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EF Burials
So not that I plan on dying now (or ever), but I stumbled across these two pages this morning.
http://www.naturalburialground.com/default.htm
http://www.greenburialcouncil.org/
I've always hated traditional funerals with their ridiculous caskets and the whole vault thing. I'm claustrophobic, so it effin' freaks.me.the.hell.out to even think about it. I've always been with my Mom & Grandpa, where they'd prefer to just be put into a pine box and shoved into the ground. And now I can! ; )
I wonder if there are potential environmental cons to this? Obviously, this is how things were done in the past. I remember driving
by several tiny ancient family cemeteries when we lived in NC. I wonder what prompted the switch to the burial methods we have today . . .
Re: EF Burials
You can also be turned into a coral reef which is really cool! That's one thing I am considering.
Though this summer I had a camper at the camp I worked at who was going on an out of camp trip and brought a necklace into the office and asked me if I could lock it in the safe and she said "Its' my mom and I don't want to lose it". I thought at first I misheard her and she'd said "It's my Moms" but my boss informed me that this little girl's mom had passed away the year before and they had her cremated and the ashed turned into two stones- one that the father wore and one for the daughter. I thought that was really neat! It was a beautiful amber stone and I never would have guessed what it was. So I think that's what I want to do.
My boyfriend's Mom wants to be turned into a Teddy Bear. There are just so many things you can do I really see the traditional burial going "out of style" soon.
I love the necklace idea, except for the guilt I'd feel for leaving my Mom behind one day for another necklace!
I had no idea about the coral reef. I know you can have your ashes launched into space, which is something my Mom is considering. Not EF, but she's always wanted to go to space.
While I like the idea of diamonds, I wonder what sort of impact the process of making them has. Cremation is a huge source of air pollution worldwide - it's terrible for the environment. I can't imagine that incinerating a person then compressing the ashes into a stone is any better.
Personally, I would like to be composted.
I am a runner, knitter, scientist, DE-IVF veteran, and stage III colon cancer survivor.
So, you asked about what prompted people to switch to the methods of today--and I can give you a little bit of history on that--just so you can better understand how we got to where we are--and our "ridiculous caskets and vaults."
Before the Civil War, there was very little in methods to preserve bodies. The "science" had not progressed very far--as the need was not there. The only true way to keep a body, for a very limited amount of time was on ice. It didn't work that well obviously, but you could put it in a pine box and into the ground, with no "after affects"
After the Civil War when thousands upon thousands of men were killed, and families were mourning--and wanting to have their boys come home. Keeping so many bodies on ice was completely unrealistic. No one would be able to get a body home for burial. As it is, we see a lot of burial grounds of course at battle grounds. However, around this time, Arsenic was discovered as preservative, and it literally revolutionized the funeral industry. Now families could have their sons come home. However, an unknown (at the time) downside to Arsenic is that as the body decomposes in its pine box, Arsenic, which has a long half-life, stays behind. A body pumped full of preservative, now leaches into the soil or groundwater...and it has the potential to contaminate the surrounding area! And imagine, after the Civil War, you aren't just getting A body, you are getting many--so it really could affect an entire town..many years after the bodies were gone...and by this time, Arsenic was the popular form of preserving EVERY body.
When it was found that arsenic did release into the environment--the metal casket was born.
Here is a link to a website about the history embalming.
http://www.waterindustry.org/arsenic-3.htm
I'd like to be buried with the Promessa method. You're frozen, shaken to dust, heavy metals removed with magnet and buried in shallow grave in a coffin made from maize starch of potato starch. I'd like some sort of plant/tree to grow right on top.
They have a good pdf which shows the different types of burials with environmental impact.
That's what I linked to also
I learned about when I read "Stiff" by Mary Roach - it seems like the ideal solution.
I am a runner, knitter, scientist, DE-IVF veteran, and stage III colon cancer survivor.
Thanks FMLB! I assumed that somewhere along the line people started some sort of preservation that was contaminating ground water or something, so that all makes sense.
There's something that irrationally creeps me out about the being frozen then shaken & shattered. I'm glad there are more burial options becoming available. Hopefully they'll stick around.