Floral tributes
Many floral tributes are made using a plastic wreath ring or letters used to spell out a name or message, such as “Dear Mum/Dad. The plastic is filled with flora foam which is made up from small particles of plastic. This foam takes many years to break down and, as you can imagine, is not the best thing when considering the environment.
There are other alternatives that could be used. Things like Enviro Flora foam. Even this foam will take on average two to three years to break down so we would always like to encourage the traditional forms of floristry where possible. The use of bouquets, tied with jute or raffia, which can be easily composted, is something we would like people to consider, and we would encourage floral tributes to be simple and minimal.
We do not ban certain floral tributes within our cemeteries but we encourage you to consider the environment when you are selecting your floral tribute options.
- We would like natural flowers tied with string or raffia. Single stems or petals. Mosses, woven wooden frames and bamboo without wire.
- Everything should be compostable.
- You should avoid plastic moulds, frames, wires, netting, oasis, florist’s foam or cellophane as these all have an impact on the environment.
- Floral tributes should be made from seasonal, British grown growers, which lowers the carbon footprint and also supports local growers and farmers.
- Cheltenham crematorium grounds are home to an abundance of wildlife, some of which may damage floral tributes and as such the council cannot accept responsibility for tributes left displayed in any of its grounds.
- At Christmas, any Christmas wreaths are left until the end of February when they are all removed. The council reserves the right to remove, without notice, any floral tributes that in its opinion have become unsightly.
Coffin construction
The majority of coffins used are made of veneer faced chipboard or MDF. The construction of these products involves the use of formaldehyde and other resins to bind the materials together. In turn, these then enter the watercourses and the water table.
We would like to encourage funeral directors not to use MDF or vaneer faced chipboard coffins and to be as environmentally aware as possible.
All coffins being brought to our crematorium must be certified suitable for cremation in accordance with the Funeral Furnishing Manufacturers Association (FFMA) or the Coffin, Casket and Shroud Association (CCSA).
Contents within the coffin
In order to minimise the release of pollutants to air; clothing should be of natural fibres, such as cotton, linen and wool whereas shoes or any material manufactured from PVC should not be included. Additional items, particularly of glass or plastic, must not be placed in the coffin due to particulate emissions during combustion within the cremation process.