The AGFD Good Funeral Awards (the Oscars of funerals) are helping us make environmentally-friendly choices. We spoke to the president of the AGFD, William Wainman, about how people are making better choices beyond the grave.

       He said: “Believe it or not, car sharing at funerals has the biggest impact regarding reducing Co2 emissions at a funeral.

       "Burial at a natural burial ground which does not need constant maintenance (lawn mowing and treatment produces Co2) is also a step in the green direction.

       "Funeral directors are also moving over to electric vehicles now which we see as a positive step.”

       Traditional funerals have many other aspects which are bad for the environment, such as single-use metal, plastic and foam supports in floral tributes.

       William points out that the machinery used to dig graves and non-eco-friendly embalming fluids impact the environment more than we might expect.

       He also explained the different ways of disposing of remains that are better for the environment. These are:

       Resomation ？ a type of water cremation using alkaline hydrolysis that reduces the human remains to their bones. These are then pulverised to form the “ash” for disposal.

       Cryomation ？ an automated process involving a body being immersed in liquid nitrogen down to a temperature of -196 degrees at which point the water is removed and it becomes extremely brittle. This is cryolated into small particles allowing for the removal of any foreign material such as surgical implants.

       Natural Burial ？ A natural burial attempts to return a body to the earth in as natural a way as possible. This involves a rejection of embalming processes, cremation and caskets or coffins made of chipboard or MDF which contain formaldehyde.

       Coffins and caskets used for a natural burial are generally made from woven materials including bamboo and willow, or made of cardboard. Such burials often take place in green spaces, such as woodland, parks or wildflower meadows.

       There has been a huge increase in the number of natural burial grounds in the UK, from just two in the 1990s to over 250 today.

       The Good Funeral virtual awards will be held on September 24

       They hope to celebrate the success of eco-friendly funerals and the awards themselves are shaped as miniature coffins.

       Nomination categories include “coffin supplier of the year” and “best crematorium of the year”.