What is Natural Burial?

More and more people are opting for a Natural Burial where an environmentally friendly cardboard or willow coffin, or woolen or bamboo cloth shroud, or even a pure cotton sheet if you prefer, can be used.

There are a growing number of natural burial grounds in the area providing a beautiful space to bury your loved one. Some natural burial grounds have their own building or chapel where a service can take place before the burial, just as you would at a local churchyard.

Benefits of natural burial grounds can include them being beautiful tranquil places to visit which can be beneficial to grieving and healing. A natural burial ground enables the land to go back to nature after the burial which can also help the grieving process, we all have to go back to nature. Some will allow you to plant a tree or some bulbs to naturalise.

Rather than have a large memorial stone a natural burial ground will often only allow a small flat plaque with the name of the deceased and maybe a few words. Small plaques are easy to source locally and have a much smaller carbon cost than large gravestones which are often imported from India or China. I think you will agree it’s a long way for a stone to come. The environmental impact of the transportation may be something you would like to avoid (not to mention the cost of a stone which can often be £1000 or more).

Sometimes the motivation for a natural burial is environmental. We often don’t think too much about the environmental impact of flowers. Ideally flowers should be in season and locally grown. Even more ideally they could be out of your own garden, or perhaps the most beautiful way to decorate a coffin is for each mourner to bring a flower from their own garden and place it themselves during the ceremony.

A beautiful thing about a natural burial is that there are no time restrictions as there are at a crematorium. If you want to take all day over the ceremony that is fine. You can be as creative as you like and in this way the ceremony can be a very therapeutic and healing experience.

If you are a creative kind of person and would like to learn more about natural burials contact us at https://www.attwoodfunerals.co.uk/contact-us/