A burial practice that nourishes the planet | Caitlin Doughty

268,856 views ・ 2017-04-03

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:13
When I die,
0
13208
1613
00:14
I would like for my body to be laid out to be eaten by animals.
1
14845
5083
00:20
Having your body laid out to be eaten by animals is not for everyone.
2
20920
4711
00:25
(Laughter)
3
25655
1033
00:26
Maybe you have already had the end-of-life talk with your family
4
26712
3953
00:30
and decided on, I don't know, cremation.
5
30689
3720
00:34
And in the interest of full disclosure,
6
34833
2566
00:37
what I am proposing for my dead body is not strictly legal at the moment,
7
37423
5988
00:43
but it's not without precedent.
8
43435
1991
00:45
We've been laying out our dead for all of human history;
9
45924
3588
00:49
it's call exposure burial.
10
49536
2069
00:52
In fact, it's likely happening right now as we speak.
11
52096
4080
00:56
In the mountainous regions of Tibet,
12
56684
2231
00:58
they practice "sky burial,"
13
58939
2064
01:01
a ritual where the body is left to be consumed by vultures.
14
61027
3891
01:05
In Mumbai, in India, those who follow the Parsi religion
15
65545
5226
01:10
put their dead in structures called "Towers of Silence."
16
70795
4277
01:15
These are interesting cultural tidbits,
17
75487
2544
01:18
but they just haven't really been that popular in the Western world --
18
78055
4448
01:22
they're not what you'd expect.
19
82527
1700
01:24
In America, our death traditions have come to be chemical embalming,
20
84978
5030
01:30
followed by burial at your local cemetery,
21
90032
3381
01:33
or, more recently, cremation.
22
93437
2320
01:36
I myself, am a recent vegetarian,
23
96843
3263
01:40
which means I spent the first 30 years or so of my life
24
100130
3619
01:43
frantically inhaling animals --
25
103773
2207
01:46
as many as I could get my hands on.
26
106004
1978
01:48
Why, when I die, should they not have their turn with me?
27
108706
4580
01:53
(Laughter)
28
113310
1767
01:55
Am I not an animal?
29
115101
1880
01:57
Biologically speaking, are we not all, in this room, animals?
30
117005
4764
02:02
Accepting the fact that we are animals
31
122949
2652
02:05
has some potentially terrifying consequences.
32
125625
3131
02:09
It means accepting that we are doomed to decay and die,
33
129220
4028
02:13
just like any other creature on earth.
34
133272
3242
02:18
For the last nine years, I've worked in the funeral industry,
35
138076
3614
02:21
first as a crematory operator,
36
141714
2131
02:23
then as a mortician
37
143869
1478
02:25
and most recently, as the owner of my own funeral home.
38
145371
3112
02:29
And I have some good news:
39
149162
1732
02:30
if you're looking to avoid the whole "doomed to decay and die" thing:
40
150918
5572
02:36
you will have all the help in the world in that avoidance
41
156514
4216
02:40
from the funeral industry.
42
160754
1777
02:43
It's a multi-billion-dollar industry,
43
163640
2165
02:45
and its economic model is based on the principle
44
165829
2984
02:48
of protection, sanitation and beautification of the corpse.
45
168837
5479
02:55
Whether they mean to or not,
46
175430
2172
02:57
the funeral industry promotes this idea of human exceptionalism.
47
177626
4493
03:02
It doesn't matter what it takes,
48
182636
1642
03:04
how much it costs,
49
184302
1292
03:05
how bad it is for the environment,
50
185618
1958
03:07
we're going to do it because humans are worth it!
51
187600
3273
03:11
It ignores the fact
52
191767
1588
03:13
that death can be an emotionally messy and complex affair,
53
193379
5087
03:18
and that there is beauty in decay --
54
198490
2544
03:21
beauty in the natural return to the earth from whence we came.
55
201058
4413
03:27
Now, I don't want you to get me wrong --
56
207000
1916
03:28
I absolutely understand the importance of ritual,
57
208940
2987
03:31
especially when it comes to the people that we love.
58
211951
3101
03:35
But we have to be able to create and practice this ritual
59
215076
3535
03:38
without harming the environment,
60
218635
1781
03:40
which is why we need new options.
61
220440
2939
03:44
So let's return to the idea of protection, sanitation and beautification.
62
224235
5040
03:49
We'll start with a dead body.
63
229299
1776
03:51
The funeral industry will protect your dead body
64
231672
3019
03:54
by offering to sell your family a casket made of hardwood or metal
65
234715
4841
03:59
with a rubber sealant.
66
239580
1879
04:02
At the cemetery, on the day of burial, that casket will be lowered
67
242083
3571
04:05
into a large concrete or metal vault.
68
245678
3137
04:09
We're wasting all of these resources -- concretes, metal, hardwoods --
69
249573
3924
04:13
hiding them in vast underground fortresses.
70
253521
3765
04:18
When you choose burial at the cemetery,
71
258120
2548
04:20
your dead body is not coming anywhere near the dirt that surrounds it.
72
260692
5293
04:26
Food for worms
73
266570
1554
04:28
you are not.
74
268148
1177
04:30
Next, the industry will sanitize your body through embalming:
75
270477
4819
04:35
the chemical preservation of the dead.
76
275320
2201
04:38
This procedure drains your blood
77
278126
1934
04:40
and replaces it with a toxic, cancer-causing formaldehyde.
78
280084
4302
04:45
They say they do this for the public health
79
285469
2343
04:47
because the dead body can be dangerous,
80
287836
2850
04:50
but the doctors in this room will tell you
81
290710
2499
04:53
that that claim would only apply
82
293233
2754
04:56
if the person had died of some wildly infectious disease, like Ebola.
83
296011
4916
05:01
Even human decomposition, which, let's be honest,
84
301841
3239
05:05
is a little stinky and unpleasant,
85
305104
2990
05:08
is perfectly safe.
86
308118
1743
05:10
The bacteria that causes disease is not the same bacteria
87
310615
4508
05:15
that causes decomposition.
88
315147
1974
05:18
Finally, the industry will beautify the corpse.
89
318476
3940
05:23
They'll tell you that the natural dead body of your mother or father
90
323001
3889
05:26
is not good enough as it is.
91
326914
2084
05:29
They'll put it in makeup.
92
329485
1728
05:31
They'll put it in a suit.
93
331237
1791
05:33
They'll inject dyes so the person looks a little more alive --
94
333052
3939
05:37
just resting.
95
337015
1286
05:39
Embalming is a cheat code,
96
339492
2266
05:41
providing the illusion that death and then decay are not the natural end
97
341782
4397
05:46
for all organic life on this planet.
98
346203
2885
05:50
Now, if this system of beautification, sanitation, protection
99
350429
5018
05:55
doesn't appeal to you,
100
355471
2193
05:57
you are not alone.
101
357688
1399
05:59
There is a whole wave of people --
102
359650
1976
06:01
funeral directors, designers, environmentalists --
103
361650
2964
06:04
trying to come up with a more eco-friendly way of death.
104
364638
3811
06:09
For these people, death is not necessarily
105
369201
2482
06:11
a pristine, makeup, powder-blue tuxedo kind of affair.
106
371707
4192
06:16
There's no question
107
376566
1398
06:17
that our current methods of death are not particularly sustainable,
108
377988
3927
06:21
what with the waste of resources and our reliance on chemicals.
109
381939
3636
06:26
Even cremation,
110
386318
1342
06:27
which is usually considered the environmentally friendly option,
111
387684
3718
06:31
uses, per cremation,
112
391426
2238
06:33
the natural gas equivalent of a 500-mile car trip.
113
393688
4900
06:39
So where do we go from here?
114
399748
2554
06:43
Last summer, I was in the mountains of North Carolina,
115
403188
3352
06:46
hauling buckets of wood chips in the summer sun.
116
406564
3347
06:50
I was at Western Carolina University at their "Body Farm,"
117
410561
4189
06:54
more accurately called a "human decomposition facility."
118
414774
3832
06:59
Bodies donated to science are brought here,
119
419614
2245
07:01
and their decay is studied to benefit the future of forensics.
120
421883
4024
07:06
On this particular day,
121
426640
1288
07:07
there were 12 bodies laid out in various stages of decomposition.
122
427952
4571
07:12
Some were skeletonized,
123
432547
2281
07:14
one was wearing purple pajamas,
124
434852
2372
07:17
one still had blonde facial hair visible.
125
437248
2736
07:21
The forensic aspect is really fascinating,
126
441030
2909
07:23
but not actually why I was there.
127
443963
2396
07:26
I was there because a colleague of mine named Katrina Spade
128
446383
3262
07:29
is attempting to create a system, not of cremating the dead,
129
449669
4340
07:34
but composting the dead.
130
454033
1950
07:36
She calls the system "Recomposition,"
131
456745
2518
07:39
and we've been doing it with cattle and other livestock for years.
132
459287
3672
07:43
She imagines a facility
133
463465
1524
07:45
where the family could come and lay their dead loved one
134
465013
2626
07:47
in a nutrient-rich mixture that would, in four-to-six weeks,
135
467663
4431
07:52
reduce the body -- bones and all -- to soil.
136
472118
3604
07:56
In those four-to-six weeks,
137
476622
1445
07:58
your molecules become other molecules;
138
478091
2458
08:00
you literally transform.
139
480573
1738
08:03
How would this fit in with the very recent desire
140
483526
3053
08:06
a lot of people seem to have
141
486603
1602
08:08
to be buried under a tree,
142
488229
1505
08:09
or to become a tree when they die?
143
489758
2061
08:12
In a traditional cremation, the ashes that are left over --
144
492530
3530
08:16
inorganic bone fragments --
145
496084
1986
08:18
form a thick, chalky layer
146
498094
2251
08:20
that, unless distributed in the soil just right,
147
500369
3223
08:23
can actually hurt or kill the tree.
148
503616
3177
08:27
But if you're recomposed, if you actually become the soil,
149
507372
3305
08:30
you can nourish the tree,
150
510701
1534
08:32
and become the post-mortem contributor you've always wanted to be --
151
512259
3689
08:35
that you deserve to be.
152
515972
1793
08:38
So that's one option for the future of cremation.
153
518638
3343
08:42
But what about the future of cemeteries?
154
522005
2385
08:44
There are a lot of people who think we shouldn't even have cemeteries anymore
155
524932
4065
08:49
because we're running out of land.
156
529021
2039
08:51
But what if we reframed it,
157
531797
2213
08:54
and the corpse wasn't the land's enemy,
158
534034
2605
08:56
but its potential savior?
159
536663
1959
08:59
I'm talking about conservation burial,
160
539625
2553
09:02
where large swaths of land are purchased by a land trust.
161
542202
4059
09:07
The beauty of this is that once you plant a few dead bodies in that land,
162
547094
4830
09:11
it can't be touched, it can't be developed on --
163
551948
3018
09:14
hence the term, "conservation burial."
164
554990
2798
09:17
It's the equivalent of chaining yourself to a tree post-mortem --
165
557812
3882
09:21
"Hell no, I won't go!
166
561718
2464
09:24
No, really -- I can't. I'm decomposing under here."
167
564206
3045
09:27
(Laughter)
168
567275
1095
09:28
Any money that the family gives to the cemetery
169
568394
2321
09:30
would go back into protecting and managing the land.
170
570739
3509
09:35
There are no headstones and no graves in the typical sense.
171
575196
4399
09:39
The graves are scattered about the property
172
579619
2147
09:41
under elegant mounds,
173
581790
1560
09:43
marked only by a rock or a small metal disk,
174
583374
3681
09:47
or sometimes only locatable by GPS.
175
587079
2898
09:50
There's no embalming,
176
590563
1674
09:52
no heavy, metal caskets.
177
592261
2199
09:55
My funeral home sells a few caskets
178
595120
2205
09:57
made out of things like woven willow and bamboo,
179
597349
3752
10:01
but honestly, most of our families just choose a simple shroud.
180
601125
3723
10:05
There are none of the big vaults that most cemeteries require
181
605799
3840
10:09
just because it makes it easier for them to landscape.
182
609663
3319
10:13
Families can come here; they can luxuriate in nature;
183
613921
3532
10:17
they can even plant a tree or a shrub,
184
617477
2677
10:20
though only native plants to the area are allowed.
185
620178
3002
10:23
The dead then blend seamlessly in with the landscape.
186
623874
3739
10:28
There's hope in conservation cemeteries.
187
628079
3151
10:31
They offer dedicated green space in both urban and rural areas.
188
631911
4822
10:37
They offer a chance to reintroduce native plants and animals to a region.
189
637567
4362
10:42
They offer public trails,
190
642742
1973
10:44
places for spiritual practice,
191
644739
2048
10:46
places for classes and events --
192
646811
3115
10:49
places where nature and mourning meet.
193
649950
3152
10:54
Most importantly, they offer us, once again,
194
654271
3396
10:57
a chance to just decompose in a hole in the ground.
195
657691
5127
11:03
The soil,
196
663786
1389
11:05
let me tell you,
197
665199
1668
11:06
has missed us.
198
666891
1529
11:08
I think for a lot of people,
199
668975
2032
11:11
they're starting to get the sense
200
671031
1597
11:12
that our current funeral industry isn't really working for them.
201
672652
4309
11:18
For many of us,
202
678118
1190
11:19
being sanitized and beautified just doesn't reflect us.
203
679332
4411
11:23
It doesn't reflect what we stood for during our lives.
204
683767
3229
11:27
Will changing the way we bury our dead solve climate change?
205
687834
3919
11:32
No.
206
692269
1150
11:33
But it will make bold moves
207
693872
2025
11:35
in how we see ourselves as citizens of this planet.
208
695921
3530
11:40
If we can die in a way that is more humble and self-aware,
209
700474
4608
11:45
I believe that we stand a chance.
210
705106
2500
11:48
Thank you.
211
708052
1244
11:49
(Applause)
212
709320
3241
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7