Sustainability is at the heart of my business, so I source materials locally from the beautiful surroundings of Dartmoor. The wood for the base of the Leafcocoon is either from recycled sources, or from local coppicing. The toggles are made from hazel wood from nearby hedgerows. The wool comes from sheep that graze the hills and valleys of Devon, and it's processed nearby to reduce 'wool miles'. Wool is a natural and renewable fibre: each year tonnes of fleece are shorn from millions of sheep but the wool trade is in decline with the increased use of synthetics. The manufacture of my felt has a low environmental impact and when its useful life is over it makes a good compost ingredient, thereby completing the cycle and returning to the earth.
I aim to be a part of a movement that has a more celebratory approach to funerals as in other cultures, and encourages an imaginative use of rituals old and new.
http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/
Green Funerals
A woodland or meadow burial site offers the choice of a more individual ceremony and welcomes people irrespective of their beliefs. Burial is also an ecologically sound alternative to cremation, which causes atmospheric pollution and involves the use of fossil fuels.
A green burial ground can be a refuge for wildlife and also provides a meeting place in a peaceful setting for the family and friends attending a burial or visiting later.
http://www.nativewoodland.co.uk/
There are new green burial sites opening all the time and many councils have also started to provide this service in both urban as well as more rural spaces.
