Think outside the box
FUNERAL tourism could be next big thing at Mission Beach.
Truus Biddlecombe from Mission Beach Community Association says there is a growing movement towards bodies being buried vertically.
After the body is interred, a tree is planted on top as a marker and as a physical symbol of a life well lived.
Ms Biddlecombe has spoken to Cassowary Coast Regional Council about the possibility of it making land available for a green cemetery.
“I was advised they would consider the idea,” she said.
Deputy Mayor Wayne Kimberley said it was a “great concept”.
“Planting trees instead of clearing 20ha for a cemetery is a much better idea,” Cr Kimberley said.
Ms Biddlecombe said in green cemeteries around the world people could return to the earth naked, clothed, in a shroud or in a cardboard or wicker “coffin”.
She said there were no metals and no toxins involved with the burial.
“There is no embalming, no copper or metal handles. It would be a dedicated green cemetery. This is now quite a strong movement worldwide,” she said.
Ms Biddlecombe said there was no cemetery at Mission Beach.
She said people born and bred at Mission Beach had to be buried at Tully or cremated at Innisfail. the
“I think it would help tourism. People would want to come here to be buried under a tree. There would be no metal markers. There would be GPS positions so visitors could find the tree of a loved done,” Ms Biddlecombe said. “We use so much energy burning people when we can create a forest or in the case here at Mission Beach, return what was once rainforest back to rainforest.”
Ms Biddlecombe has identified a plot of unused, degraded council land on the South Mission Beach Rd.
“It is cleared rainforest and it still adjoins rainforest. It could be plant- ed again to rainforest trees one at a time as people choose to be buried here,” she said.
“It is a very popular cassowary route through here as well.”
Cr Kimberley said the council would investigate the concept.
“You can’t be putting bodies any- where. It has to be the right place and this is what we will be looking at. We have to do the research. It’s close to the Great Barrier Reef, so we need to be careful,” he said. “I think it’s a great concept. “It’s just a matter of identifying where it can be done.”
Liz Gallie from the Cassowary Coast Alliance applauded the idea.
She said green cemeteries were now accepted alternatives in many parts of the world.
She said they were inexpensive and could create new businesses developing unique and creative ways of using recyclable and sustainable materials for shrouds and coffins.
“One hundred and sixty kilograms of carbon dioxide is released in a standard cremation whereas a single tree can sequester one tonne of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for every 100 years of its life,” Ms Gallie said.