Gravesite is set to go green
By Jennifer Coles, Evening Telegraph
Plans to build a new eco-friendly burial site costing £15,000 have been unveiled.
Wellingborough Council wants the burial site on the south side of Doddington Road cemetery in Wellingborough, an area which is unsuitable for stone masonry, and is applying to the Government for the money to help finance the project.
Bob Carter, who is in charge of Wellingborough’s cemeteries, said: “Any coffins would be of biodegradable material and would be located in a wild flora meadow area with reed beds. A tree would be used instead of a headstone to mark the grave.
“Over the years there has been an increasing number of inquiries about green burials. We are not inundated but we believe it is important to provide this service for people.”
Green burial sites are located at Olney, Buckinghamshire, and Kingsthorpe, Northampton.
The idea of a green burial is that the body is returned to nature by being buried in a coffin made of a material that will decompose. By planting a tree as a headstone a habitat for animals is created.
The idea was popularised in the 19th century by Sir Francis Seymour Hayden, who wrote a leaflet about earth to earth burial which he believed was a less gruesome alternative to cremation or the slow putrefaction of encased corpses.
Dan Drewell, area manager of Co-op Funeral Directors, said: “I think it’s good for Wellingborough to have this facility as eco-friendly burials are growing in popularity.
“We sold maybe half-a-dozen cardboard coffins last year but it is increasing all the time.
“Most people don’t know enough about it so I think that if the council introduces this site they should send out leaflets to tell people about it.
“We sell cardboard, wicker and bamboo coffins which are all biodegradable and can be bespoke made and painted in a variety of colours and designs.
“Thinking about the environment after a bereavement can be something positive for relatives.”