Death and Dying are subjects of particular interest to those of us who have reached our three score years and ten. Ruth McManus, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Canterbury, researches the social aspects of death and dying with a particular focus on how death can be sustainable. Ruth said that death and dying are some of the hardest things for the living to get their heads around. She has just published a book called The Sustainable Dead (not yet available at Christchurch City Libraries, but I’ve requested that they buy it).
Most of the world now lives in an urban environment, and cemeteries were one of the first planned parts of the urban environment. We have funerals and memorials because we want to remember, and it’s important that what we do with the dead fits our values. We want our beliefs to be visible in what we do with our dead, but since the 1970s there has been pressure on what is possible. In many cities, including Christchurch, cemeteries are filling up and we can no longer set land aside for cemeteries because the land is needed for the living. In Gisborne a hold has been put on burials in the main cemetery because of groundwater issues since the cyclone.
Our ageing population is increasing the demand for burials, and this is expected to spike in the next thirty years. There is a growing political awareness of our environmental footprint, together with growing global interest in heritage and genealogy. It’s important to leave a mark for future generations, yet we want to do death in a way that matches our life. Doing things in a modern way need not mean leaving cultural expectations behind. Ruth showed a photo of the Victoria Road Chinese Christian Cemetery in Hong Kong, where the historic graveyard is now overlooked by a cluster of high rise columbaria. Both of these have a view over the water which is important for feng shui.
In some places in Europe graves are no longer held in perpetuity, and recycling the space is an acceptable practice. In London City Cemetery some of the graves are now marked for possible reclamation, and new bodies may be placed in an existing grave.
The first eco-burial ground in the U.K. was in Sheffield. Here bodies are buried shallowly so they decompose quickly. Although the idea is that the ground is left in a natural state, people are still inclined to leave markers, such as trees that are not native to the area, and plastic items.
In Aotearoa 85 people die each day, and their bodies need to be disposed of. Our perception of acceptable land use is changing, and concerns are ecological sustainability, cultural recognition, and heritage. The biggest tension in the area of bodily disposal is between hi tech and low tech. There are now ten sites for eco-burial in Aotearoa. One of these is in Diamond Harbour on Banks Peninsula. This opened in November 2017 with just twelve burial sites. By June 2019 more than half of these had been filled. Eco or natural burial means the body is wrapped in a shroud, and placed in a shallow plot, within the depth of living soil, which leads to quick decomposition.
An eco-funeral is NOT the same as eco-burial. In an eco-funeral people may be encouraged to attend by Zoom (rather than using fossil fuels). The coffin may be made from recycled wood, with natural fabrics used.
Lobbyists for alternative models of disposal are split, not along lines of sustainability but the technological path to it. The Co-operative Society in U.K. says: The natural burial lobby have already lost the argument because what they propose isn’t demographically viable.
Low tech solutions such as eco-burial are a niche market solution, suitable for people who are wealthy, need to be well planned and organised, and often have a hi tech component (e.g. GPS identification of plots). The large providers understand this. The focus needs to be on the high tech end of sustainable bodily disposal as hi tech solutions are often more sustainable.
Cryomation uses liquid nitrogen and vibration to freeze body parts, then break them into fragments which can be absorbed in the microbe layer, but this has never been a practical solution.
Resomation or Alkaline Hydrolysis where the body is dissolved in lime and heated, has zero environmental impact. It was patented in 1888 in the U.S. where it was originally used to dispose of typhoid and cholera corpses. During the U.K. epidemic of mad cow disease it was brought in to deal with the toxicity of infected animals. A local council in West Yorkshire has started legislation to allow Resomation for humans. Currently it is legal in some parts of the U.S. for medical purposes. It is also legally used on the Gold Coast of Australia. The process which is non-polluting leaves cremation-like ash and a nutrient fluid which is good for plants. (Ruth noted that the ash from cremations is not a fertiliser.) Items such as artificial joints, heart valves, screws, and stents emerge cleanly and can be re-used. There are two organisations, including one in Christchurch, who would like to do this in Aotearoa, but a law change is required first, and the Ministry of Health has been slow to progress this. Once the law is changed Alkaline Hydrolysis could be brought in quickly. I have requested it in my Advance Care Plan, and hope it may be available when my time comes. Have you thought about what might happen to your body when you no longer need it?
While the popular and media focus is on eco or green burial, the real trend is to hi tech sustainable solutions such as Alkaline Hydrolysis.
This zero impact would suit me
with fluid that might feed a tree
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Ruth's Reflections 