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Down the Drain

7/27/2016

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People die all the time and we are left with their earthly remains.  Some of our ancestors dug a hole and laid their loved ones in the earth.  Some of our ancestors cremated the bodies.   Some ancestors may have left the bodies for animals to scavenge.   Cultures decide what death rituals work for them.  Our society/culture does not like to look at death, and so many of the rituals in the preparation of the body after death remain shrouded in mystery. Many of us live under the false assumption that we will never die. We somehow think that death will not find us, and that the pain that comes after our death will not visit those we love. We should get over ourselves because our bodies will not last forever. We are not special.  We are just human. Our bodies will die one day, and our loved ones must face how to dispose of our body.
 
When it comes to picking the proper disposition of the body the possibilities are few.  Most folks consider embalming or cremation, but things are changing.  People these days are looking into alternatives – enter Alkaline Hydrolysis.   Alkaline Hydrolysis, Resomation or Green/Water Cremation is relatively new to the death care industry and it appeals to those who wish to have a greener funeral and burial than either cremation or embalming.  The process uses less energy to breakdown a body than does cremation but the greenness as a process is still debated.  In Alkaline Hydrolysis, once the body is broken down, the then brownish water containing amino acids, peptides salts, sugars and no DNA is flushed into the sewer system. This shocks many people, yet they do not consider where the blood ends up in arterial embalming.  Embalming is a process of displacement - embalming fluid goes in and blood comes out.  What do embalmers do with the blood?  The blood goes down a drain and into the sewer system.  For years embalming was the standard process of disposition, and yet people are shocked that this Alkaline Hydrolysis process involves the sewer system.  I am baffled that people are so against Alkaline Hydrolysis because it uses the sewer system when the use of the sewer system in the death care industry has been used for so long and no one outlawed embalming.  
 
In our death care plans, we need to look at the process we wish our loved ones to use.  We must not shy away from the knowledge that our research reveals to us.   The truth is the truth and we must never be afraid of the truth.

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The Bodies of Those We Love

7/20/2016

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 “It’s just my body.  Throw it in the garbage. It’s not me anyway.” In a sense this sentiment is very true. In death our bodily functions cease.  That which has made us who we are, no longer works. Our bodies start to break down. At our death, our loved ones must make choices as to what needs to be done with our bodies.
 
Every time I hear someone speak about their bodies as unimportant, I feel a little sad.  I believe deeply that everyone has the right to do with their body in death what is legal and according to their spirituality or view on life.  I do not mean to hinder anyone’s choices in any way.  When I hear these things said, I wonder if they have considered how their bodies have carried them through this life.  These vessels have allowed us great joy and at time deep despair.  Our bodies are not just something we have to endure and get be released from in death.  They are our means of living the life we live.  I think that makes our bodies good and honorable.  Is it good to donate your body to science?  Only you know the answer.  Is it good to have your body cremated?  Again, you know what is right for you and your family.  I only ask that you consider that those who love you might feel strongly about your body and what happens to it after death. 
 
We can speak all we would like to about what we want to have done in death, but our families are the ones who must do the work upon our death.  We have held and kissed those we love.  We have made them dinners.  We have told them stories.  We have sung songs and danced dances.  We have held deep and meaningful conversations.  We have made jokes.  We have done all this with our bodies.  In my book that makes them sacred, important and beautiful.  After the death of a loved one, sometimes we feel the need to hold them one last time.  We may need to kiss them.  We may need to clean and care for their bodies.  We do that because we love the person – their minds as well as their bodies.  Remember we know each other through our bodies.  When speaking with our loved ones who will take charge of our bodies in death, remember how dear your body might be to. Remember that they love you – that includes your body. 

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Only Love Can Do That

7/13/2016

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For the second time in as many months I break from my usual blog topics. Today, I cannot write anything else but a plea for us to take the time and consider who we are, and who we want to be as a nation. Do we wish to be a nation divided into factions?  Do we want peace in the streets?  Do we want to allow the passion of anger dictate how we see each other?  Do we wish to be defined by our skin color, sexual orientation, gender, or religious perspective?  Do we want to truly be one nation created from many different people?  Today, I hope we will take a moment and contemplate how each of us wishes to create the future of our nation.  Today, I hope we turn our thoughts to kindness, peacefulness, and generosity of heart. Today, let us think on the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. :
 
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral;
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.



Love is not just a feeling or a hope of things to come.  Love is an action verb.  For real change we must make a loving action. We might start by small actions by seeing those around us with an open heart.  Maybe we can offer someone to go ahead of us in line.  Maybe we can make a shift in how we live our lives. Maybe if we can see anonymous people in a kinder light we then can begin to see our enemies as our brothers and sisters – not as people to destroy.  How can we hope to change if we do not start to change, even a little bit, towards a nation of people living together in peace and freedom?
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Change is Afoot - When Did Cremation Become a Green Burial Option

7/6/2016

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In the beginning of my journey with green burial I was struck by the simplicity of its definition: burial of a natural body, in a biodegradable container, no vault.  Markers were to be of local stone and they should not impede the viewshed. Green burial stood against unnatural embalming fluids, which not only harmed the earth, but the embalmers themselves.  Green burial also took a stand against cremation demonstrating how environmentally unfriendly it was and that cremains are not able to nourish a tree. A few weeks back, The Green Burial Council announced that the Bios Urn had become a new certified merchant.  I felt confused.  As many of my readers know, I have no real love for the Bios Urn.  It is an expensive urn and totally unnecessary for anyone who would like to use cremains in a garden or tree making purpose.  Anyone can mix organic material with cremains and plant any tree of his or her own choice.  Why has the council certified such a product?  What is going on?  I don’t know.
 
I looked for cremation stats on the Internet.  I have used stats from the Green Burial Council on many occasions for presentations and articles.  In 2014, I presented with Mary Woodsen of the Green Burial Council.   She gave me a look at some of the new stats she had discovered. My favourite one was that it takes as much fuel in one cremation as it does to drive 600 miles. I could not find the stats on the web anywhere.  I called Mary Woodsen.  We chatted. In the end she said she would send me an infograph of the stats.  She sent me the links, but those links no longer exist.  I know that Mary Woodsen was not trying to obfuscate these stats. She freely gives of her time and knowledge as you can see by her generous comment on one of my posts on this subject. I believe the stats are just not on the web anymore.  I do not know why.
 
Cremation is an ever-increasing popular mode of disposition of a body in death.  I believe we each have a right to choose the manner of disposition.  I also believe that we should have access to information to make these choices.  I recall the moment I first read what happened in embalming.  I knew then that I did not want this to happen to anyone I loved’s body. How can one come to a well-informed conclusion about cremation when the information no longer is so easy to find?  I don’t know
 
So, why is this happening? I don’t know. I do know is that this shift will have a lasting impact on the Green Burial Movement.  It feels a bit like a bait and switch.  I am on board with the preservation of the land and simple burials.  I am not on board with pandering to big money and caving to the pressure of those who do not wish to look at natural burial for whatever reason.  Perhaps by changing their view on green burial, they hope to cast a larger net.  Perhaps they hope to help those who really want cremation make a better choice – How to Green up of Cremation, a post I made last month.  What I see is a shift away from the work of preserving the land with the gift of our bodies.  I am not comfortable with this shift from this self proclaimed leader and watchdog of the green burial movement, the Green Burial Council. 

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I wanted to include this infograph. I had saved this to my computer years ago. It tells quite a tale.
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    Caroline Vuyadinov


    I graduated from St. Vladamir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York with a Master of Divinity.  I trained as a chaplain following graduation and worked with a wide variety of people. 

    When I moved to Canada, I began work in a women's halfway house in Hamilton, Ontario which worked with women in conflict with the law on a federal level.  I became the program manager and  loved working alongside the women, creating their plans for their reintegration back to the community.  I also worked as a liaison with the parole board, parole officers and other community service providers.

    Upon my return to the United States, I worked in the Death Care Industry as a Family Service Counselor, which lead me to become a green burial advocate. I co-founded Midwest Green Burial Society with Juliann Salinas. I speak  to community groups and have developed practical seminars for a variety of audiences.  I have been interviewed on a national podcast and was featured on a WGN spot dealing with green burial. 

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