Sustainable burial practices gain ground slowly
Wed 01 June 2011
Sarah Owen, Postgraduate certificate in communication
The Sunshine Coast shows little sign of embracing the environmentally-friendly funeral and burial practices emerging in other parts of Australia.
In April, 2011, the Noosa Iconic Panel (NIP) approved a plan to build a crematorium on Eumundi-Noosa Road, Noosaville.
Sunshine Coast Council supported the plan after its Strategy and Planning Committee recommended in its meeting on January 27, 2011, that the panel approve the application. 
On January 28, 2011, Noosa News reported local residents’ contention over emissions from the crematorium and Sunshine Coast Council development planner Marcus Brennan’s response that the efficiency of the dual-chamber furnace system “combusts virtually all smoke and odour emissions”.
Barrister and author Robert Larkins said in his book Funeral Rights that crematoriums produce several emissions.
These include hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, organochlorines, dioxins, furans and mercury.
The laminates, adhesives, woodchip binding products and plastics used in coffin manufacturing contribute significantly to these emissions, and are leading some to consider the benefits of recycled cardboard coffins.
Melbourne University faculty of medicine professor Roger Short supports burial in a cardboard box.
Mr Short, speaking on ABC National’s The Science Show in 2008, said “The latest estimates from a colleague in Adelaide are that if you are cremated in your coffin, you produce 160kg of carbon dioxide, which is a staggering amount”.
Farewells with Flair funeral consultant Chris Dunn said most people chose cremation over burial because it was more economical.
“If they are being cremated in a recycled cardboard coffin, which is using natural, plant-based glues…then it is probably going to be kinder to the environment than, say, a coffin that’s wooden, has been stained…[and] glued together. All of those things are toxic,” Ms Dunn said.
In July, 2009, Ms Dunn received a Sunshine Coast Council (SCRC) arts grant to run a cardboard-coffin art exhibition at the Cooroy Butter Factory.
“Before I had my exhibition with the cardboard coffins that were decorated by different artists, I don’t think many people got to have a cardboard coffin, so I think more people know about cardboard coffins now,” Ms Dunn said.
Ms Dunn said there was no Queensland manufacturer of recycled cardboard coffins, and that ordered her coffins through LifeArt in Sydney.
However, people could request a cardboard coffin from their local funeral director.
Ms Dunn said people take time to process new ideas, so it was important for people to discuss their wishes for a cardboard coffin with family in advance.
“Still we have this attitude…if you don’t have this big glary coffin on the catafalque…then you’re not showing, in monetary terms…how special that person was,” Ms Dunn said.
K.M. Smith Funeral Directors branch manager Leon Eustace witnessed “immense changes” to funeral requests and arrangements in recent years.
However, requests for a natural burial, where the deceased is buried in a shroud or cardboard coffin in a bushland cemetery at a location identifiable by GPS co-ordinates rather than a headstone, are still unusual.
Natural burial practices “will appeal to the people who want that…they are not the norm”, Mr Eustace said.
“There are firms that have embraced it. There’s a move overseas…[people are] talking about burying people standing up [and] an alkaline solution that will erode the body. People are taking those things on board.”
Mr Eustace said the smaller, family-owned funeral homes which own a parcel of land are more likely to adopt natural burial practices than those owned by conglomerates.
The funeral industry is large enough to accommodate diverse requests and provide services that “truly celebrate that person”, Mr Eustace said.
Currently there are no natural burial cemeteries in Queensland.
Ms Dunn believed the future of natural burial grounds on the Sunshine Coast was in “people power” and environmental groups lobbying local government for change.
Noosa Biosphere social sector board chair Bettina Walter said the board frequently made submissions to council to bring about environmental change.
“I believe it is absolutely appropriate for the Biosphere to encourage the development of a natural burial ground,” Ms Walter said.
Sunshine Coast Council cemeteries services manager Rob Luscombe said Queensland has no burial legislation, and local government was responsible for cemetery and burial practices.
Some councils are also doing their own research into natural burials.
Lismore City Council in New South Wales, for instance, is one council now offering natural burial at its BushLand Cemetery.
Mr Luscombe said Sunshine Coast Council “has a strong and diverse approach to the environment”.
“At this time the council has no formal plan…although informal discussions about the introduction of a natural burial cemetery have occurred,” Mr Luscombe said.
Mr Luscombe said other initiatives could be introduced to decrease emissions, reduce the carbon footprint and develop a more sustainable cemetery.
These included environmentally-friendly coffins or not using coffins, restrictions on clothing worn by the deceased, site-preparation methods, maintenance methods, types of infrastructure material used, appropriate choice of landscaping plants, the re-use of excess soil and the effective recycling of cemetery products such as flowers.
Mr Eustace says natural burial practices would not be established “until councils are starting to look at land and are concerned about running out of land [and that is] quite a few years down the track, in my opinion”.
Image(s) designed by Sarah Owen
Enter comments about this article
Submitted Comments
Hi Sarah, great work on an important sustainability issue. The 'not concerned until we run out of space' attitude has contributed to Australia's sprawl and consequent fossil fuel addiction. Finding sustainable alternatives to all aspects of live (including dying) is important. On a personal level I love the cardboard coffin idea and I also love the idea of a tree growing above my corps when my time was up.
Sarah Owen
A very interesting and thought provoking article. Definately the way we need to go in the future.
Joanne Blake
I would definitely choose to be buried in a cardboard coffin. After all it's just a box you're going to burnt in.
Thomas Snowdon