There's a growing number of families choosing something quieter and lighter — for the planet, and sometimes just for their own peace of mind about how much a send-off costs and consumes.
Natural burial grounds — sites set aside specifically for biodegradable coffins, shrouds, and native tree planting instead of headstones — now exist in most Australian states, often in genuinely beautiful bushland settings. Cardboard or willow coffins, once seen as an unusual choice, are now a mainstream option with most funeral directors. Some families skip cut flowers altogether in favour of potted natives, which guests take home and plant, so the service leaves something growing behind rather than something wilting in a bin by the following week.
There's also a simpler version of "green" worth mentioning: fewer things, less production, more presence. A shorter service. A smaller gathering. A single flower per guest instead of an elaborate arrangement. None of this is about doing less out of economy alone — for a lot of families, it turns out to be the more meaningful version of the day, because there's less between the room and the person actually being remembered.
If sustainability matters to you, it's worth raising early with whoever you're planning with — cardboard coffins, natural burial, and native plantings all need slightly different logistics than a traditional service, and it's easier to build in from the start than retrofit at the last minute.