10.22.2013

The Dead and The Environment




If I was married for 48 years to one person and they had one request upon dying, I would, no doubt, agree to anything they ask. But if this request was to be buried in our front lawn, it might take some mulling over.

All James Davis’ wife, Patsy Davis, wanted was to be buried in their lawn. So, Mr. Davis was determined to do just that. After going through all the necessary paper work and being denied by the city and even The Alabama Supreme Court, Mr. Davis did what he was told anyway. A month later he was sued by the city. For the next four years Mr. Davis became thousands of dollars deep in legal fees.  He stuck to his guns. He even ran for Mayor and lost. His neighbors weren't bothered by her, so why should the government be and how is this related to environmental news? The city’s attorney Parker Edmiston said” If you allow it for Mr. Davis, you allow it for Ms. Adams, Mr. Jones and everyone else,” and that would mean bad news for the rest of us.

The process of laying a human to rest nowadays requires many chemicals including formaldehyde, which is toxic to all animals and has been the cause of death to some adult humans. So you can only imagine how this chemical seriously contaminates the ground and the plant life it comes in contact with. If everyone began burying their loved ones in areas where there is life and community, toxins would build up and eventually start to affect the living.


There are more environmentally friendly ways of resting. Including cremation, (which has its only pollutants to worry about, but it’s still not as bad as cutting down millions of rain forest  making steel vaults, and concocting embalming fluid) and natural burials which is done without chemicals. The deceased is put in a biodegradable coffin or casket and the area where the person is buried is kept as close to the original state as possible. Just like our ancestors did. Awesome. 



No comments:

Post a Comment