The government has advocated using paper coffin since 2006 due to the lack of suitable crematorium site. However, the promotion campaign only has little effect.
Text: Chow Yan Lam, Wang Bi Qi, Feng Fan
Photo: Wang Bi Qi
“It is all about the efforts of promotion by the government,” said Miss Fung, the Chief Operating Officer of the Hong Kong Green Life, a funeral social enterprise.
For the funeral service industry, there is a professional code of practice to respect different traditional customs and religions, these cultures decide procedures and regulations of the funeral.
Miss Fung, 29-year-old, inherited funeral service industry from her father, said a eco-friendly funeral aims at applying the concept of environmental-friendly into a traditional funeral, not a change in the procedures.
In the traditional funeral, great quantities of flowers are used to mourn the deceased and the flowers usually wither soon. Instead, a eco-friendly funeral uses the recycling items for mourning dress and sympathy flower basket which can effectively reduce the consumption of materials. For instance, artificial flowers can be used for at least two years.
Birth rate can be controlled but death cannot. A traditional coffin is made of three trees generally, and it needs about double times than a paper coffin to be burned. In contrast, popularizing paper coffin is not eco-environment only, but also shortens the waiting time of cremation.
“The relevant department always uses paper coffins to cremate those unclaimed corpses, it may invisibly build up a negative image of paper coffins,” Miss Fung said.
Indeed, paper coffin is fully handmade. Family members are allowed to choose the materials for decoration.
To enhance the public awareness of eco-friendly funeral, it has been promoted to the elderly services organizations like Care and Attention Homes for the Elderly.
According to the feedback from Mr. Sit, the Marketing Manager of the Hong Kong Green Life, the elderly accept the idea of eco-friendly funeral well. They also agree to write a living will, telling their family members that he or she is willing to use a paper coffin and recycled sympathy flower basket for their funeral.
“Persuading the family is very important,” Mr. Sit said, “the family members should respect and comply with the elderly wish if they support the eco-friendly funeral.”
