Natural Burial Process
There are only 2 natural burial cemeteries in the Wellington Region, one in Makara and one here in Kapiti.
The Natural burial cemetery is part of the Otaki cemetery, now more easily accessible via the new Express Way past Otaki.
The ethos for a natural burial includes:
1. A Natural Casket. A casket made of natural materials like plain pine or woven Cane (not cardboard) and should not have any plastics but rather natural handles such as rope and
lining such as cotton.
2. Chemical-free Deceased preparation. This can be achieved through refrigeration or for viewing through processes such as use of dry Ice or the gentle approach of Eco Prep. See
previous articles on this or visit our website for more information on this chemical-free preparation.
3. Natural Burial Plot. The Cemetery at Otaki has a special Natural burial section that has plots in a ‘grove’ that are larger than a normal burial plot, and shallow for the natural soils to
break down the body more quickly. A native shrub selection is provided to plant on the plot following the burial and a simple wooden marker is placed by the grave. Eventually all the
area will turn into a native grove of bush, and the GPS coordinates of the plot are retained for future reference.
Choosing a natural burial is not necessarily a cheaper option, but is a lovely way to return to the elements with a low carbon footprint. Other ‘clean’ cremation options are available and I will
discuss this in my next article.

Coffins & Caskets
There are many Eco-friendly caskets available, in fact so many that we can’t carry them all in stock. We do have many in our catalogue which can be obtained within 48 hours. The two most used we do have in stock at all times are:
The ‘Plain Pine Box’, known as a Settler Casket – Is made of seconds Pine and supplied with rope handles. – There is also a version of this with plastic handles that are combustible for cremation, this is not used for Natural burial, however. ‘Natural caskets when used for cremation which make them very clean burning.
Another casket often used for Natural burial or clean cremation is: 
The ‘Crafted Pine’ – This is made from 1st NZ pine and supplied with finely crafted wooden handles that are comfortable to carry with. 
As mentioned above, there are many more eco-friendly caskets available including bamboo, ply, woolen, and Cane. Willow and many more.  Some of the suppliers include TenderRest, Return to Sender, and Natural Legacy. We can obtain caskets from all these and many other suppliers.

Deceased Preparations
There are many preparation options available that minimise the harmful effects of chemicals on the environment.
Simply doing nothing to the deceased does not rid the body of harmful toxins in the body or the chemicals induced through medications during the later stages of illness.
There are two options we suggest for eco-friendly preparations of the deceased:
1.Low index embalming – This use of very low index chemicals is commonly used for sanitisation and short-term preservation of the deceased usually up to 6 days. This is a low invasive technique using arterial injection only, much like a blood transfusion, with no other invasive techniques.
2.Ecoprep – A truly natural preparation process developed by our Managing Director Andrew Malcolm, which cleanses and sanitises the body with an arterial wash but does not preserve the tissue. This leaves the body truly formaldehyde and chemical free and removes many of the toxins built up during life.  It slows the body’s deterioration to a natural time frame of 3 to 5 days.