GPS Used To Find Graves In Eco-Burial Sites

Narrative Fallacy writes "Relatives and friends will use a satellite navigation device to find graves of loved ones in Australia's eco-burial site on bushland attached to Lismore Memorial Park Cemetery, in New South Wales. Reflecting a worldwide trend towards environmentally friendly burials, the deceased will be buried in biodegradable coffins between gum trees in a protected koala sanctuary. 'It's an ideal way of utilizing land and helping wildlife and vegetation,' said Kris Whitney, Lismore Council coordinator of cemeteries. 'A family can walk around the bushland and pick a site. The body can be oriented in any direction. We promise there will be no internments within five meters. We'll record accurate GPS co-ordinates.' Families visiting graves would be lent a satellite navigation device. This will be Australia's fourth 'natural burial site' with existing sites in Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia."

Comments

Eco?!

[rishistar]

With all the technology involved in keeping this going would it really qualify as eco anymore? Cremation would certainly overall be more environmentally friendly than this, if not for the immediate habitat.

Re:Eco?!

[Yvanhoe]

Eco doesn't mean technophobic. It means that it is workable for everyone on the planet to do the same in a sustainable fashion.

Composting...

[thesupraman]

You seem to miss the point...
Dead bodies break down nicely and help to increase the fertility of the soil. The point is to help the trees grow.

And I would not be surprised if this is being done in an area a touch short of such organic matter..

Of course, if people really cared they may want to consider that GPS is rarely accurate to 5m, its not uncommon to get an EPE of 15-20m in that arts of the world..

Re:Composting...

[Anonymous Coward]

when they start running out of room

Yeah, right. Australia is really "running out of room".

rotting carcass

[timmarhy]

I astounds me that people buy shit like "freshness liners" for coffins, or give a crap about the softness of the coffin pillows.

people, when you die, YOU WILL BE ROTTING MEAT. no different to that cat/dog you buried when you were 12.

Look at it this way, no matter how much of a useless bastard you were in life, if your buried in the ground with trees around you, you'll finally be put to good use.

Re:rotting carcass

[Creepy Crawler]

And your viewpoint is what makes atheists look very bad. Why?

Religion has two major things it accomplishes: a creation myth and a death myth. Many, many people cannot grasp the idea that you will be worm food when you die. They instead seek things like Heaven, enlightenment, or Valhalla as a means to cope with what they do not understand.

As long as these people are peaceful, let them have their beliefs, as it does not hinder what happens. And if somebody is 10% more efficent/successful/happier because of it, I see no reason to burst their bubble.

Re:rotting carcass

[BSAtHome]

Both religious and non religious people are allowed to voice their own thoughts and ideas. Yes, let the religious have their believes, but could you then extend the courtesy to me too when I say that my believe is no believe? I am very comforted by the fact that I will be wormfood when I die. Call it my personal heaven to know that I'll be recycled by nature. I don't need religion to accomplish any comfort for either creation or death.

Re:rotting carcass

[value_added]

What if whoever owns the house in 50 years time believes that he doesn't particular like finding skeletons when he's gardening?

I doubt many folks garden at depths of six feet. And if they did, the well fertilized flowers/shrubs might make up for the inconvenience.

Re:rotting carcass

[jandersen]

I think timmarhy has a very valid point - I don't know of many religions, vertainly not in the West, where the physical remains of a person are of any significance, even if you believe in life after death in some form. And I find it deeply revolting to see how the burial industry preys on people when they are most likely to be vulnerable.

On a personal note - I have indicated very clearly to my children that I don't want them to spend money on cemetries and memorials. Instead I want to be cremated; then they can split the ashes and bury them under a bush or whatever they feel like. That will be cheap and straight forward, and it will give them a lasting memory if they want it. Or feed the body to the vultures, like in India. At least they only go after the dead remains, not the bereaved when they are most vulnerable.

GPS Accuracy

[zanderredux]

We promise there will be no internments within five meters.

How can they guarantee this if civillian GPS is (said to be) only accurate to 15 meters?

Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish

[vidarh]

I don't get why you find it difficult to believe. I have the same attitude.

But I wouldn't send my body to some random stranger for the reason that it might matter to my relatives. I might not care, but if they do, then I'm not going to rob them of the possibility of having a ceremony or whatever they'd like.

If they decide they'd be happy to let you do whatever you have in mind to my dead body, then what do I care?

It's not like I visit the grave sites of m dead relatives - I'd rather think of them in happier terms than as a rotting corpse, so the whole obsession with funerals is really quite distasteful and alien to me.

Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish

[ozmanjusri]

why people find their earthly shells so importnt that they should be buried in expensive coffins with huge ceremonies.

The ceremony's not for the dead. It's for the ones left alive, so they have a sense of closure.

Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish

[Inda]

Don't chuck meat on a compost heap. You'll attract rats.