Growing numbers of British people have become less sheepish about planning environmentally-friendly “green” funerals, as figures show that herds of consumers are now choosing to be buried inside coffins made out of wool.
Woollen coffins
Hainsworth, one of the UK’s leading textile mills, have announced a 700% rise in demand for its woollen coffins during the past year. A family business with a history which goes back 229 years, Hainsworth first marketed its woollen coffins in 2009. Last year, the company was still selling only around 15 woollen coffins per month, but this has rocketed up to 120 a month this year.
Woollen burial is actually a surprisingly old-fashioned idea: Britain’s government passed a piece of legislation called the Burial in Woollen Act all the way back in 1668, which made it mandatory for people to be buried in a woollen shroud.
Designed to help stimulate Britain’s wool industry, the act required an affidavit to be sworn before a Justice of the Peace by someone who was close to the person being buried, confirming that this formality had been observed. Non-compliance was punishable with a fine of five pounds, a hefty sum in those days, although exceptions were made for plague victims and families who were too poor to pay for the wool. The Act was not repealed until 1814, although it became increasingly ignored in the latter part of the 18th century.
Green burial
The concept of green burial has only achieved prominence relatively recently, with the number of eco-funerals doubling over the last five years to 50,000. To meet this rising demand, 50 new eco-burial sites have opened during the same period, taking the nationwide total to 270. These include areas of woodland, fields and meadows, and even sections of ordinary municipal cemeteries which have been reserved for green burials.
Debates continue over what exactly constitutes a green funeral, and whether certain burial choices may be “greener” than others. Coffins are one area where someone planning a green funeral now has a fantastic range of choice, according to David Crampton, the president of the Funeral Furnishing Manufacturing Association:
“Wicker is by far the most popular, second to that is cardboard. But others include willow, wool, bamboo, banana leaf, water hyacinth, felt and recycled paper. As more alternative materials have become available, so the popularity [of green funerals] has grown. Ten years ago, it was just wicker and cardboard. Five years ago, alternative coffins made up just 5% [of funerals]. The market will probably continue to grow.”
10% of coffins are now made from alternative materials, as people look for vessels which they hope will not pollute the earth around them too much once they have been laid to rest inside it. With more and more people now taking an active interest in the environment, the trend towards green burials certainly looks set to continue.
To read more about the phenomenon of woollen coffins, you can follow this link to a Guardian article on the subject:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/11/eco-funerals-fleece-woollen-coffins?newsfeed=true
