It is no longer enough to live a greener life - now people are being encouraged to
be environmentally friendly when they leave the Earth too.
Cardboard coffins, shellshaped urns and fireworks that can be packed with
people’s ashes were met by smiles at the Natural Death Centre’s Green Funeral
Exhibition in London.
Britain has been a world leader in eco-friendly funerals for years and is a source
of green burial products and ideas for countries such as the United States, where the
idea is just starting to catch on.
Green funerals attempt to be eco-friendly in every stage of the burial. Clothes are
sewn from natural fibers. Coffins are constructed from biodegradable materials, and
the burial plot itself is in an untamed natural setting. The idea is to leave as little mark
on the Earth as possible.
Marble tombstones are frowned upon for marking green graves since marble is not
a renewable resource, Jeremy Smite, a funeral director said.
For cremations, a person’s ashes and the remains of the eco-friendly coffin are
placed in bamboo, glass or ceramic urns.
Small details are described as being important for green funerals, such as using
smaller cars instead of limousines in funeral processions.
“What people are wanting is to know that they’re doing the best they can both for
their loved ones and for the environment,” she said.