Death and conservation

January 28, 2011 § Leave a comment

Here’s a typical event which exposes societal attitudes to death and dying.

A local government authority in the West Midlands is wondering if it can save money by using the heat from a nearby crematorium to warm the water in the adjoining swimming pool.

A popular response has been: “Urghh, how could you possibly consider it” – as though the water itself was contaminated with the ashes of the departed. A local trade union even described the proposal as “sick and an insult to local residents”…

Perhaps it’s just me, but I think it’s a really creative idea.

Nature ensures that waste from one organism is food for another; and so it should be in our oil-strapped and hungry world. Local governments badly need to save money. Every organisation and community needs to be moving into carbon descent.

I think we’re moving to a world where such energy conservation measures need to become the norm. Perhaps there needs to be a rethinking of social values towards what we need to do to ensure the smoothest possible impact of climate change and the end of oil?

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