Dying with carbon-neutral dignity
By Miki Perkins, The Age
A new group will push for Australia’s first natural burial ground to be established in Melbourne in a bid to reduce carbon emissions from cremation and regenerate urban bushland. Remains would be buried in biodegradable coffins, and graves marked with a tree or small plaque rather than a granite headstone.
A new Swedish technique called promession - where the body is snap-frozen then reduced to a fine powder - could be used.
There are more than 200 natural burial grounds in Britain but none in Australia.
Melbourne barrister Robert Larkins, author of Funeral Rights, an examination of the Australian funeral industry, heads the group, which includes former lord mayor Winsome McCaughey, Reichstein Foundation chair Jill Reichstein, the University of Melbourne’s Roger Short, forestry expert Peter Vindon, and ecologist Brendan Conden.
Mr Larkins says the group will approach local councils and State Government and expects to get strong support. “My interest in this started when I was standing next to the furnace at a crematorium and realised how much energy went into disposing of dead bodies,” he said.
Cremation is the favoured option for more than half of Australians.