[Greenbuilding] Green Funerals

John Salmen terrain at shaw.ca
Wed Feb 1 13:31:51 CST 2012


I participated in a green funeral for some family members last year in
Victoria. The cemetery has developed an area where people are buried in an
unfinished unlined basic wood coffin (more like a thin crate). There is no
grave marker identifying the actual spot but names are recorded on a group
stone in the area. Essentially a mass burial area.  I didn't participate in
the organizing so don't know the specifics of how the area is to be
organized in terms of bodies over time - but am some thought went into that.

On the flipside a recent excavation for a project here unintentionally
disinterred a few bodies - an early precontact burial site (actually they
were 'buried' in the branches of a tree and then subsequently part of the
soil at the base of the tree). 

Interesting stuff - I was hoping for an avalanche zone within a permanent
snowpack but climate change...


-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of RT
Sent: February-01-12 11:12 AM
To: GBioEL
Subject: [Greenbuilding] Green Funerals


So, since the List is so quiet and since off-topic topics with which
everyone is intimate (ie in the past - drying laundry, choices for toilets,
battery chargers) seems to encourage contributions from people who would
otherwise not likely post a message, I wonder if listmembers would care to
talk about funerals ... something that is fresh on my mind and something
that it seems many friends and acquaintances have also had to deal with in
recent weeks and no doubt, something that all of us will have to deal with
at some point in the future.

ie I'm curious as to the attraction that cremation seems to hold for many,
an option which has claims of "Green" being associated with it (an opinion
with which I disagree).

ie The "Green" UK practise of "upright" burials, ostensibly with an eye to
conserving space.
I have visions of the effects of frost heave creating horrific scenes every
Spring if this practise were carried out in most Canadian locales.

ie cardboard coffins ? N-n-n-nyeh. Rented coffins ? Mmmnhh.
  ... and so on.

--
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a  > (manually winnow the chaff
from my edress if you hit "reply")

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