The Natural Death Centre

News

October 2008: Natural Burial Grounds are winners in the Cemetery of the Year Awards

Usk Castle Chase Natural Burial Ground, Usk, Monmouthshire c/o James Leedam www.nativewoodland.co.uk.
Delliefure Natural Burial Ground, Highlands c/o James Leedam www.nativewoodland.co.uk.
Tarn Moor Memorial Woodland, North Yorkshire c/o Wendy Pratt www.tarnmoor.co.uk.

This Green Burial Sites section of the awards hosted by the Memorial Awareness Board were won by members of the Association of Natural Burial Grounds.

July 2008: England's first comprehensive strategy to care for the dying.
The Department of Health has published a national End of Life Care Strategy for adults in England. This is the first time this country will have a long-term, comprehensive strategy for the care of adults at the end of their life.

A link to the Strategy can be found on the Department of Health website at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/.../PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_086277

July 2008: New Zealand goes green & has opened up a Natural Burial Ground - Wellington Natural Cemetery . This cemetery is the result of a partnership between Wellington City Council and the not-for-profit organisation Natural Burials.
www.naturalburials.co.nz

April 2008: The London Green Funeral Exhibition
The Natural Death Centre hosted another most successful green funeral exhibition as its 16th Day of the Dead. Guest speakers included Alexandra Boyd, eco-designer and environmentalist and David Bellamy, botanist and environmental campaigner.

Thank you from the Natural Death Centre to all the exhibitors, panel speakers and the many people who attended for a fun and informative day.

2007: In a recent conference for science journalists held in Melbourne, biologist Roger Short of Melbourne University called for an end to cremation quoting figures on the greenhouse cost of cremations. He said that during a cremation process the average male body produces more than 50 kgm of carbon dioxide. This is the same level of emissions, he said, that one dozen cars gave as their drivers came to attend the funeral.

Here is an extract from his press release dated 17th April -

"Think earth to earth," he said, "but not ashes to ashes or dust to dust". Professor Short's proposal is that everyone should be buried [...] next to their favourite species of tree. This would allow the remains to enrich the growth. "Not for nothing are trees known as the lungs of the world", he said. "A single tree over a hundred-year period absorbs over a metric ton of carbon dioxide (CO2), so imagine the difference it could make if everyone was buried and had a tree planted in their memory". "Photosynthesis in trees is the single most efficient way of sequestering CO2. Not only that, but they do what no other method of carbon minimisation can do, and that is to produce oxygen", he said. Professor Short's idea comes in the wake of China's policy of encouraging cremation due to lack of space and the Hindu practise in India of burning the body on a funeral pyre made of trees.

He said that in Australia during cremation, the average male produces over 50 kilograms of CO2 as the body is heated to 850 degrees centigrade for an hour and a half. "And that's not counting the carbon cost of the fuel, and the cost of the emissions involved in producing and burning the wooden coffin", he added. Professor Short acknowledges that there are cultural sensitivities, legal issues and other obstacles that would have to be overcome for the idea to take hold. However, he said that time was short and this was a practical idea that allows each one of us to do our bit to combat climate change.

2007: A recent study by Mintel finds just 9% of thoise aged over 55 in the UK have funeral arrangements put in place.
The statistic is curious, as 54% of the 850 surveyed think pre-payment for the event is a good idea, but only 3% have sorted out finances for the inevitable event.
Pre-payment is increasingly popular in the US and Belgium and despite the low statistic for pre-payment in the UK, researches expect the number to grow in the coming years.
Funeral costs are rising in the UK as cemetaries continue to reach capacity.
Cremation is the disposal method of choice for more than 70% of UK citizens, but concerns are being raised over the release of mercury gas from crematoria.
Green burials provide a suitable alternative, with 64% of those surveyed by Mintel open to the idea of being buried in a woodland or meadow near their home. Decomposable eco coffins made of wicker or cardboard are friendly to the earth, while enabling families to engage in traditional funeral practices.
Green funerals cannot be ignored, as they are more cost-effective than either traditional burial or cremation and more ecologically friendly, a win-win for family members and those wishing to do the right thing for the environment.
£1.3 billion was spent on funerals in the UK in 2006, up 10% from 2005.

July 06: Daily Telegraph. As the world's biggest organic food store is set to open in Britain, eco-friendly holidays soar and Ford invests £1bn in greener cars, Adam Edwards says we'e all gone ethical. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2006/07/19/hethics19.xml

June 06: Daily Telegraph. The baby boomer generation, pioneers of the green movement, is taking environmental activism to the grave with ethical burials. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/05/nbury05.xml

April 06: Guardian article on natural funerals. http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/annalisabarbieri/story/0,,1744124,00.html

November 05: Proposals to allow doctors to help some terminally ill patients to die have been submitted for consideration by the House of Lords. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4420342.stm

September 05: Wolverhampton City Council opens the Bereavement Centre in partnership with a number of agencies.

September 05: The BBC reports that the town of Jonkoping, Sweden, intends to offer freeze-dried burials by 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4293992.stm

September 05: International conference on death, dying and disposal. Two hundred of the world's leading experts in death, dying and disposal will meet at a conference at the University of Bath from 15th to 18th September to present and discuss their latest research findings. Press releases from the conference and the abstracts of NDC co-founder Josefine Speyer's paper and former ANBG administrator Mike Jarvis' paper can be found at: http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/releases/ddd7trends080905.html
The conference's website is http://ddd7.bath.ac.uk/

August 05: The Court of Appeal have now published their Judgement allowing the appeal of the General Medical Council against the granting of judicial review to the claimant, Leslie Burke. Essentially, this judgement means that the General Medical Council guidance on the circumstances in which life prolonging treatment in the form of artificial nutrition and hydration could be withdrawn from a patient was lawful and did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Mental Capacity Bill, passed in April, gives statutory force to patients' rights to refuse treatment, even if such refusal leads to their death. It is for the purposes of recording their precise wishes relating to the witholding of treatment that many people execute Advance Healthcare Directives (Living Wills). The Leslie Burke case represents the other side of the coin: the right of patients to die naturally from their disease rather than dying more rapidly from starvation and dehydration.

May 05: Monday, May 16th saw the start of Leslie Burke's case at the Court of Appeal. There is much coverage of this elsewhere, but put simply, Mr Burke is appealing to the court for the right to receive life-sustaining treatment should appropriate circumstances in his condition develop. The General Medical Council are represented in an argument against this, broadly taking the view that Advance Directives should be legally binding only in so far as they related to the previously expressed refusal of treatment. The hearing continues.

April 05: The Mental Capacity Bill received Royal Assent on April 7th. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 will come into effect in England & Wales in 2007. Full details can be found at The Department of Constitutional Affairs website. In so far as this will affect Advance Directives (Living Wills) you should remember the following:

* This new act covers England & Wales; Scottish provision is covered by The Adults with Incapacity Act 2000.
* Living Wills already enjoy protection under common law; the Mental Capacity Act will add statutory protection.
* Advance Directives already executed, such as those using our templates, will still be valid.
* The new Act will give you the power to appoint an attorney to act on your behalf should you lose the capacity to do so in the future.
* In order that the validity of Advance Directives is as unquestionable as possible they must reflect your wishes with regard to any relevant future situation which you might envisage. They should be regularly reviewed (every three to four years, say) and either amended or noted to the effect that you have reviewed it and consider no change to be necessary.

8 March 05: The Herald reports that rights of people in Scotland to have greater freedom over the funeral arrangements of loved ones were advanced yesterday by the first meeting of and expert review group under the chairmanship of a citizens' rights expert.

26 Feb - 14 April 05: In advance of Carers Week, Macmillan calls on all carers to fill in a survey about their experiences of juggling work and care, and what changes might make a difference to their quality of life.

3-26 February 05: Colder Than Here is a celebrated new play by Laura Wade "Heavily influenced by The Natural Death Handbook" (The Guardian).

7 February 05: A surgeon writes for the BBC about how doctors could improve the way they break bad news to patients.

January 05: Further to our newsletter article on mercury pollution from crematoria ("Time for Crematoria to Come Clean"), The Times has reported on the matter. Sympathetic readers may like to sign the petition calling for a worldwide ban on the use of amalgam dental fillings.

10 January 05: The House of Lords permits the Mental Capacity Bill to proceed. On 25 January peers will consider the Bill in Committee.

22 December 04: US study finds no evidence that cancer patients are able to postpone their death to survive significant events such as birthdays or Christmas, reports the Journal of the American Medical Association.

14 December 04: MPs pass the Mental Capacity Bill, which gives Living Wills full statutory force and allows people to nominate their own healthcare representatives.

2 December 04: The Newcastle-upon-Tyne Journal warns about unregulated prepaid funeral plans. The Natural Death Handbook recommends the best prepaid plans available in the UK. The Funeral Planning Authority also has a list of registered providers.

30 November 04: France passes a law, to be ratified by the Senate, allowing competent terminally ill and seriously disabled patients to refuse life-prolonging treatment. See the BMJ for further details.

24 November - 5 December 04: National Tree Week is a nationwide celebration of trees and woods organised by the Tree Council. It marks the start of the tree planting season by planting and celebrating trees.

23 November 04: 'My brother's death has taught me the importance of a Living Will', writes Christine Aziz in the Independent. See the publications page for more on Living Wills / Advance Directives.

9 November 04: Macmillan Cancer Relief is calling for more financial support for cancer patients, many of whom are missing out on disability and attendance allowances. For a free Help with the Cost of Cancer booklet freephone 0800 500 800 or log onto www.macmillan.org.uk/abetterdeal

25 October 04: Cemetery memorials flattened for safety reasons still pose a safety hazard according to an independent report produced for Rother District Council.

22 October 04: The Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management distributes a Recycling of Metals Following Cremation pack to all UK crematoria. The Environment Agency objects to the current method of burying the metals in the ground.

17 October 04: In a letter to the Independent on Sunday, a consultant anaesthetist argues that fasting before death "is not the same as dying of starvation or thirst".

October 04: It is the fund-raising Poetry Challenge season, where adults and children recite poems they have learnt by heart for charity. If you would like to take part, and raise money for the Natural Death Centre in the process, you may download a free sponsorship form from the Poetry Challenge website: www.poetrychallenge.org

15 October 04: The BBC reports that The Royal College of GPs and Royal College of Physicians have dropped their opposition to the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill.

7 October 04: The High Court rules that a premature 11-month-old girl should not be resuscitated if she stops breathing for a fourth time. Mr Justice Hedley told the court, "I do not believe that any further aggressive treatment, even if necessary to prolong life, is in her best interests." 22 October: The High Court rules that a baby with heart and breathing problems should not be resuscitated by mechanical ventilation. 10 November: Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, president of the High Court Family Division, tells a Withholding Treatment conference in London that judges must intervene when families and doctors cannot agree. It is the judge's role to "develop the law and give liberal interpretation of the statute when circumstances demand it," she said. 9 February 05: Parents fail to get DNR court order lifted.

September 04: NHS nursing students are receiving inadequate support when caring for dying patients, claims a nursing research study authored by Jan Cooper, senior lecturer in the school of health and social sciences at Coventry University.

19 September 04: As a House of Lords select committee considers Lord Joffe's Assisted Dying Bill, the Observer reports that every year in Britain up to 20,000 terminally ill people are already being assited to die by doctors. Dr Hazel Biggs makes the claim in the European Journal of Health Law.

17 September 04: A Swedish study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the parents of children who died of cancer who had talked about death with their children expressed no regret about doing so. Some of those parents who had not discussed death with their children later wished that they had.

The code of practice for funeral workers on managing risk infection states that embalming is "a choice and not a necessity" (Communicable Disease & Public Health 2001;4:284). Despite this, a new Co-operative Funeral Service leaflet entitled 'The Meadow Collection for Woodland Burials' states, "We insist on carrying out embalming treatment when we undertake to provide a funeral from the above collection."

14 September 04: We have been advised that the aforementioned Co-op leaflet will not be reproduced. However, we would advise natural burial ground managers and the general public to be aware, if arranging a funeral with the Co-op, that this leaflet and its accompanying message may well still be in circulation.

The Autumn newsletter is now published. See the publications page for details, or become a friend to receive it and other occasional mailings.

The Centre's improved Advance Healthcare Directive (Living Will form), plus a Funeral Wishes Form and a Death Plan, are now available as downloadable PDFs for £5 per set. The popular NDC Journals, After Life, Progressive Endings and Ways To Go – Naturally, which sold out quickly upon publication, are also now available as PDFs for a bargain £3 each (or £8 for the lot). See the publications page for ordering details.

The Natural Death Centre is considering changing its name. What do you think? Do you think it's time for a change? Do you like the name as it is? How about the National Death Centre? Do let us know your thoughts.