Jewish Green Burial at Mount Sinai Simi Valley
Welcome to Teva- Our Green Burial Grove
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries, is now certified by the Green Burial Council as both a green funeral home and a provider of green burial services. We understand that many of our families choose to consider ecological values in addition to religious values when making their end-of-life arrangements. In recognition of our families’ desires, Mount Sinai has created, Teva, a natural burial grounds at our Simi Valley park. If you’re seeking a meaningful way to honor the life of a loved one or plan ahead for yourself in a manner that aligns with your own commitment to environmental stewardship, a natural burial may be the ideal choice.
Located near Kamenir Chapel, overlooking a protected nature reserve, this beautifully tranquil area is reached by a meandering stone path. Along the path are olive and pine trees, stone walls, and handcrafted wooden benches that create a protected space that envelopes visitors in shaded comfort and peace.
Natural, or green burials, symbolize the reuniting of our bodies to the earth from which they were created. We only use natural, sustainably sourced containers made of wicker or wood, or a natural fiber shroud, all of which are fully biodegradable. There are no concrete vaults or liners placed in the interment space. Our green burial grove is planted with drought tolerant, native California plants that reflect the hillsides and areas that surround the park. In addition, a special strain of drought tolerant grass and decomposed granite covers the ground areas.
As part of our land stewardship, graves at Mount Sinai’s natural burial sites are not marked with bronze markers. Instead, a natural engraved stone marker commemorates your loved one, and is included in the purchase of every space in the Natural Burial area.
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What is Green Burial?
Green burial is a way of caring for our loved ones with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat.
We are certified by the Green Burial Council, but what does that mean?
Our certification was awarded based on the fact that Mount Sinai has demonstrates compliance with the established Green Burial Council standards that are designed to create sustainable practices in the funeral industry, and to preserve and steward land through burial.
When we proudly display this logo on our site it means that we demonstrate:
- Respect for our families’ wishes
- Commitment to worker safety
- Support of green burial initiatives
- Trust in maintaining verifiable standards
- Dedication to protecting the environment
- Participation in shaping the future of funeral service
- Commitment to an ethic rooted in transparency, accountability, and ecological responsibility
Why does Green Burial certification matter?
The GBC recognizes the effort of each provider making significant changes that support the American public’s emerging ethic of environmental sensitivity that includes foregoing the use of toxic chemicals, expensive, resource and energy intensive caskets, concrete, fiberglass or plastic vaults. They are interested in how to effect real change by providing a realistic, verifiable standards-based rating system so that you have a reliable measure when making environmentally sensitive and responsible funeral choices.
Why is certification from the Green Burial Council so important?
This is becoming increasingly important given the pervasiveness of greenwashing when other funeral homes’ “green package” offerings include items such as embalming fluid that contains toxic chemicals, caskets from manufacturers whose environmental claims are not backed up by material safety data sheets or life cycle analysis, and cemeteries claiming to offer green burial that won’t accept shrouds and require the use of burial vaults, inverted or otherwise.
The GBC is both a 501(c)(3) (Education) and a 501(c)(6) (Certification) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization.
Selecting Jewish burial property is a deeply personal endeavor guided by factors such as family tradition, location, cost, and personal preference. We understand that every family is different, so we offer a broad range of interment options in both our Simi Valley and Hollywood Hills sections.