To embrace and implement strategies that positively exhibit our social, environmental, and economic values in support of our families, employees, and the community in perpetuity.

• Laurel Hill Funeral Home is certified by the Green Burial Council.
• Laurel Hill’s three green burial areas — Nature’s Sanctuary, Bala Green, and Valley View Green — are certified by the Green Burial Council.  Valley View Green is the only green burial area within the City of Philadelphia that is certified by the Green Burial Council.
• Nature’s Sanctuary, Laurel Hill’s first green burial section, is SITES Gold Certified — the first cemetery to ever achieve SITES Gold status
• The Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia awarded Laurel Hill the GSI Partners in Excellence award for Private Projects for Nature’s Sanctuary from the
• Laurel Hill was awarded Green Business of the Year in 2025 by the Main Line Chamber of Commerce.
• Nature’s Sanctuary was selected for a Merit Award from the ASLA in the General Design Category
• Nature’s Sanctuary was awarded the Bowman’s Hill Land Ethics Award for Best Large Scale Project
• “Go for the Green” Joseph Manko Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Lower Merion Township and Narberth Environmental Advisory Councils and their Shade Tree Commissions. This highest honor, part of the annual “Go for the Green” awards, recognizes our ongoing innovation and stewardship of a bucolic landscape that integrates plants, monuments, and green burial for everyone to enjoy.

• Laurel Hill is a member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance 
• Laurel Hill is a member of PA Gardens. Nancy Goldenberg, Laurel Hill President & CEO, serves as Co-Chair of the organization.
• Laurel Hill is a member of Greater Philadelphia Gardens — America’s Garden Capital. Nancy Goldenberg serves on the organization’s executive committee. 
• Nancy Goldenberg served on the Sustainability Steering Committee of Lower Merion Township
• Laurel Hill is a member of the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia

At Laurel Hill, we understand the importance and value of the land and do our best to keep it healthy and vibrant. We focus on biodiversity protection and enhancement, reducing our carbon footprint, and maintaining a recreational and beautiful landscape for our visitors.

As part of the urban forest, Laurel Hill adds hundreds of trees and shrubs to its living collection each year to maintain canopy cover and provide ecosystem services. Each plant added is intentionally chosen with biodiversity, climate resilience, and environmental responsibility in mind. TreeKeeper is used to manage and measure the environmental impact of our plant collections. You can see the real-time benefits of our collection here: TreeKeeper.

Hundreds of thoughtfully chosen annual and perennial plants are planted each year to provide further beauty and benefits to wildlife, and thousands of tulip, daffodil, hyacinth, and lily bulbs have been repurposed from spring containers since 2019.

Laurel Hill is actively engaged in invasive species management throughout our landscape and has received grants to support the removal of invasive vegetation and the installation of approximately three acres of native landscape on the slopes of Laurel Hill East along Kelly Drive and West Hunting Park Avenue. You can learn more about the Hillside Ecological Restoration project in the Work in Progress section of our site.

Laurel Hill’s Sustainability Squad keeps current on trends and innovative products that can save energy, waste, and water through the following ways:

• Throughout the grounds, a range of battery-powered equipment is utilized at Laurel Hill. These include: augers used for digging holes to plant perennials and shrubs; mowers used in green burial areas and the Medallion Garden; multi-tools with string-trimmer, hedge trimmer, and blade trimmer used throughout the cemetery; battery-powered chainsaws.
• Alternatives to synthetic chemicals are used whenever possible. The arboretum team uses hundreds of gallons of horticultural vinegar as a replacement to glyphosate (RoundUp®) for weed control.
• Laurel Hill utilizes a professional recycling company. Laurel Hill partners with Rabbit Recycling for various recycling needs, including on-site recycling and disposal/recycling drives.
• Laurel Hill’s operation staff monitors and records gas usage. Gas usage was recorded lower in 2025 compared to 2024.
• Green efforts in the IT Department have focused on improving energy efficiency and reducing the staff’s environmental footprint. These include: purchasing more Energy Star-certified devices such as laptops, monitors, and printers; reducing the number of on-premise servers through consolidation and virtualization; installation of occupancy sensors in key public areas to reduce energy use due to lighting; and encouraging document sharing and collaboration through OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams to minimize paper usage.
• In 2025, the gatehouse rehabilitation project incorporated sustainable construction practices. Contractors used Burns Dumpsters for debris removal, which targets 60% of construction debris for recycling and repurposing. This project also installed American Standard high-efficiency toilets, which are certified by the EPA’s WaterSense program.

Laurel Hill celebrates its history and commitment to the communities it serves by engaging audiences in innovative programming and educational seminars related to its landscape and ethic of sustainability.

Laurel Hill staff engages with and educates local communities interested in learning more about Laurel Hill’s green burial and horticulture practices through presentations and panel discussions.

In addition to tours of the arboretum, Laurel Hill offers unique and educational programs focused on sustainability throughout the year.

Laurel Hill partners with green-minded non-profit organizations such as the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, Green Philly, and the Philly Goat Project.