Organic or green funerals are gaining in popularity all over the world. If you incorporate some or all of the following elements, your funeral service may be considered eco-friendly or green service.
Firstly, make use of a naturally degradable garment for your loved one. For the actual funeral, plan a small-scale gathering in an environmentally friendly location like a park or a field. Use memorial products and services employing only recycled paper. Locally produced and organically grown foods should be used for the wake. Do not choose to have the body embalmed, or if embalming is required, choose formaldehyde-free solutions.
Next, do not use any cement container of any kind. Employ hand dug plots and keep the grave shallow. Finally, consider cremation. Green funerals are not only friendly to the environment, but they are also more cost efficient than conventional memorials.
More and more bio degradable coffins are being used in green burials. Cardboard coffins are often used by those interested in having a green funeral. Some take this a step further and do away with the coffin altogether. First, the body is wrapped in soft cotton, then in a bio-degradable waterproof membrane and finally a hessian shroud. A coffin is used simply to transport the body from the church or funeral home to the cemetery. The coffin used is like a conventional coffin but has a bottom which opens like a trap door. At the graveside, the coffin is lowered into the grave, then as the coffin is lifted up, the doors underneath open, allowing the body to come to rest at the bottom of the grave.
The result is that only the shrouded body remains in the grave. There is no wood, no waste, no varnish, no metal and no formaldehyde.
Becoming popular in the UK are 'bushland burials' which are carried out in natural burial grounds where bodies are interred in a natural setting with a tree planted over the grave. There are more than 200 such cemeteries in the UK, but so far, only one exists in Australia. Family and friends are invited to choose a small bush or shrub native to the area, as this is their way to do green funerals and this is planted on the grave. Instead of a carved, artificial marker, the grave is marked with an appropriately inscribed rock from the area or a tree.
This use of a natural marker rather than a headstone is a great plus for the environment. Headstones lead to pollution because they obstruct the growth of trees. If a natural marker like a tree is used, this can be emotionally satisfying to those loved behind because they will have a living memorial to their loved one.
Another novel environment-friendly option is to mix the ashes of your loved one with reef material. This material is then placed in the ocean and it eventually becomes a new reef. This promotes the growth of organisms that grow on reefs and helps to restore the ecological balance of the planet.
There are now many green funerals options that will not harm the planet, and will in fact benefit our world.
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