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Funeral Director Argues That Natural Burial Is Harmful To The Environment"Your community is in danger!" translates into "We're afraid of losing money!" |
5 Comments |
| By Michael d'Estries in Composting, Green Living, Recycling | September 5, 2008 | ||
You know you’ve been sniffing a little too much embalming fluid when you argue that natural burials are bad for the planet. And yet, that’s just what a funeral director from New Zealand did while participating in a debate on the topic during a town council meeting earlier last month.
Francis Day, of Marsden House Funeral Services, told the Nelson City Council that putrefaction of a body that was not embalmed would lead to higher toxicity levels in the surrounding soil to levels “which in many places would breach World Health Organization standards.” He continued that diseases and bacteria do not die when a person die but go right on living and could put “future communities at risk”.
Like I said, a little too much sniffing. Such talk was immediately shot down by Mark Blackham, founder of the NZ Natural Burials organization.
“The assertion that unembalmed bodies leave viruses in the soil is scientific ignorance at the least, and deliberate fear-mongering at worst,” he said. “Infectious disease-causing viruses and pathogens pass between living people and their excrement. These pathogens die with the host body within 24 hours.
“There are already plenty of microorganisms naturally present in soil which can cause illness – such as Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum and Bacillus cereus. They do not come from dead humans under the soil. They are permanent and essential features of the ecosystem. Many breed on the surface level excrement of live animals, like humans. Compounding their display of scientific illiteracy, the Embalmers suggest that embalming fluid kills human viruses but leaves every other micro-organism, especially those in the soil, alive.”
“No one, not even the makers of embalming fluid, realised this hazardous chemical cocktail had such incredible powers of discernment between living organisms.”
Funny enough, the funeral director claims to be all for natural burial — but just watching out for the “well being” of the community. Uh huh. Sounds like someone is a little upset that his customers won’t be forking over more than $7,500 per funeral anymore. And I would love to hear him explain how eco-friendly conventional burial is.
via Stuff
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teri said,
very interesting! i hadn’t thought about all the chemicals involved in burial.
DragonOak said,
I am seeing more and more of these natural burials come onto the world scene. Hopefully people awakening into the issues of the global warming there will be enough time to turn the tide back.
Brianne said,
I just posted “Green Burials Offer a Natural Alternative” on Digg last week. It was on Daily Green’s website. It offered some creative alternatives, like placing urns on artificial reefs and creating “reef balls” by mixing ashes with concrete.
Simon Manning said,
Not all funeral directors share Mr Day’s view. I have been funeral directing for some 28 years, and have always operated my funeral home, on the basis that I was there to serve.
If my clients want Natural Burials, then that is what I need to provide. I have carried out all three natural burials in the newly opened Makara Natural Burial Cemetery, and all three have been wonderful experiences.
I have also established a website that offer contacts of funeral directors that share my view. It maybe helpful to those who wish to consider their funeral and its impact on the enviornment. Check it our at http://www.ecofunerals.co.nz
Paul said,
I’ve always been into natural burials, but I just worry about my wishes actually being carried through. There are a few sites out there where you can put it in writing. The best one I’ve found is MyWonderfulLife.com. You can type in exactly what you want for your funeral, and then they send it to your loved ones when you die. Cool-looking site too - not overly morbid. Now that that’s taken care of, I can focus on not dying anytime soon, haha!