Eco-burials are the only way to go

Many people are now striving to live a greener life; people are also being urged to consider the environment when they end their days. Coffins made from banana leaves that retail for £600, burial clothes produced from 100% natural fibers, coffins made of cardboard and graveyards that do not alter the environment are all the eco-friendly way to go.

Many of the ‘green’ funeral directors that are starting to spring up around the country argue that there is little point in leading a green life, if you then pollute the environment when you die.

The UK is a major force in the new eco-funeral movement, citing the harm that traditional funeral arrangements cause to the environment, including huge amounts of toxic chemicals used in the embalming process that the leach out into the ground after the departed are interned.

New UK legal requirements state that by 2010 the amount of mercury used in coffin treatments must be drastically reduced. At many of the new eco-friendly, memorial parks there are no traditional headstones permitted, coffins must be made entirely of biodegradable materials and bodies may not be embalmed.

The new cardboard coffins are not flimsy egg boxes, they are as thick and ridged as traditional coffins, but they degrade into the earth within weeks of being buried.

The surrounding of the new graveyards are often woodlands that are left basically undisturbed, with graves being dug between the trees. Once the site reaches its capacity, the graveyard will simply be left to return to its natural state, with no marble headstones or polluting chemicals to disturb the environment.

The Natural Death Center held its own Green Funeral Exhibition in London over the weekend to showcase the advancements in new green funeral arrangements. Over the last decade, people being buried in a natural, and eco-friendly manor has risen from just 1% of all funerals to around 6%, with new legislation coming into force, that is expected to rise to 11% by 2010.