.

While accounts of the disaster frequently credit Boisjoly for his heroic whistleblowing efforts, historical records show that the famous "it's going to blow up" quote actually belongs to his close colleague and fellow Thiokol engineer, Bob Ebeling. It was Ebeling who returned home deeply defeated on the eve of the launch, turned to his wife, Darlene, and uttered those chillingly accurate words.

On the morning of the launch, Boisjoly, Ebeling, and their peers watched the broadcast together from the Morton Thiokol conference room in Utah, paralyzed with dread as they witnessed the Challenger explode exactly 73 seconds into flight, a tragedy caused precisely by the O-ring failure they had fought so desperately to prevent.

Both men subsequently risked their careers to expose the systemic communication failures and flawed management culture to the presidential Rogers Commission, forever changing the landscape of engineering ethics.

Address

1955 Carter Grove Road
Hazel Green, AL
35750

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+12566552170

Website

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