NDC Australia and New Zealand Funeral Resources
South Australian Inquiry in Bushland Burials
19th October 2006
The South Australian Government's Environment, Resources and Development Committee have recently received final submissions for their inquiry into establishing Australia's first true bushland burial. Their report is due by early 2007. Australia still does not have a real green cemetery. There are a couple of cemeteries with a "bushland" setting but they still support the traditional burial practices of wooden (particle board) coffins, headstones etc. The inquiry, headed by Bob Such will look into a suitable location for the cemetery where biodegradable coffins and caskets will be used and only native shrubs or trees will be placed over the location of the burial site. According to Bob Such –
"The great thing about natural burial grounds is that they provide a positive contribution to the environment. They are easy to maintain. They are inexpensive to implement, because the person is buried in a cardboard or a wicker coffin, and a tree is planted above or alongside the cremated remains. There is a little plaque next to the tree or at the entrance of the natural burial ground, saying that a particular tree represents the place where a particular person was buried or their cremated remains have been placed."
South Australia was an innovator in funeral practices by being the first State in Australia to introduce cremation facilities in 1909. They will now be the first State to introduce natural burial grounds. This is innovation that is long over due.
To read the whole speech by Bob Such, please click on the link below:-
http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/catalog/hansard/2006/ha/wh210906.ha.htm
Cardboard Casket Manufacture Shakes-up Funeral Industry
OnEarth is the first manufacturer in Australia to launch a low-cost, environmentally friendly cardboard funeral casket that also meets the OH&S standards for the Australian funeral industry. OnEarth Australia will now make these caskets available directly to the public and to funeral directors throughout Australia. This is the first time a 100% recycled cardboard funeral casket has been tested and approved by internationally recognised testing authority – TestSafe Australia. The caskets have been tested for structural integrity (up to 120kg) even after being in cold storage (30C) for up to seven (7) days.
Ivor Hay, OnEarth Australia's Managing Director, said, "With the rising costs of funerals, the Australian public is demanding low-cost and environmentally friendly options when planing a funeral." Consumers can now buy direct or instruct their funeral director to order the casket. He also added "there is no legal reason why independently tested and approved cardboard caskets cannot be used in any Australian State. We have made every effort to ensure that our innovative and attractive funeral caskets meet the strict occupational health and safety requirements of the funeral industry and the various State Government legislative requirements. Our caskets now allow consumers to take more control when planning a funeral either for themselves or for their loved ones."
Caskets are available in plain white or the more traditional decorative wood-grain and lacquered finish.
Further information can be found at:-
www.onearth.com.au http://www.onearth.com.au/
Natural Burial in Australia
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South Australia: Dr Bob Such MP, an independent member of the House of Assembly in the Parliament of South Australia, recently chaired a Select Committee which was appointed to consider various issues surrounding the operation of cemeteries in South Australia. The final report of the Committee included a recommendation regarding the further use of alternative cemetery models such as natural burial grounds.
Resources for Funeral Arrangements
Private groups - Australia
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Email Zenith Virago:
"Death is a natural part of life, a part of the cycle of all living things. The mystery! As you may know, the Far North Coast of Australia, is the place where birth was reclaimed, by the alternative, or more natural communities in the 1970s and '80s, and for the past ten years or so, we have really been reclaiming death.
"I have been a celebrant for the past ten years, and a consultant on death matters for most of that time, I have also been a liaison point for people all over Australia. It is my hope, that soon with a group of friends we will establish a Natural Death Centre in Australia, here in Byron Bay. We see this as a resource and information centre and a distribution point for different death-related products that have a more natural flavour.
"Over the years, I have been running sessions and educating on death, funerals, and celebrancy. Contributing to the training of volunteers for palliative care and hospice services in this area, and sharing with the community the legal and social knowledge around death and dying. I run two courses a year for people who want to become more informed about the legal and social details around death. I have also been conducting ceremonies that are more a Celebration of Life, and consulting with people who are dying, or who just want to be prepared for what will come. Giving away information about what is possible, dispelling myths and misnomers, encouraging people to create a meaningful and appropriate rite of passage, in a location and a way that is of comfort to those left behind." Check out: www.abc.net.au/backyard/features/northcoasttales.htm
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Cardboard Coffins: My Way Funerals, Mitchell Park, Adelaide, are offering $30 cardboard coffins for people with small budgets or environmental concerns. "Why do we have to cut down big, beautiful trees ... just for something that is going to be burnt?" Ms Williams said. "I would quite comfortably put my parents in a cardboard coffin."
Cardboard or 'eco coffins' have been legal in South Australia since the 1980s but many funeral directors do not offer them. State Government regulations about the use of eco-coffins state they can hold a maximum weight of 100kg, must be lined with plastic and not refrigerated, and are for cremation and not burial.Summarised from an article in the theadvertiser.com.au, 19 February 2004.
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Sea burials: Sea Burials Australia, working with with Sapphire Coast Funerals (Munje Street 2549, Pambula, tel: 02 6495 7077, fax: 02 6495 7184), is offering burial at sea from Mitchies Jetty at Fishpen, Merimbula. The body is weighted, wrapped in a heavy shroud, and placed in a solid red cedar coffin. It is then taken 40km out to sea, to a water depth of 2,000m. Up to 12 people can accompany the body. You need to express your wish for a sea burial in your will or in a letter with the will.
Private groups - New Zealand
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Living Legacies: An environmental funeral consultancy with an "innovative, sustainable and celebratory approach to life, death and funerals". For EverGreen Funerals, which promote the use of biodegradable coffins, etc; Educational services; An advisory service for councils and other organisations; and Counselling - contact Living Legacies, PO Box 140, Motueka, New Zealand (tel/fax 03 528 5220; e: info@livinglegacies.co.nz; w: www.livinglegacies.co.nz). The book, Living Legacies: A family funeral handbook for an evergreen world costs NZ$35 incl. p&p.
Lynda Hannah of Living Legacies comments: "I have made submissions to two councils about establishing Natural Burial Parks in the South Island. They both received the idea with interest."I will (as soon as possible) be changing New Zealand law to allow for the burial of bodies in places other than existing cemeteries, so that folk can set up Parks or Living Legacies around the country. Watch this space."
Press Release, 9 December 2003:
Wellington will be the first city outside of the UK to boast its own natural cemetery, after a Wellington City Council Committee today agreed in principle to a proposal by Natural Burials. Natural Burials, a four-year-old New Zealand organisation dedicated to creating and operating natural cemeteries, had sought permission from the Council to lease unused cemetery-zoned land at Makara. The Director of Natural Burials, Mark Blackham, praised the Council Committee for their visionary addition to the city¹s Cemetery Management Plan of the intent to facilitate the establishment of a natural cemetery.
He said the decision was exciting for the city, and for New Zealand.
"Soon New Zealanders will be able to have something many of them have always wanted when they die - to be buried in the bush. In death, people can nourish and fund the growth of a native forest the ultimate memorial to them, and for their families," he said.
Mr Blackham said natural burials represented a new era of openness toward the subject of death. People were demanding more choice in the manner of their funeral and final resting place.
"Our research is showing that many people find the idea of lying in peace in a native forest, and contributing to the creation of that forest through the death process, very comforting and satisfying. People who choose natural burial will have a native tree planted on their grave instead of a headstone, with the surrounding area restored to native bush over time," he said.
"The goal is to give people the choice, through death, to contribute to a regenerating native forest cemetery and to have a burial that genuinely benefits the environment."
A natural burial differs from a conventional burial in the following ways:
* Bodies buried in a natural cemetery are buried intact, as they lived, wrapped in a shroud or in a light eco-coffin;
* Bodies are not embalmed, in order to speed return of the body to the earth and reduce harm caused to soil from toxic embalming fluids;
* A native tree replaces the headstone, although people can use small engraved local stones placed at the base of the tree;
* Bodies are buried one metre below the ground, rather than the conventional six feet clay burial, to facilitate the breakdown of the body;
* Families and friends can dig the graves themselves if they wish;
* The cemetery site is gradually restored to a full native or natural eco-system.
"Natural cemeteries have become increasingly popular around the world. In the UK, natural burials are growing three times faster than cremation did when first popularised. Research conducted by Natural Burials shows a third of New Zealanders want a burial that benefits the environment and helps create native bush parks," said Mr Blackham. The land to be used is already zoned as cemetery land and is currently in the very early stages of regenerating back to native bush.
"The area has a very Wellington ambience. The regeneration process will give family and friends a uniquely beautiful and restful spot to remember loved ones."
Mr Blackham said Natural Burials had already prepared plans for how it would operate the natural cemetery, and would now work with Council officials on the details.
Natural Burials was set up in 1999 create and run natural cemeteries. Its senior personnel and advisory group consists of doctors, ecologists, environmentalists, funeral directors, and business-people from around the country.
It is linked to the UK-based Natural Death Centre, and adheres to the Code of Practice of the Association of Natural Burial Grounds.
Contact Mark Blackham, Natural Burials Director: PO Box 22240, Khandallah, Wellington, NZ (tel NZ 021 891 042 (e-mail: info@naturalburials.com).
E-mail us with updates and any other information you think might be useful: contact@naturaldeath.org.uk
