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Coffin? Casket? Cremation? How to make your death more environmentally friendly

<p>We can all agree humans need to reduce their impact on the environment. And while most of us think of this in terms of daily activities – such as eating less meat, or being water-wise – this responsibility actually extends beyond life and into death.</p> <p>The global population is closing on <a href="https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/global-population-will-soon-reach-8-billion-then-what" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eight billion</a>, and the amount of land available for human burial is <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/deal-with-the-dead/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">running out</a>, especially in small and densely populated countries.</p> <p>To minimise environmental impact, human bodies should return to nature as quickly as possible. But the rate of decay in some of the most common traditional disposal methods is very slow. It can take <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-it-takes-human-body-decompose-grave-coffin-2019-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several decades</a> for a body to decompose.</p> <p>In a one-of-its-kind study, our team analysed <a href="https://irispublishers.com/gjfsm/fulltext/a-taphonomic-examination-of-inhumed-and-entombed-remains-in-parma-cemeteries-italy.ID.000518.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">408 human bodies</a> exhumed from grave pits and stone tombs in the north of Italy to find out what conditions help speed up decay.</p> <h2>The environmental cost of traditional burials</h2> <p>Funeral rituals should respect the dead, bring closure to families and promote the reaching of the afterlife in accordance with people’s beliefs. This looks different for different people. Although the Catholic church has allowed cremation <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/world/europe/vatican-bans-scattering-of-human-ashes.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">since 1963</a>, it still prefers burials. Muslims are always supposed to be buried, while most Hindus are cremated.</p> <p>In Australia, however, the latest census revealed almost 40% of the population identifies as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-religion-is-australias-second-largest-religious-group-and-its-having-a-profound-effect-on-our-laws-185697" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not religious</a>”. This opens up more avenues for how people’s bodies may be handled after death.</p> <p>Most traditional burial practices in industrialised countries have several long-lasting harmful <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/108132/EUR_ICP_EHNA_01_04_01%28A%29.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">effects</a> on the environment. Wood and metal fragments in coffins and caskets remain in the ground, leaching harmful chemicals through paint, preservatives and alloys. Chemicals used for embalming also remain in the ground and can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3315260/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contaminate</a> soil and waterways.</p> <p>Cremation also has a large <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/is-cremation-environmentally-friendly-heres-the-science" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carbon footprint</a>. It requires lots of trees for fuel and produces millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year, as well as toxic volatile compounds.</p> <p>There are several alternatives to traditional burials. These include “water cremation” or “resomation” (where the body is rapidly dissolved), human <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-26/body-composting-a-green-alternative-to-burial-cremation/100486964" target="_blank" rel="noopener">composting</a>, mummification, cryonics (freezing and storage), <a href="https://eirene.ca/blog/space-burial-ashes-in-orbit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">space burials</a>, and even turning the body into <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/03/world/eco-solutions-capsula-mundi/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trees</a> or the ashes into <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/ashes-to-diamonds-reefs-rockets-how-we-will-memorialize-dead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diamonds</a> or <a href="https://www.andvinyly.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">record vinyls</a>.</p> <p>However, many of these alternatives are either illegal, unavailable, costly or not aligned with people’s beliefs. The vast majority choose coffin burials, and all countries accept this method. So the question of sustainable burials comes down to choosing between the many types of <a href="https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/death-the-last-taboo/burial-coffins-and-caskets/?gclid=CjwKCAjwx7GYBhB7EiwA0d8oe-mOKjLns2Gj5mpj-mu_kskmPPCKjhOqUrUAEjC05D4pnSXyBP3xrhoCE9oQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coffins available</a>.</p> <h2>What leads to faster decomposition?</h2> <p>Coffins range from traditional wooden caskets, to cardboard coffins, to natural coffins made from willow, banana leaf or bamboo, which decompose faster.</p> <p>The most environmentally sustainable choice is one that allows the body to decompose and reduce to a skeleton (or “skeletonise”) quickly – possibly in just a few years.</p> <p>Our research has presented three key findings on conditions that promote the skeletonisation of human bodies.</p> <p>First, it has confirmed that bodies disposed in traditionally sealed tombs (where a coffin is placed inside a stone space) can take more than 40 years to skeletonise.</p> <p>In these sealed tombs, bacteria rapidly consume the oxygen in the stone space where the coffin is placed. This creates a micro-environment that promotes an almost indefinite preservation of the body.</p> <p>We also found burial grounds with a high percentage of sand and gravel in the soil promote the decomposition and skeletonisation of bodies in less than ten years – even if they are in a coffin.</p> <p>That’s because this soil composition allows more circulation of air and microfauna, and ample water drainage – all of which are helpful for degrading organic matter.</p> <p>Finally, our research confirmed previous suspicions about the slow decomposition of entombed bodies. We discovered placing bodies inside stone tombs, or covering them with a stone slab on the ground, helps with the formation of corpse wax (or “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33596512/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adipocere</a>”).</p> <p>This substance is the final result of several chemical reactions through which the body’s adipose (fat) tissues turn to a “soapy” substance that’s very resistant to further degradation. Having corpse wax slows down (if not completely arrests) the decomposition process.</p> <h2>A new, greener option</h2> <p>In looking for innovative burial solutions, we had the opportunity to experiment with a new type of body disposal in a tomb called an “<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6756/2/3/37" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aerated tomb</a>”.</p> <p>Over the past 20 years aerated tombs have been developed in some European countries including France, Spain and Italy (where they <a href="https://www.tecnofar-solutions.com/prodotti/sistema-aerato-loculi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have</a> <a href="https://www.argema.net/loculi-aerati/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been</a> <a href="https://www.ala-strutture-cimiteriali.com/loculi-aerati" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercialised</a>). They allow plenty of ventilation, which in turn enables a more hygienic and faster decomposition of bodies compared to traditional tombs.</p> <p>They have a few notable features:</p> <ul> <li> <p>an activated carbon filter purifies gases</p> </li> <li> <p>fluids are absorbed by two distinct biodegrading biological powders, one placed at the bottom of the coffin and the other in a collecting tray beneath it</p> </li> <li> <p>once the body has decomposed, the skeletal remains can be moved to an ossuary (a site where skeletal remains are stored), while the tomb can be dismantled and most of its components potentially recycled.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Aerated tombs are also cheaper than ordinary tombs and can be built from existing tombs. They would be simple to use in Australia and would comply with public health and hygiene standards.</p> <p>Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about what will happen to our bodies after we die. Perhaps we should. In the end this may be one of our most important last decisions – the implications of which extend to our precious planet.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/coffin-casket-cremation-how-to-make-your-death-more-environmentally-friendly-188456" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

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Rockhampton family says funeral home swapped $1,700 coffin for cheap box

<p>When Rockhampton woman Janice Cecilia Valigura passed away at the age of 74 on New Year’s Eve, her family understandably wanted to give her a beautiful, respectful send-off. As such, they chose a “gorgeous” oak coffin worth $1,700 from Harts Family Funerals.</p> <p>However, when they arrived at the crematorium, they found their expensive, ornate casket purchased from Harts Family Funerals had been switched with a cheap pine box after the requiem mass had ended, and that all the personal letters written by Janice’s children and placed on her heart had been tossed inside.</p> <p>“[The funeral director] knew the family would have gone to a huge effort to give Janice a respectful send-off and what she was put in was absolutely degrading to my aunty,” Janice’s niece Kerry Rothery told the <em><a href="https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/police-investigate-shocking-rocky-coffin-switch-cl/3307524/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Rockhampton Morning Bulletin</span></strong></a></em>.</p> <p>Shockingly, Kerry was told by the director, Tony Hart, that the practice was “commonplace”. On Tuesday, he told the <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/funeral-director-on-coffin-switch-body-put-in-cheap-pine-coffin-to-save-real-one-from-cracking/news-story/cddc56c283bb91de4ea60aeccb9a93f1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Courier Mail</span></em></strong></a> he had switched the coffins to prevent the expensive one cracking in the cold, since a delay at the crematorium meant Janice’s casket had to be returned to the freezer.</p> <p>“The coffin she was cremated in was the same one that the family bought,” Hart claimed, denying he had ever cremated someone in a different coffin to the one purchased, nor had he ever re-used a coffin.</p> <p>There are now calls for a huge overhaul to the industry which Timothy Button, founder of Just Cremate Me, said has “no regulation at all”. </p> <p>“I think they’re just money-hungry,” he told <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/funeral-homes-alleged-1700-coffin-switch-a-new-low/news-story/7b45707dfcf067a3ed130731522b4f69" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">news.com.au</span></strong></a>.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Kerry Rothery.</em></p>

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5 bizarre alternatives to burial and cremation

<p>Back in the day, there were only two options when it came to dealing with death – you could be buried, or you could be cremated. These days, however, it’s a different story. From being turned into a diamond to having your ashes grow into a beautiful tree, here are 5 bizarre yet incredible alternatives if the “normal” methods sound a little dull.</p> <p><strong>1. Become a diamond</strong></p> <p>A number of companies offer people the opportunity to have their (or their loved one’s) hair or ashes turned into beautiful, sparkling diamonds in a range of cuts and colours, so you can be with your loved one even in death and shine forever.</p> <p><strong>2. Grow into a tree</strong></p> <p>Thanks to special biodegradable urns, you can “plant” your loved one in their favourite place and watch a beautiful tree grow from their ashes – a great option for nature lovers and those wanting to give back to the earth.</p> <p><strong>3. Fireworks</strong></p> <p>Want to go out with a bang? You can – literally. If you’re not a fan of the idea of being trapped in an urn, you can scatter your ashes in style by having them fired into the sky in a glorious firework display – the perfect send-off for the vibrant, bubbly, colourful person in your life.</p> <p><strong>4. Be pressed into a vinyl record</strong></p> <p>A US company called And Vinyly (what a pun!) has come up with a way for you to share your favourite song long after you’re gone – by having your ashes pressed into a working vinyl record. The ashes do interfere with the sound, but the “pops and crackles” you’d hear would simply be your loved one’s own stamp.</p> <p><strong>5. Become part of a reef</strong></p> <p>Ideal for seafarers, surfers and lovers of the ocean, Reef Ball Australia’s “Rest in Reef” service allows you to have your remains become part of an eco-friendly, artificial reef so you can literally become one with the ocean.</p> <p>Have you ever heard of (or used) any of these services before? What would you like to be done with your remains when you pass? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.</p>

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David Bowie secretly cremated with no family or friends present

<p>He was the larger than life music legend, but for his final goodbye, David Bowie wanted a modest ending.  </p> <p>Before the legend passed away aged 69 on January 10 after a private 18-month battle with cancer, he told his loved ones – wife, Iman, and two children - he wanted a quiet goodbye and to “go without any fuss”.</p> <p>Bowie was reportedly cremated in secret after he died without any family or friends present.</p> <p>He wanted only to be remembered for his music and his brilliant life, shared with the important people in his life.</p> <p>“There is no public or private service or a public memorial. There is nothing,” a New York-based source told The Mirror.</p> <p>“In many respects you don’t need a memorial or service to remember David by… you have his music instead,” the source said.</p> <p>“He would have wanted to just disappear with no fuss, no big show, no fanfare. This would totally be his style.</p> <p>“His last album Blackstar was very much his goodbye to fans instead.”</p> <p><strong>Related links: </strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/entertainment/music/2016/01/david-bowies-greatest-hits/"></a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/music/2016/01/david-bowies-greatest-hits/">David Bowie’s greatest hits</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2016/01/iconic-images-to-celebrate-the-life-of-david-bowie/">14 iconic images to celebrate the life of David Bowie</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2016/01/how-david-bowie-kept-his-cancer-secret/">How David Bowie kept his cancer secret</a></strong></em></span></p>

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