Archive for January 5, 2009
Spotlight: Green Funerals
The discussion of funerals may seem a morbid or macabre place to start this blog, but it’s something that has been on my mind recently. My grandmother died in the early hours of Christmas morning, less than two weeks ago and I attended her funeral on Friday. Death typically gets me thinking about spirituality and what death means to people. While spiritually I am looking a little deeper into the beliefs of Zen Buddhism, what’s more appropriate to this blog is what I’ve been learning about funerals.
Nanna’s funeral was fairly typical. She was cremated in a wooden coffin, painted white with gold-coloured metal handles and trim. Her coffin was covered with flowers – some will be burned with her and others will go back to the nursing home where she spent her last few months. The service was short but poignant. There were photos; people spoke about her life. I know she was dressed in new clothes and shoes, but I don’t know if she was embalmed – I presume so, since the funeral was over a week after her death. Several weeks after the cremation, her ashes will be interred in the same plot as my uncle and grandfather, with her rosary beads and a photo of her parents. My family was very happy with the funeral. Everything was done to suit Nanna and it provided a sense of closure for the family.
The whole thing got me thinking though. What did I want for my funeral? While that funeral was indeed perfect for Nan, it didn’t appeal to me at all. A greenie at heart, I started wondering – which was better for the environment, burial or cremation? What about all those flowers? What about the trees that were cut down to provide the coffin? What was the impact of the metal trim and handles, and what of the embalming fluid?
Around the same time, someone in the naturalliving community on Livejournal wrote a post called Green Living: Green Death, basically asking the same questions. So I read through the comments there, and I researched.
According to the Australian Funeral Directors Association, cremations now outnumber burials in Australia, most likely due to a shortage of cemetery space in populated areas. Based on an episode of PBS’s Frontline called ‘The Undertaking’, I get the impression this is not the case in the US. (Only watch that episode if you’re ok with seeing dead people, including embalming. It’s very interesting. Captions available for the d/Deaf folks – click the CC on the bottom right.)
As it turns out, cremation is better environmentally than traditional burial. Research conducted by Adelaide’s Centennial Park found that while up to 160kg of carbon dioxide is released into the air when a person is cremated (at least 50kg from the person themselves), the upkeep required to maintain graveyards over the years eventually outstrips the carbon dioxide produced by a cremation. Cremation also saves on physical space. There is a third option, however, which is the eco-friendly winner: green funerals.
Green funerals involve burial is specially designated cemeteries. Instead of grass and headstones, however, the cemetery is natural bushland, each grave with a tree planted above. The tree is not just a symbol and a way for that person to live on, but a way of extending your eco-friendly lifestyle beyond the grave as the tree removes carbon from the air throughout its life. If a grave marker is desired, an inscription in natural rock or a wooden headstone is added. Coffins are made from biodegradable materials; recycled cardboard, bamboo or cane. Some places even bury people in simple shrouds, using a reusable coffin with a hinged bottom to transport and lower the dead into the grave. There is no embalming, due to the impact of the chemicals on the atmosphere and groundwater. Some places bury the bodies more shallowly than the traditional six feet to ensure quicker and more complete decomposition than is possible in the anaerobic conditions of a generic grave. Some places are or will be carbon neutral (carbon offsetting the impact of transportation and so on).
There is more emphasis on family involvement – families can pick where in the bushland cemetery the would like the burial to occur; some families help dig the grave. Ceremonies often occur at the gravesite. I think this type of funeral would provide me with lots of closure and feeling of satisfaction that the person will still go on in some way.
Currently, there are not many green cemeteries in Australia; one just outside Hobart, another in Lismore, and one is planned for Adelaide. Lismore is the closest one to where I live, and it’s in a protected koala santuary, which appeals to me. There will be more though. There are Australian green funeral homes and Australian manufacturers of eco-friendly coffins. In Britain over the last 10 years, natural burial grounds have increased in number from less than 10 to almost 230. I foresee the same happening here, there is surely a market for it – especially because in addition to being eco-friendly, green funerals are also typically cheaper. There are some natural burial grounds cropping up in the US too.
Strangely enough, Mr Pre-teen told me years ago that he wants to either be buried or cremated and then have his ashes buried, at the base of a tree so he’ll continue to live through the life of the tree. Very deep and meaningful for a young kid, at the time. Turns out his idea isn’t terribly unusual. So if he still feels the same, he and I will be buried in a bushland burial. Yankee Elv is cool with that, which is the important thing, as funerals are more for the people left behind than the person moving on. Yankee Elv hasn’t yet decided if she wants to do the same though, or if she’ll donate her body to science. From an environmental perspective, donating your body isn’t the best as it gets pumped full of chemicals and cremated later. We’re both down for organ donation though.
For more information about green funerals, see:
LifeArt Coffins an eco-friendly coffin company in Sydney
Use GPS to Find Your Dead – blog post about using GPS to find graves in natural burial grounds
Saying a Green Goodbye – Brisbane Times article which includes specific information about cremations
OnEarth Cardboard Funeral Caskets – an eco-friendly coffin company in Adelaide
Natural Death Centre – an association in Byron Bay empowering a natural approach to death
Eternal Reefs – an alternative to green funerals, includes cremation though
Greensprings Natural Cemetery – a green burial ground in the US
Grave Matters – a book I’d love to read
Not that I’m planning on dying anytime soon, but I’m glad that my death won’t negate any environmental good I do while I’m alive. It’s definitely a green burial for me, I think the kind with just a shroud, in with the koalas.
What will you choose?
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