The Cornish Funeral Company Ltd Wins Award for Sustainability.
The environment and achieving sustainability are major driving forces for us so we were delighted to be Highly Commended at the Cornwall Sustainability Awards 2021 last week in the Carbon Neutral catagory – a public acknowledgement of our sustainable approach to funerals. It was great to hear at the awards ceremony about all the innovative and commendable work that is being developed and offered in Cornwall and we are pleased to be part of a big green movement within Cornwall. We would like to thank Tevi for their help and support in our work towards sustainability.
Death is inevitable but the detrimental environmental effect of funerals needs to be addressed, something we show our commitment to in the following ways.
How we are achieving sustainability.
Our premises
Here at The Cornish Funeral Company, we are leading awareness of eco-funerals in Cornwall. The environment has always been key to our ethos. Helped by a loan and a Tevi grant, we have extended our offering by providing the wildlife-enhancing spaces of a walled garden and a 1,500 square metre wildflower meadow. These provide a beautiful and gentle environment where we can meet families, hold vigils and small funeral or memorial ceremonies. We started the project in 2020 but, due to delays caused by Covid and inclement weather, we were only able to plant and sow much of it this spring and are still finishing the walled garden.
In March we planted a memorial hedge of 330 native flowering trees – one for each of the funerals we had done since we started in 2014. These provide food for pollinators and also enhance the number and range of available habitat for pollinators and birds. We chose the following trees with care, to ensure a long flowering period and to attract certain species of birds – sea buckthorn; blackthorn; rosa rugosa; wild cherry; spindle; privet; field maple; hazel; hawthorn; elder; crab apple and dog rose.
In June we finally had the weather to sow our bee and butterfly wildflower mixes and were delighted to see the meadow flowering before the end of July. Even now, there are still a few flowers in bloom but the recent storms have flattened a lot so we have started to harvest the seeds before we cut the flowers down.
Our walled garden should be finished by the end of the year. The hard design of the walled garden has all been made from recycled or natural building products. The rammed earth walls consist of 60% subsoil (from the digging for our new sceptic tank), 30% sand and only 10% cement. The “fourth wall” will be south-facing and will be ideal for bee and insect hotels which we are preparing in time for spring.
Aiming to be off grid
Delays in delivery of materials have held up the construction of the new garage which will form the fourth wall, but we hope to have it finished soon. We will then be able to install our 7kW array of PV panels which will power the office and our refrigeration, thereby reducing our energy consumption. It is our long-term aim to be off grid as much as possible.
Transport
Instead of specially-built vehicles, we use standard Volvo estate cars which give excellent fuel economy and have a smaller carbon footprint than a hearse. We aspire to more environmentally friendly vehicles. Currently, conversion of our cars to electric or hydrogen is financially unviable but will become more attainable as the technology and network become more mainstream.
Products that we supply
We only supply environmentally-sustainable coffins, shrouds and ashes containers and do not use the “traditional wooden” coffins which are made from veneered chipboard and MDF (medium density fibreboard). Supplying local products is important and we are delighted to work locally with Jessie Carr of Cornish Willow Coffins as well as to offer Somerset Willow coffins. We offer other imported woven coffins which are all environmentally-friendly made from ethical and sustainable sources. Our cardboard coffins are made of at least 70% recycled paper and wood pulp sourced from reputable sustainable forests. We also offer a more traditional solid paulownia wood coffin which is very light and grows both quickly and sustainably. We are proud to have done the first shroud cremations in the county as well as using shrouds for burial. Interestingly, our sales of cardboard coffins have grown significantly as the public becomes more aware of the benefits.
Care of the deceased
We reject harmful chemicals and processes such as embalming and use only natural products and essential oils when washing the deceased. We encourage families that want to help us wash and dress the deceased to choose an essential oil that is special to them.
Informing others
Helping others to achieve a greener funeral is important to us. In May we promoted the national Dying Matters Awareness Week with a stall in the Farmers’ Market on Lemon Quay, Truro where we showcased a locally-made coffin from Cornish Willow Coffins near Liskeard and a beautiful organic floral coffin spray from The Flower Hut at Stithians. More recently, we had a stand at the “Green Shoots – Growing the skills for a sustainable future” conference in Truro cathedral where we displayed a cardboard coffin.
Future Work
Committed to reducing the negative impact that funerals can have on the environment, we want to use our knowledge to suggest positive and achievable remedies. One idea is the development of a community-owned natural burial site in Mid-Cornwall which would reduce the amount of travelling required to reach Penwith Burial Ground (past Newlyn) or Pentiddy Natural Burials (past Liskeard). We are looking to work with others to explore and progress this so please do get in touch if you have any ideas.
In summary, we are a successful, small and dedicated team, who provide a caring and professional service to families with sustainably-sourced products and a new approach to funerals – thereby enabling us to achieve a triple bottom line and helping people to both live and die sustainably.
How you can arrange a greener funeral
Burial or cremation?
Often people have a firm idea of whether they would prefer to be buried or cremated. Cremations now account for about 80% of funerals in the UK. One cremation uses as much energy in the form of gas and electricity as a 500 mile car trip, and releases 400 kilos of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere so it’s good to try to offset as much as possible if choosing a cremation.
Burials are available in church or parish graveyards or in town, city or council cemeteries some of which will have a more sympathetic approach to nature with wild areas and a “no-mow” policy. Alternatively there are an increasing amount of natural burial sites where the site either creates or preserves a natural habitat for local flora and fauna. Embalming is not permitted for natural burial sites and coffins must be of natural and biodegradable materials.
For those lucky enough, it is possible to be buried on private land with the landowner’s permission and where the Environment Agency is satisfied that it will not impact on any nearby water courses. It is also important to remember that the burial could impact on the value of the land should it need to be sold in the future.
Choice of coffin
Try to choose a coffin that is made from natural materials and is biodegradable, avoiding the traditional veneered chipboard or MDF ones with plastic handles that aren’t load-bearing. A locally made coffin will have a smaller carbon footprint although they are a bit more expensive due them being individually made. Again, cardboard coffins or a simple shroud are good alternatives.
Embalming is toxic
Avoid embalming unless absolutely necessary such as the repatriation of a body from abroad. Exposure to embalming fluid can affect the respiratory tract, brain, coordination as well as being very carcinogenic. The harmful fluids also damage the ground and air when buried or cremated.
Flowers for the coffin
Most people like to have a floral display on the coffin which, with a bit of thought, can be environmentally friendly. There is an increasing number of organic flower growers as well as florists who promote flowers that have been grown locally and sustainably. They use natural and biodegradable supports and oasis that can go in with the coffin if that is desired. Alternatively, many families like to supply their own sprays and posies picked from their own gardens. We often work an opportunity into the funeral ceremony for individual mourners to place single flowers or posies on to the coffin as a last tribute and mark of love and respect.
Flowers are symbolic and can have individual meanings – we are hoping to bring you more information on this in the future.
Orders of Service
Orders of service or memorial cards can be designed and printed by the family. Using recycled paper is a good choice.
Travel to the funeral
Most of us will have had to travel significant distances to attend a funeral at some point. Flying is often unavoidable but, where possible, it is good to travel by train or to car-share with other family and friends. Recently, Covid travel restrictions have prevented many people from attending funerals and this has been a cause of much distress. Luckily modern technology and webcasts of funerals have enabled many to at least be able to watch.
Planting trees
We all know about the importance of planting trees to help to reduce carbon dioxide levels. Planting a tree to honour the memory of a loved family member or friend is a beautiful tribute with poignant and life-affirming symbolism. If you have space this is something that you can do yourself. Alternatively, there are various schemes available, a selection of which are below:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/plant-a-tree
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/08/dedicate-trees-in-memory/
https://treesforlife.org.uk/support/plant-a-tree/tree-certificates/
https://www.memorialtreeuk.com/
https://www.nationalforest.org/get-involved/plant-a-tree/dedicate-a-tree
https://www.lifeforalife.org.uk/
Future developments
Cremations are the most common choice for funerals but there is concern about their environmental effects and the amount of energy that they use which also impacts on the cost. Burials are dependent upon there being sufficient available land and would not be viable for a majority of funerals. Consequently, different possibilities are being researched and explored. Two potential options are water cremations and human composting…
(i) Water cremations (also known as Alkaline Hydrolysis, flameless or cremation)
This process essentially involves placing the body in an alkaline solution of 95% water and 5% potassium hydroxide or hydrogen hydroxide within a stainless-steel container. The solution is heated up and subsequently dissolves the body until only the bones and any prosthetics (that would be burnt in a flame cremation) are left. The bones are then cremulated as in a traditional cremation and returned to the family as ash which can be interred, scattered or memorialised as normal. The process does not produce harmful emissions like regular cremation and takes only about 1/8 the energy. Water cremations are already offered as a funeral choice in Canada and some parts of the United States. Plans for water cremations are currently being considered here in the UK.
(ii) Natural organic reduction – also known as body or human composting
A new and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burial or cremation is to “compost” the body into a nutrient rich soil. This is done by placing the body in a container that is then filled with oxygen and organic material (such as wood chips) which contain fungi, bacteria and organic organisms. These are crucial for the process as is heating the container to between 130 – 160 degrees as they speed up the process as well as ensuring that the soil at the end does not have any harmful or dangerous pathogens.
The composting process takes up to 30 days. Everything is safely transformed into compost other than the non-organic prosthetics and pacemakers which are duly sorted out and recycled. The soil is then given to the family for them to scatter or to use as a fertiliser in their garden. Unlike regular cremation, the composting process does not produce the harmful emissions of traditional cremations and uses only about 1/8 of the energy. This process is not yet available in the UK.
