Ecofunerals

Why are we so resistant to our bodies returning to the earth from which they came, providing nutrients for trees?

We can no longer use our bodies after we die. So why barricade them in thick, ornate, silk-lined coffins made by cutting down trees—with metal parts sourced from mining that degrades the earth? Are we expecting to continue on as vampires, perhaps?

And why burn human remains (cremation), producing further air pollution and greenhouse gases?

I know there are cultural and public health considerations, but still…

I wrote poem about what I’d ideally like to happen with my own earthly remains (post–organ donation)—they’d be buried under a tree, without a coffin:

Let its roots
feed from me;
nourish small children
climbing in branches;
cockatoos, harvesting nuts.

—From ‘as for the rest / final instructions / rebellion’ by Catherin J Pascal Dunk

Ironically, this may not happen, because in the commercialisation of death and the commodification of land, it’s much cheaper to cremate than bury.

While I don’t condone an eco-coffin being flown in from overseas (which at least partly defeats the point, imho), the following article is certainly interesting:

“Sydney woman buried in mushroom coffin in Australia first”, https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/09/07/sydney-woman-buried-in-mushroom-coffin-in-australia-first/

Tibetan “sky burial” is very ecofriendly too (though CW: it may well horrify you)! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial

What would you choose for your own remains, after your death?

Cover photo by Pavel Kuznetsov on Pexels.com