Willow coffins

[MrsBertBibby]

Hi

Does anyone know if the allegedly eco friendly coffins are actually any "better" than a normal one? Or is it just performative nonsense with a hefty price tag.

We need to pick one, for a cremation, and my search so far only brings up industry fluff.

Thanks.

Sorry for your loss.

Bumping for you as I don’t have an answer sorry.

I went to a talk once from a funeral director (the royal family's funeral director no less!) and his firm view was performative nonsense but sadly I can't remember why.

He was very clear about the over selling that goes on the funeral business and was also very into other options such as woodland burial. His recommendation was basic standard coffin.

Plain soft wood is most environmentally sound, avoid extras, they basically harm the environment and your pocket. Sorry for your loss

There is a lot of planning that will need to do beforehand. Willow is not as green as you might think.
I would like a woodland burial, but that means my body cannot be embalmed so I need all of the family to be OK with that, probably also means no funeral due to timescales. I would like a Christian service, so that would be a memorial - again need all family to be happy as there is no time for discussion before I would start to decompose.
I have had discussions with DH but would need to speak to the DC who are nearly and just adult, also would make sense to pay in advance.

I think there's less "stuff" in it so on that basis more eco-friendly - and willow is faster-growing than other trees, so would need less land to grow the coffins iyswim.

They are very pretty - I went to a funeral where the family had threaded flowers though the weave, it was beautiful.

They do creak a bit when the bearers carry them in and lay them on the bench for the ceremony though - just so you know.

I think you may also be able to get cardboard - ie recycled? My Mum always says that's what she wants - but now I write that I realise she might just be making it up as a joke?

I am sorry for your loss. In many ways now is not the best time to have to make these decisions but as you asked. A willow coffin makes no sense ecologically if you're going to have a cremation, the coffin wood actually provides some of the fuel needed so a plain softwood cofin is a good choice. And the basket creaks as it is being carried which was distracting in an odd way, the coffin was also not that rigid and sagged a bit under the torso, it seemed not very dignified. Now I know I expect I wouldn't mind next time though.

My dad has a cardboard coffin waiting for him in his attic
(I wish I was joking)
He cheerfully tells us that as he rots away so does the coffin-leaving 4 screws apparently
I think it cost him £150 ish

@candycane222

Not making it up!
My dad had a cardboard coffin nearly 20 years ago.

Cardboard coffins cost around £400 now.

The cheaper 'wood' ones are veneer.

No idea if willow ones are better environmentally than veneer ones for cremation. Definitely better for burials.

You are all reminding me about the talk now - the funeral director's objections to willow and cardboard were based on practicality i.e. what it was like to carry them, what they were like as containers and that definitely for willow the eco credentials were overblown.

£400! That's - surprising. But I suppose anything else is going to be several times as much.

@candycane222

£400! That's - surprising. But I suppose anything else is going to be several times as much.

Not at all. The wood veneer ones can be around £100 cheaper.

@AnnaMagnani is right about practicality. Cardboard and willow are ok, but they come in standard sizes. Not an option if the deceased was exceptionally tall or morbidly obese. Also not great if the body 'purges' once already in the coffin (ie, leaks bodily fluids).