Green Funerals
At the risk of sounding morbid, there are also a range of more environmentally friendly choices that we can make when it comes to funerals and memorials.
Green funerals are becoming increasingly popular and more and more Undertakers and Crematoria are now offering specialist packages. So what does a green funeral involve?
- A coffin made from natural biodegradeable materials such as willow or bamboo. Traditionally shaped coffins made from cardboard are also available as well as more complex designs like the Ecopod.
- No embalming, so no leaching of noxious chemicals into the soil.
- Horse-drawn hearses or minimal use of conventionally powered vehicles.
- Burial rather than cremation, as the cremation process requires power which will inevitably generate greenhouse gas emissions. Incredibly, vapourised dental filings account for more than 15% of the UK's mercury emissions.
- Internment in a woodland or meadow burial ground - a list of UK meadow and woodland burial grounds can be found here.
- Donations to environmental charities rather than flowers.
- Green memorials: Finding an appropriate way to remember a loved one who was committed to the environment is not always that easy, particularly if they have opted for internment in a green burial ground, because these are usually kept as natural as possible (memorials and headstones are generally not permitted). An environmentally friendly memorial has been developed by The World Land Trust, who offer an alternative to flowers and tombstones. For a donation of £150 they help create a living memorial by purchasing land in the Amazon and saving 1500 rainforest trees. To commemorate your donation they will also plant a new tree in their UK reserve at Kites Hill in Gloucestershire and enter the name of the deceased in their register of support. Full details can be found here.
Lots more information on green funerals can be found by following the links below:
Coffins:
www.ecopod.co.uk
www.bamboocoffins.co.uk
www.somersetwillow.co.uk
Funeral services:
www.greenendings.co.uk
www.naturaldeath.org.uk
www.greenundertakings.co.uk
www.woodlandburials.co.uk
www.thegreenburialcompany.plc.uk