Reefs made from human ashes could revive British seabeds, says startup

Resting Reef says its pilot project, in which it placed 24 memorial reefs on Bali’s seabed, attracted 59 fish species. Photograph: Resting Reef

Death is killing our planet. That is the stark assessment of a new business offering an innovative alternative: having your loved one’s ashes made into a reef and anchored to the British seabed.

There are increasing concerns about the environmental cost of traditional funerals: a single burial generates 833kg of CO₂, while a typical cremation has a footprint of about 400kg of CO₂. In the US alone, 1.6m tonnes of concrete and 14,000 tonnes of steel is used each year for building graves. Chemicals from embalming processes seep into the soil.