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