Updated: 28 Sep 2009

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Introduction

Coffins labelled as “eco-friendly” are now being sold by a small but increasing number of funeral directors.

Eco-friendly coffins and natural burials are part of a move to greener funeral options that the mainstream industry has yet to heed.

We take a look at what's involved if you're interested in greener funeral options.

Natural cemeteries

New Zealand’s first natural cemetery opened in 2008 on the windy slopes of Makara in Wellington. Others are planned around the country.

Instead of headstones set in a neatly manicured lawn, natural cemeteries are usually planted with trees which grow to create a park. That’s the plan for Makara: plots are planted with native trees and bodies are buried as close as possible to the active soil layer (usually one metre deep) to aid nature’s recycling.

Mark Blackham from Natural Burials, the company that set up Makara cemetery with the Wellington City Council, says there’s room for up to several hundred plots. Since it opened in March 2008, 12 people have been buried there; 100 more have registered for burial.

Coming to a town near you

Several councils have plans to open natural cemeteries. Wanganui District Council is looking at options to provide natural burials at Aramoho cemetery. Neighbouring New Plymouth District Council has earmarked land at Oakura Cemetery for natural burials.

Further south, Kapiti, Tasman and Christchurch councils are also looking at natural options. Tasman District Council’s plans are the most advanced, with land at Motueka cemetery identified for use as a natural burial site.

Auckland’s Waikumete Cemetery offers a variation on natural burials. A small area, enough for 17 plots, has been set aside for “eco burials”. If you’re buried here you can have a tree planted to the side of the grave.

The rise of the natural-burial movement

US-based writer Jessica Mitford can take some of the credit for the rise of the natural-burial movement. Her 1963 exposé of the American funeral industry argued that the modern-day undertaker had commodified death. Funerals had become a business where bigger was better – from the size of the coffin to the size of the “floral tribute”.

Natural burials appeal to those left cold by the thought of being chemically preserved in an oversized box when they die. The concept first took hold in the UK where there are now 200 natural cemeteries open or planned. Canada and the US have also got in on the act.

Lynda Hannah, who runs Motueka funeral company Living Legacies, visited 30 natural burial parks in 2007 as part of a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship. Some were definitely “greener” than others, she said, but all were an improvement on New Zealand’s “straight-line concrete cemeteries”.

 

Key differences

Natural burials have two key differences from conventional burials: the type of coffin and the way the body is preserved.

Coffins

In a natural burial, the deceased is buried in either a shroud or an untreated wooden coffin. Customwood or medium-density-fibreboard (MDF) coffins in a high-gloss veneer – the mainstay of the funeral industry – aren’t used.

Embalming

Embalming is also ruled out because it uses hazardous substances to preserve the body: it involves draining blood and other fluids from the body and injecting mixtures containing formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde, methanol and phenol into the arteries and abdominal cavity. These substances are toxins and their use is controlled. The Environmental Risk Management Authority lists 93 embalming products with either toxic or flammable properties.

Embalming is commonplace in the funeral industry but its widespread use is relatively recent. Otago University lecturer Dr Cyril Schafer says embalming wasn’t much used until the 1950s – and then it grew rapidly as funeral directors took up the practices of their US counterparts. “Embalming was increasingly linked to the idea of a positive ‘memory picture’ associated with viewing the dead before burial or cremation,” Dr Schafer says.

The Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand describes embalming as a process that “[gives] a natural appearance and removes health hazard, which is particularly important if viewing of the deceased is to take place”. But Lynda Hannah of funeral company Living Legacies believes the industry wrongly encourages embalming when it’s not needed.

Natural alternatives
Lynda doesn’t use embalming. “How fast a body decomposes depends on many factors such as the time of year, the temperature, and the condition of the body. There are natural ways to keep an unembalmed body cool – such as using ice – to help slow decomposition and prolong the period before the funeral,” she says.

Simon Manning agrees embalming isn’t a necessity. Simon is the Director of Harbour City Funeral Home in Wellington and has been involved with most of the funerals for people buried at Makara’s natural cemetery.

Simon believes the industry has been too ready to dismiss those wanting greener alternatives and too eager to dictate what should happen. In 2008, he set up the “Eco Funerals” website, which lists 15 affiliated funeral companies offering natural burial options. But Simon acknowledges companies like these remain the exception.
 

Funeral costs

Dying isn’t cheap. Our 2006 survey of funeral directors found the price of a typical funeral ranged from $5000 in provincial centres to over $7000 in Auckland. According to the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand, the average cost of a funeral has crept up to $8800.

Around 50 percent of what you pay is the funeral director’s fee and another 20 percent is the price of the coffin. Local government charges (for plot and cremation fees) account for most of the rest.

Coffin costs

An untreated pine or plywood coffin costs from $750 to $2400 depending on the design. Conventional coffins sell for similar prices – although they can range up to $5000. Simon Manning from Harbour City Funeral Homes says his company sells a standard MDF coffin for $1350.

Cardboard coffins are another (cheaper) option. We found cardboard coffins for sale at $350. However, not everyone stocks them. Lynda Hannah of Living Legacies doesn’t sell them because she hasn’t found a locally made product she thinks is good enough.

Embalming costs

Some funeral directors charge an all-in-one fee for their services; others have a lower fee and charge separately for costs such as embalming. Research by Otago University's Dr Cyril Schafer and Dr Ruth McManus estimates the average cost of embalming at between $565 and $675.

We think you should expect to pay a lower price if no embalming is done. While the funeral company may have expenses associated with preparing the body and keeping it cool, these should be less than the costs of embalming.

Council fees

Wellington City Council charges a slightly higher fee for burial at its natural cemetery than for a plot and headstone at the main cemetery: $2600 compared with $2360. The council says the difference is because of the larger land area used for natural plots, the extra labour in preparing the grave, and the costs of plants and organic compost.

Burials at Makara also have a $175 registration fee payable to Natural Burials. This is an unusual arrangement: councils don’t normally require a registration fee to be paid to a third party. Mark Blackham says the fee covers an engraved wooden plot marker and the work of his company in overseeing the cemetery.
 

Our advice

• If you want greener options, choose a funeral director willing to provide them. Don’t feel pressured to accept an option you’re not comfortable with.
• Provide clear instructions for your funeral arrangements if you want a natural burial.
• Interested in having a natural cemetery in your area? Lobby your local council. Several councils are already going down this track. Request that yours does the same.

 

More information

• Eco Funerals: www.ecofunerals.co.nz

More from consumer.org.nz

• Funerals
• Life insurance
• Florists

 

Report by Jessica Wilson.