Popularity of woollen coffins soars The idea was reportedly born when a work experience student stumbled upon the 1668 Burial in Woollen Act, which decreed that people had to be buried in a woollen shroud in order to boost England's wool industry. Tom Hainsworth, the company's managing director, said: "We've taken a 17th-century concept and brought it to the modern day." One of the first enthusiasts for the unusual practice was the Prince of Wales, who suggested in 2010 that they were a more environmentally friendly way of being laid to rest. The Prince asked for the woollen caskets, which cost between £600 and £800, to be put on display in his garden at Clarence House at the opening of a festival to promote sustainable lifestyle choices. Dominic Maguire, spokesman for the National Association of Funeral Directors, said: "People are concerned that, when they die, they don't leave much of a carbon footprint ... and their feeling is that they want to leave a legacy, a sense that at the end they didn't use up natural resources." Ten per cent of all coffins are now believed to be made with alternative materials, with wicker the most popular, followed by cardboard. Other options include willow, wool, bamboo, banana leaf, water hyacinth, felt and recycled paper.