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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."

36 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish by Cryacin · · Score: 5, Funny

    For coffins, we'd rather people used woven wicker, plantation pine or recycled cardboard. So let me get this straight? I pay money to be buried in a cardboard box?
    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    1. Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish by Fizzl · · Score: 4, Informative

      I don't get it, why people find their earthly shells so importnt that they should be buried in expensive coffins with huge ceremonies.
      It doesn't concern me one bit what happens to my carcass after death.
      I recall my father once said he'd like his body just dumped to ocean in a bag after he's dead. Later he switched to wanting to be cremated and the ashes sprinkled in a forest where he used to play as a kid.
      Well, he was cremated but my gradparents found it atrocious for him to be buried in common land and after all they got a burial place on "blessed" land for the urn.

    2. Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish by tezbobobo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Prove it. When you're dead, arrange for your body to be sent to me. What should you care what I plan for it.

    3. Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish by vidarh · · Score: 4, Insightful
      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.

    4. Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Insightful
      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.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    5. Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish by Fizzl · · Score: 4, Funny

      Uhh... Okay. Would you prefer UPS or DHL?

    6. Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish by Inda · · Score: 2, Insightful

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

      --
      This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
    7. Re:Way to go to make me feel like a goldfish by Kozz · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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.
  2. Composting... by thesupraman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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..

    1. Re:Composting... by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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."
    2. Re:Composting... by Psychotria · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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.

    3. Re:Composting... by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2, Informative

      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.. I regularly get 4 metre accuracy in Australia. I used my ETREX to mark the locations of my wife's grandparents graves in Malaysia a couple of years ago. But I backed it up with photographs showing the site in context with the surroundings. The pics ensure reasonable accuracy.

      I used a GPS on that occasion because it was in a huge overgrown Chinese cemetary and the people who guided us there won't be around forever either. I plan to leave the data with my nephew who will know how to use it in the future.
    4. Re:Composting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      when they start running out of room

      Yeah, right. Australia is really "running out of room".
    5. Re:Composting... by paskie · · Score: 3, Informative

      You, sir, have apparently never geocached. My $75 GPS can be accurate up to 3m in very favorable conditions, and 5m-9m accuracy is normal.

      --
      It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end. -Douglas Adams
  3. rotting carcass by timmarhy · · Score: 5, Insightful
    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.

    --
    If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
    1. Re:rotting carcass by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

      --
    2. Re:rotting carcass by BSAtHome · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    3. Re:rotting carcass by value_added · · Score: 3, Interesting

      As long as these people are peaceful, let them have their beliefs, as it does not hinder what happens.

      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. ;-) Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if burying one's pets in a similar natural, eco-friendly manner is just as illegal.

      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.

    4. Re:rotting carcass by value_added · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

    5. Re:rotting carcass by jandersen · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

    6. Re:rotting carcass by Inverted+Intellect · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "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,

    7. Re:rotting carcass by mh1997 · · Score: 2, Funny

      when you die, YOU WILL BE ROTTING MEAT
      Correction: when YOU die, YOU WILL BE ROTTING MEAT. I on the other hand plan on living forever - 40 years and I haven't died yet!
  4. Fabulous Idea by bluemetal · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  5. Re:Eco?! by kitsunewarlock · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.
  6. GPS Accuracy by zanderredux · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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?

  7. Re:Eco?! by Yvanhoe · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

    --
    The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
  8. Dead bodies in a koala sanctuary?!? by clickety6 · · Score: 4, Funny


    Don't the fools realise that this is exactly how ghoualas are created, their furry little faces covered in fresh corpse blood as they howl at the moon in their squeaky ghouala voices, dropping out of eucalyptus trees on grieving mourners to gnaw their ears off, using their big fuzzy ghouala ears to locate fresh bodies by the sound of the worms gnawing and their big cute ghouala noses to track the scent of newly planted meat...

    Stop them now, before the ghoualas get us all !!!

    --
    ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
  9. Re:Eco?! by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Interesting
    It certainly seems overly complex.

    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."
  10. I live in Lismore... by the_raptor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.

    --

    ========
    CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
  11. gps accuracy by DMoylan · · Score: 3, Funny

    with the inaccuracy of gps how can i be sure i'm dancing on the right grave? wouldn't want to disrespect the wrong grave.

  12. I prefer cremation and scattering by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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
  13. Why Not Go One Step Further and Include RFID? by bratwiz · · Score: 2, Interesting


    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...)

  14. Science by Bender0x7D1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Why not donate your body to science?

    They seem to have pretty good service - and it's free. If you want to cremate the leftover parts, they will do that, too. You can pick the ashes up for free, or have them sent to you through certified mail for only $15. (Way cheaper than your local crematorium.) Either way, someone gets some use out of your leftover meat.

    --
    Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
  15. I want a SPECTACULAR EXTRAVAGANZA! by spun · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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
  16. Cremation ecoUNfriendy by xaxa · · Score: 2, Informative

    Cremation is very eco-unfriendly. You need a really hot oven (800C or something), and you're burning the body. Burial is better. If you don't want burial, then one option permitted in some countries is to freeze the body and then use ultrasound to shatter it into dust.

  17. Re: Zombie Koalas!!! by ashitaka · · Score: 2, Funny

    Eats shoots and Braaaiinnnssss!!!!

    --
    If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.