Swapping a lacquered coffin with plastic parts for untreated pine, cardboard, or a wicker basket can significantly reduce emissions from a burial. As Australians face end-of-life decisions, the environmental cost of deathcare is gaining attention.
Cremation and Burials: Environmental Costs
In many Western countries, cremation is the most common method, chosen by about three-quarters of Australians. However, it is arguably the most environmentally damaging. Sustainability certifiers PlanetMark found a typical gas cremation releases a plume equivalent to 125kg of carbon dioxide, including methane, nitrous oxides, sulphur dioxide, and other volatile organic compounds. Mercury from tooth fillings can also be vaporised. Other industry figures suggest emissions could be higher, comparable to driving a Ford Ranger from Melbourne to Canberra.
Traditional burials also have drawbacks: chemicals leach into the ground as deeply buried bodies and treated timber coffins break down, and after-burial site maintenance releases greenhouse gases. Dr Kate Falconer, an Australian death law researcher at University College Cork in Ireland, notes, 'Basically the entirety of our history as an Australian society, we’ve only really done two things and that was seen as entirely sufficient.'
Australians Open to Alternatives
Dr Domenic Trimboli, an architect and urban planner at Curtin University who has researched funerary practices in Australia, says many people are curious about alternatives: 'Many people, regardless of age, had thought about what they wanted to have happen to them, and there was definitely a curiosity about alternatives.'
Cleaner Options: Natural Burials and Aquamation
Minimalist natural burials involve minimal preparation or embalming. The deceased is buried in a natural-fibre shroud or biodegradable coffin at a shallow depth, decomposing into the soil over about a decade. This releases negligible greenhouse gas and returns the body to the earth.
Aquamation, also known as resomation or alkaline hydrolysis, uses water instead of fire. The body breaks down in an alkaline solution within hours, leaving bones to be powdered. This process is more 'pure' than gas cremation, which mingles coffin and body as ash. Terramation (human composting) is being considered in Australia; independent MP Alex Greenwich recently introduced a bill to NSW parliament to allow it.
Sustainable Caskets
Even traditional methods can be made more sustainable. Falconer says, 'Smaller decisions on a larger scale, I think, would make a really significant difference.' Coffins are often coated in lacquer, lined with plastic, and have plastic handles, and are generally imported. Swapping to untreated pine, cardboard, or wicker reduces emissions.
PlanetMark estimates a mahogany veneer coffin with plastic handles and lining leads to over 170kg of emissions if cremated. In contrast, a natural burial with a cardboard coffin and rope handles emits less than 10kg; a biodegradable bag emits just 0.3kg. Trimboli notes that alternatives often cost little more than cremation: 'There’s no reason that over time that can’t become a lot more competitive, if it’s not already.'
Industry Changes
Sharyn Moll, a former funeral director and national councillor for Funerals Australia, helped develop an industry sustainability guide published last year. She says, 'A lot of the call [for sustainable practices] is actually coming from the industry rather than from the public. Every business needs to try and be more sustainable, so it’s just good business really.'
Plan Ahead
Falconer says the biggest impediment to sustainable deathcare is that Australians often leave funeral decisions until after a loved one dies. 'The tiniest of decisions has significant environmental impacts.' Executors under grief and time pressure default to traditional burials or cremations. Moll adds, 'If people insist on having what they see as a “standard” funeral, then that’s what we have to give them. What the industry would really like to see is people becoming more aware of what’s available, so they can think it through and talk with family, so when the time comes, they already know what they would like.'
