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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."
I for one think this is fantastic. It gives one the opportunity to be buried in a way that is helpful to the environment, in a way, peacefully restore yourself to the earth, and at the same time give your family the satisfaction of knowing where you are buried. I for one like the idea that I could put my hand on a nearby tree and say that someone I loved is now a part of that tree. It may sound all fluffy-puffy, but the fact is, burials have always been charged with all sorts of religious and spiritual notions. I believe for a good number of people, this type of burial would satisfy those notions indeed.
"Taboo, like anything else, goes in and out of style."
Don't forget your encouraging humans to go into Koala habitats. And place "litter" (glass vases with flowers, picnic supplies, or even worse depending on the family and their practices) and their smell around the area (wild animals hate the smell of us as much as we hate the smell of them and they hate the smell of one another...).
Really I totally agree with dumping bodies in the woods (ok, burying them deep even to make sure stupid animals don't try to eat our preserved, disease ridden, Prozac and Ritalin bloated corpses). It is "more natural" to some extent. But telling the family where the body is is rather...impractical.
Who wants to bet in about 5 years there will be gravestones and markers set up by families who are either sick of or found errors in the GPS software (or simply assume that in a few generations the company will go out of business).
Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
They allow headstones made from local rock. 15m should be close enough for most people to find the grave.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Unfortunately many Australian plants are adapted to live in low-nutrient conditions. The area (Lismore), however, maybe supports rainforest trees in the area where bodies are to buried. Rainforest trees don't mind the high nutrients (although, not all species would be accustomed to the increased nutrient load). But, the article speaks of Koalas. Koalas do not live in rainforest--they live in areas dominated by Eucalyptus and other sclerophyll species. It could be argued that, this being the case, that the body would be adding nutrients to an environment that is naturally low in nutrients and, therefore, be contributing to a problem rather than helping it.
Prove it. When you're dead, arrange for your body to be sent to me. What should you care what I plan for it.
I really can't figure out why you think the poster you're replying to would care. He'll be dead. There are people who clearly don't care all that much: where do you think medical cadavers come from?
Personally I agree with my grandfather on this one: you can chuck me on a compost heap once I'm done.
As long as these people are peaceful, let them have their beliefs, as it does not hinder what happens.
;-) Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if burying one's pets in a similar natural, eco-friendly manner is just as illegal.
My own preference is to be buried in an unfinished pine box somewhere in my backyard, preferrably under a big tree (for the shade, of course) or a garden of some sort, but California prohibited that kind of thing a hundred years ago. So much for allowing personal beliefs.
Anyone familiar with different funeral traditions knows the subject is complex, and often inseperable from one's upbringing or culture. The Orthodox (the folks who cross themselves east to west), for example, don't believe in cremation, and the church canon expressly prohibits it. IIRC, it was only recently that Greece (a country with mostly rock as soil) allowed cremations to take place, but only for the minority that isn't Orthodox.
For most westerners, I suppose, the subject doesn't evoke strong opinions one way or the other, save for the excesses of those choosing to be buried a '57 Cadillac, or more typically, in silk-lined, stainless steel, hermetically-sealed coffins.
The eco-burial cemetery in Western Australia is Pinnaroo, and if you'd seen how it works, you'd realise it's not particularly complex in practice.
All cemeteries maintain burial records, normally based around plot and grid numbers. In the eco-burial system, GPS coordinates are used instead. Likewise, family who wish to visit graves aren't dumped in the bush with a GPS and ration pack. There are walking trails around the cemetery, and the burial plots are not far off the paths.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
"Call it my personal heaven to know that I'll be recycled by nature." Reflecting on this statement makes me realize something about myself... this thought also gives me an immense sense of comfort, which I find odd. I'd like to be of use after my death, preferably through organ donation and/or being laid to ground in some way. I've considered signing up as a post-mortem test-subject for medical studies, but the thought makes me somewhat uncomfortable for some reason. I may or may not change my mind on that subject. I've read something about freeze-drying human remains for use as compost, but afaik this option isn't available where I live. In any case traditional burial and cremation are not options I'm considering,
I live in Lismore, the area is not short of fertile soil. Most of the region has volcanic soils that have had hundreds of thousands of years worth of rain forest mulched through it. This effort is purely for effect, being cremated and having the money thus saved go towards planting trees would be much more "eco".
It is because of the rain forests that all the "eco" nuts swarm to the region, leading to the rain forest further shrinking so that more houses can be built. On some of the most fertile soil in the state. Idiots.
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CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
Scatter the ashes on a body of water and you can "visit" anywhere on the coastline. Of for the more practical-minded, you've got something to use to grit the sidewalk when it snows.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Why not go a step further and toss an RFID chip in along with the body-- or attach it to the body. Then you could loan the loved ones a GPS and an RFID reader-- make it cool-looking like a Star Trek tricorder (Original Series or Next Gen...??? Hmmm...)
Generally, I have the same feeling. Tradition (alone) makes me somewhat guilty for not visiting the graves of my own dearly departed, but my memories serve me well. I've always been fully interested in donating any and all usable organs upon my death. I've even considered donating my body or skeleton to my former school for teaching purposes. The main thing that gives me pause is that I don't know how these things (organ donation, body donation?) impact the ability of my loved ones to have a ceremony of their choice, providing them closure. Anyone know how this works? Can you have both?
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
Okay, bear with me here. This is a bit complicated, as it involves bungie cords and dirigibles.
First I'll need a medium sized hydrogen filled aerostat. It doesn't actually have to be a dirigible, any old hydrogen filled aerostat will do. If several thousand dollars worth of fireworks could be hung from the outside, that would be lovely.
Next, I'll need about a thousand feet of bungie cord, a suit made of cotton padding or wick like material, and several gallons of gasoline. Put my corpse in the suit. Attach one end of the bungie cord to the dirigible and the other to my corpse. Securely fasten my corpse to the ground with some sort of quick release mechanism.
Douse my corpse in gasoline. Let the dirigible go until the bungie cord is nice and taut. Light my corpse, and activate the quick release.
If all goes well, my flaming corpse will shoot into the sky and collide with the hydrogen filled, fireworks encased dirigible. Hopefully the resulting explosion will vaporize my body so that not too many steaming gibbets fall back on the amazed crowd.
And that, my friends, is what I would like for my funeral.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton