https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-03/ ... n/12719470Flatpack coffins help the environment, funeral costs and the grieving process
Key points:
A group in Tasmania is trying to lift the lid on funeral expenses
Members have been making DIY coffins from wood but are now branching into cardboard
They say it's cheaper, more environmentally friendly and can come as a flatpack
When Jenny Cox's brother-in-law Phil died earlier this year she knew a cardboard coffin was the perfect choice.
"We were looking for a solution for Phil that was really environmentally friendly," she said.
"This coffin was made out of bioboard so it was a compostable coffin and that really fitted with his values and the things he believed in.
"He was a strong environmentalist and loved the bush." ...
Ms Cox said painting the coffin helped her grieve and heal.
"When you paint, the process of painting makes you become calm and centred and you have to do that to be able to paint," she said.
"So it actually helped me immensely, just the physical process of being still and painting." ...
Gina McKinlay said she was completely at peace with having terminal lung cancer.
"Dying has never bothered me, it's a process of life," she said.
She has outlived her prognosis by three and a half years.
Last year, with the help from volunteers at the club, she built her own coffin out of pine but would also recommend cardboard. "It's a feeling of accomplishment too, it might be the last large thing that you make, who knows." ...
Whatever your thoughts about cardboard coffins, thinking about what you will be buried in beats avoiding thinking about death altogether.
Kim