"Starting this month, mourners using funeral parlors operated by the Taipei City Government will be required to use electronic elegiac scrolls in place of traditional paper ones, the Department of Civil Affairs announced on Friday. “Electronic funeral scrolls still allow the departed’s friends and family to express their grief, but in a more environmentally friendly format,” the department’s burial management division head Huang Wen-ting (黃雯婷) said. Under the new rules, families and friends of the deceased will use an online system to design their own elegiac scrolls, choosing from a selection of 37 backgrounds and 397 messages covering a wide array of different religions, which will run through electronic screens in the mourning hall. “Since ... all of our mourning halls are now equipped with the electronic broadcasting system, we feel it is important for the government to lead the way,” Huang said, adding that residents can still use traditional paper elegiac scrolls for rites in their homes or in private “grave towers.”" - Jessie

"Eighty percent of mourners have elected to use the electronic scroll service — which is provided free of charge — since the system was installed throughout city funeral parlors in January, she said. The department estimates that the new policy will cut about 27 tonnes from city carbon emissions." - Jessie