Tag: cremation

Amazing Ways To Save The Planet. Even When You’re Dead.

Cremation, as a choice when we die, was almost unheard of even in the late 1800’s, but now around 80% of us choose it as our preferred method over burial.

The environmental problem with cremations is that each one releases around 250kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and with around 500,000 deaths on average each year in the UK, that’s 400,000 cremations and a staggering 25 million tons of CO2 each year.

But, cremation and burial aren’t the only two options available to us now. With our views fixed firmly on looking after our planet while we’re alive, it’s only right we should do our best when we die too.

So, what are the options out there for looking after the planet once you’ve gone?

Become a Coral Reef

US based company ‘Eternal Reefs'( https://www.eternalreefs.com/ ) was started by two friends from Florida who were looking for ways to protect the coral reefs that they could see were dying out as they went diving.

After considerable research into finding the most environmentally friendly product, they are now able to mix cremated remains with concrete to form a ‘pearl’ which is lowered to the ocean floor to create a natural habitat for fish and other marine life.

Feed A Tree

Why not be buried in a biodegradable pot along with a tree seed? That’s the idea from UK company ‘Urns for Ashes'( https://www.urnsforashes.co.uk/ ), who provide all manner of urns.

The ‘bio urn tree’ houses, not only your ashes, but also the seed of a tree of your choice, so when the tree grows, the urn decomposes, and it, along with your ashes, provides nourishment and fertilizes growth.

What better way to ensure your legacy lives on?

Get Wrapped in a Woolly Coffin

Eco-friendly coffins as an option have been around for some time with funeral homes, and wicker and cardboard have emerged as the preferred options to wood.

But, there are other, more eco-friendly, sustainable options on the market.

There is a company in Yorkshire, ‘Hainsworth’ https://www.hainsworth.co.uk/ who will deliver you a WOOL coffin. The coffin is lined with cardboard and you have the option to decorate it. The added benefits, not simply from a sustainability point of view are that the coffin is easier on the eye for younger mourners and certainly easier on the touch. And what’s more the environmental impact of such a choice is negligible as the whole coffin is bio-degradable.

Get Flushed Down the Drain

Resomation, alkaline hydrolysis or water cremation

The whole process of resomation sounds particularly unpleasant but from an environmental point of view, it’s head and shoulders above a traditional flame cremation.

What is involved?

The body is placed into a large metal container, a little bigger than a coffin and a solution of 95% warm water and 5% potassium hydroxide is added. This solution is heated to 180 degrees C, a good 800 degrees less than a normal cremation, reducing gas emissions by 35%.

Inside the container, the solution dissolves the fat and tissue naturally from the body, leaving just the bones. The remains can be returned to the water cycle and treated at a water plant like any other waste water. The bones can be ground into ashes and returned to the family like a normal cremation.

Resomation is practiced across many US states and Canada and there is a lot of interest from other European countries, however, the UK is still steadfastly holding out. But it is probably only a matter of time with the company Resomation ( https://resomation.com/ ) already making waves (ahem).

And there you have it. A selection of viable options to dispose of your, or your loved one’s remains, that are not only good for the environment but will also sustain it.

How a Change of Holiday Destination Led This Celebrant to Witness Something Extraordinary.

‘Let’s go somewhere we’re never likely to go back to.’

Like all the best ideas, that was how it started. Just an off-the-cuff conversation about changing our pretty routine holiday choice.

We’d been going to the same sort of places for years, pretty typical European tourist spots in Portugal, Spain and France, so we thought it would be a good idea to go somewhere completely different.

And that was what led us to Nepal. We looked online and saw an organised tour of Nepal for 12 days on TripAdvisor. We checked out the itinerary and after deciding to upgrade our hotel ( thank goodness, no offence to Nepal but three stars in Kathmandu is not anything like three stars here).

In February we were off. After being picked up from the airport we were heading to our ( 5 star) hotel and as we were stuck in traffic, not uncommon for anyone who has ever been to Kathmandu, it’s a wonder anything ever gets done, ours eyes were caught by an impressive group of temples. We enquired what they were and were told by our guide it was the Pashupatinath Temple ( https://www.welcomenepal.com/places-to-see/pashupatinath.html ) the largest temple complex in Nepal. It straddles the sacred Bagmati River and it is here, on raised platforms, at this UNESCO Cultural Heritage site that open air cremations take place every day.

My curiosity was well and truly piqued and we decided that when we had a free day we would make our way to the temple to witness the ceremony.

After 10 days of touring and seeing some astonishing sights we returned to Kathmandu and had a free day, so we decided to walk from our hotel to the temple. We had been reliably informed by our guide that it was a walk of about 35 minutes.

One hour and 20 minutes later, after touring various Kathamandu back streets we arrived, dusty and thirsty and entered the temple complex.

Frankly, nothing had prepared us for what we were to witness. On a raised pyre, one of several, by the river’s edge, a man in a white apron steadily built up a funeral pyre underneath a platform, stuffing it with twigs and logs as if a Sunday afternoon barbeque was being prepared.

When the pyre was prepared, family members emerged carrying the deceased, wrapped in orange cloth, at shoulder height on a wooden stretcher. The deceased was then placed carefully onto the platform and any clothing was removed with a cloth held up to maintain dignity.

A family member, presumably the next-of-kin or senior family member circled the platform several times, strips of orange cloth were removed and tied to the poles supporting the roof of the shelter that the pyre lay under.Then the family retreated and the fire was lit.

As the flames burnt the dead body, we were struck by how quiet the mourners were. The whole ceremony took place with in an alarmingly ( to us) matter-of-fact manner. There was no sadness, no tears and seemingly no grief-stricken relatives that we are so familiar with in the West.

Of course, as a predominantly Hindu nation, the Nepalese attitude to death is as far removed from the western view as possible. To Hindus, life and death are both part of what they call ‘maya’, a grand illusion; Hindus believe that when a soul dies, it gets born into a new body. The cycle of death and rebirth — ‘samsara’ — ends only when a soul realizes its true nature — indistinguishable from the absolute godhead, which Hindus call Brahman.

And so, this devout belief system in a life after death softens the blow of losing a loved one.They may never be replaced but there is a confidence that their soul will live on elsewhere. There is much to be applauded in such a strong religious belief system that salves the pain of the death of a loved one and can go some way towards giving a meaning to life.

From the point of view of a celebrant, I felt hugely privileged to have witnessed the rituals of cremation from another culture and religion. It was, like the whole of the trip, utterly spell-binding and eye-opening. An experience that will live with me forever.