A green way to die

It sounds like the basis for an Edgar Allan Poe story: a woman visits the site of a grave in a remote wood where, one day, she knows she will be buried. It is an uncanny scenario and if it hadn’t been such a bright August afternoon, it would have all the macabre potential of a Victorian gothic. Yet as we walked a secluded coppice near Dianne Neil’s home in Hampshire, where one day she will indeed be buried, she talked in such an animated way about the funeral she has planned that it began to sound like a rather genial affair.

Dianne is one of a growing number of people in Britain to have visited their own grave. "It looks just like an ordinary wood, but I find it comforting to know that this is where they'll put me when my time comes." At the age of 69 she decided to pick out her own plot at a natural burial ground, not because she is terminally ill, but so that she is guaranteed an environmentally-friendly funeral.

Standing side by side, we stared down at the small square of mossy grass at our feet. This, she confirmed, will be the spot. After a short silence, Dianne explained: “I’m drawn to the idea of leaving a gentle mark on the Earth. The thought that when I die, my beliefs will go out the window saddens me—as if it no longer matters how I’ve chosen to live. If you were a Christian, no doubt, you’d want to ensure you were having a Christian burial.”

Since they first started taking place in Britain roughly ten years ago, the popularity of green funerals has grown enormously, and today they are the most requested alternative to conventional burial. Whilst there is no strict definition of what constitutes an eco-burial, the main distinction places an onus on using carbon-friendly materials and methods wherever possible. Experts at the Natural Death Centre, a charity that supports those trying to arrange inexpensive, family-organised and environmentally-friendly funerals, has predicted that 20,000 people in Britain will be buried in a green way by 2010 (the number is currently around 11,000).

Why opt for a green funeral? For a start, conventional burials generate an astonishing CO2 footprint: they tend to include MDF or hardwood coffins with plastic (non-biodegradable) handles, lined with synthetic material, topped off with an “air-mile heavy” granite headstone quarried, almost inevitably, in China. Embalming processes commonly use formaldehyde which leaks into the soil, making most graveyards toxic waste grounds that are inhospitable to local wildlife.

And while often considered the greener option, on closer inspection cremations are also surprisingly carbon heavy: the average one produces around 70kg of CO2, the equivalent output of a family household every two weeks. Worse still are the associated mercury emissions. Cremations pump out 15-16 per cent of mercury released into Britain’s air—this figure is on the rise as more people opt for cremation, thanks to diminishing burial space and, in turn, the soaring price for an empty plot. Out of morbid curiosity, I recently enquired how much a burial spot in Highgate cemetery would cost me—the cheapest was a mere £4,500, whilst the more “elite” plot comes in at around £100,000. Compared to this, eco-funerals (typically between £2,000-£3,000) look like a bargain; although cremation (between £400-£500) still comes out cheapest.

The prospect of a cardboard coffin may fill some with horror, but eco-coffins have come a long way since their rudimentary beginnings. The current trend is to handpaint a cardboard coffin, or, a little more peculiarly, to Photoshop images of the deceased onto it. Alternatively you could choose a willow or bamboo casket, which, though they occasionally resemble over-sized picnic hampers, do otherwise suggest a dignified simplicity, and allow friends and family to decorate them with flowers and ribbon. Flowers too, can be sourced locally by “green” florists to save air miles.

It is this “organic” aspect of an eco funeral which Jeremy Smith, director of the undertakers Green Ending, suggests makes them so appealing: “We spend a long time talking to the family about the deceased, to get a good idea of the person as they were and then build the funeral around that discussion. We never say you have to do this or have that, but encourage people to create something individual.” He relates many stories, some deeply poignant, others darkly comic. There was the child’s funeral, where the grave was lined with moss to create a nest effect. Or the pub landlord who wanted a 1970s disco theme. Or the elderly lady who wanted to be buried in a blanket only, without a coffin. This, he says, was logistically almost impossible, yet they did it.

The appeal of this “hands-on” organic process was central to Dianne’s decision, who, as we walked on through the burial site, explained that she has planned far more than where she’ll be buried. “I’m a gregarious dresser, so I’m insisting everyone come dressed to the nines—top hat and tails, stomping through the woods. I’m having a humanist minister reading, and a horse pull my coffin to the woods on a cart. A friend, who’s a jazz musician, is going to play. And if my two dogs don’t beat me to it, they’re going to be there too. Though I imagine they’ll be more interested in running through the woods rather than see me off.”

Eco-burials can take place in traditional graveyards; however, those wanting a truly green ending often choose to be buried in one of the Britain’s natural burial sites—this country has over 200 of them, mainly woodlands and meadows. The majority do not allow headstones, instead encouraging the planting of a tree as a living memorial, or a small wooden grave marker. And the effect of this restriction, in the site I visited with Dianne, is surprisingly poignant. Compared to a single white ribbon tied to a tree branch, or a line of smooth, round pebbles arranged in a simple circle, a traditional granite gravestone seems almost brutal. Whether or not you care about your carbon footprint after you’re dead and gone, at the very least an eco-burial can be a philosophical choice—conveying a sense of peaceful humility in the face of our inevitable mortality.