Experiences of a coffineer - Part 10

A really useful trip to the crematorium

It's quite a few months since we had our first cremation. In order to prove our suitability, we needed to "crem test" our Curve coffin and so, with a little negotiation, arranged a suitable date with a very nice lady at Mortlake Crematorium in South West London.

Via a local firm of FDs, we agreed to donate one of our hand-painted Curve coffins for a local man whose family could not afford to fund his funeral - we were delighted that we could help out in this small way and not just waste one of our beautiful coffins on an empty burning. 

Since the deceased gentleman was originally from South Africa, we offered to decorate the coffin with an Agapanthus design (African Lilly). 

             Pallbearers carrying a hand-painted Curve coffin into Mortlake Crematorium

We've had a few comments since to say that our beautiful coffins are far too good to burn, but then again, they are probably too good to stick in the ground as well and this is the nature of the business that we're in - creating beautiful, hand painted coffins to help people celebrate the lives of their lost ones.

But in this day and age of ecological awareness, just how "green" is the cremation process?

The answer, of course, primarily depends on the age of the cremator (or more accurately how modern it is) and therefore how efficiently it operates. Modern cremators operate far more efficiently and cleanly than older ones.

Modern cremators use better technology than their predecessors. The technology within a modern crematorium ensures all exhaust gasses are re-ignited to ensure that the discharges to the atmosphere are kept to a minimum. Modern crematoriums should operate with no odour, no smoke, and no noise emitted to the environment around it – in fact, they are cleaner burning than most wood burners operating in domestic homes. 

Cremation does use scarce energy resources (natural gas) and contributes to the production of greenhouse gases. However modern, properly operated crematoria do minimise this impact. And, as each cremation is completed, heat is retained in the bricks of the cremator. Therefore, the more cremations that take place in a day, the more efficient the cremator becomes.

The beauty of a solid wood coffin is that it actually aids the cremation process by adding to the fuel and thus reducing the amount of gas required to cremate the body.

Then there is the little considered benefit of recycling natural resources.

Following the cremation of a deceased person the ashes are likely to contain metals, such as items used in the construction of the coffin and, frequently, orthopaedic implants, such as hip and knee replacement joints or metal braces used in repairing broken bones. 

In the past these metals were removed from the ashes and buried within the grounds of the crematorium. Nowadays, and this is certainly the case at Mortlake, these metals are often collected and recycled - the money raised is donated to national or local bereavement Charities, such as CRUSE, Macmillan, SANDS and Cancer Research.

So, before you bury Uncle Bob or Aunty Joan, you might just want to consider how much metal they've got inside of them and whether it would be better for the environment to recycle these parts for future use.

For more information about the Curve coffin please visit www.wealdencoffins.co.uk, find us Facebook or follow us on Twitter @wealdencoffins