Dying to be green
By LOUISA PEARSON, Scotland on Sunday
DON’T fear the reaper,” sang Blue Oyster Cult back in 1976. Following that instruction was probably feasible back in the 1970s, when climate chaos only popped up in disaster movies as opposed to everyday living. But here in the 21st century, death comes with responsibilities. And if you’re dying to be green, there’s no time like the present to start planning your very own eco-friendly funeral.
The good news is that we humans are biodegradable. Unfortunately, cultural sensitivities prevent our remains from being collected by the council along with the garden waste to be turned into compost. But throw in a bit of ceremony, a jazzy cardboard coffin, a tree and a natural burial site, and we can still become fertiliser, giving a little something back to the planet.
Green burials currently account for just 6.5% of funerals in the UK, but according to the Natural Death Centre, that figure is expected to double by 2010. A recent survey by Mintel showed that 64% of us were open to the idea of being buried in a woodland or meadow. There are more than 200 natural burial grounds in the UK, providing diverse habitats for wildlife as well as plots for the dearly departed.
If you want to check in to a natural burial site for all eternity, you’ll be expected to forego embalming and opt for a cotton shroud or eco-friendly coffin. Traditional wooden coffins are often made from veneered chipboard, bonded with formaldehyde resin. Likewise, formaldehyde-based embalming chemicals are not something we particularly want to have leaching into ground water.
The good news is that there are some creative eco-friendly alternatives, including coffins made from reed, willow, cardboard and even recycled paper (www.ecopod.co.uk). Simple wooden coffins made from FSC-certified timber are also available (www.eco-coffins.com).
Meanwhile, around 70% of Britons opt for cremation, the space-saving option. Ever since I watched a movie in which a screaming mobster was disposed of via the big burny conveyor belt, I’ve been convinced it wasn’t for me. Many environmentalists share my sentiments, for different reasons. Earlier this year, Roger Short, a biologist at Melbourne University, called for an end to cremation, saying that during the process the average male body produces 50kg of CO2 - as much as a dozen cars driving to the funeral would.
It is thought that more than 400,000 wooden coffins are burned in the UK every year, releasing CO2, sulphur dioxide and hydrochloric acid. The energy used to perform one cremation is estimated to be around the same as the domestic energy needs of a single person for a whole month. And, as well as the greenhouse gases, cremation is responsible for 16% of the UK’s mercury pollution, thanks to our dental fillings.
I reckon it won’t be long before crematoriums follow the lead of airlines, offering customers the chance to carbon-offset the process. Or perhaps the space-saving option developed by Swedish company Promessa Organic, where bodies are dipped in liquid nitrogen and turned into an easily compostable powder, will become the norm.
For the moment, it looks like the woodland burial is the greenest way to go. My only concern is what might happen a few hundred years down the line. Members of the Association of Natural Burial Grounds have to guarantee the long-term security of both the graves and the wildlife, but who knows what the demand for land for new housing will be in a few centuries’ time. Woe betide anyone who tries to build on top of my cherry tree, though. As anyone who watches too many horror films knows, houses built on burial grounds are destined to end up haunted. This time it will be by the annoyed ghosts of ancient eco-warriors.
Website and book of the week
• www.naturaldeath.org.uk The website of the Natural Death Centre offers independent funeral advice, with a focus on environmentally friendly funerals and natural burial grounds.
• We Need to Talk About the Funeral by Jane Morrell and Simon Smith (£14.99, Accent Press) A practical guide to funerals, including woodland burials, helping you to find the best way to celebrate someone’s life.
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