A burial practice that nourishes the planet | Caitlin Doughty

Prevodilac: Ivana Krivokuća Lektor: Tijana Mihajlović

When I die,

Kada umrem,

I would like for my body to be laid out to be eaten by animals.

volela bih da se moje telo položi da ga pojedu životinje.

Having your body laid out to be eaten by animals is not for everyone.

Izlaganje tela da ga pojedu životinje

nije za svakoga.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Maybe you have already had the end-of-life talk with your family

Možda ste već razgovarali sa svojom porodicom o kraju života

and decided on, I don't know, cremation.

i odlučili se, šta znam, za kremaciju.

And in the interest of full disclosure,

Zarad potpunog razotkrivanja,

what I am proposing for my dead body is not strictly legal at the moment,

ono što predlažem za svoje mrtvo telo trenutno nije baš legalno,

but it's not without precedent.

ali nije bez presedana.

We've been laying out our dead for all of human history;

Polagali smo svoje mrtve kroz čitavu ljudsku istoriju;

it's call exposure burial.

to se zove sahranjivanje izlaganjem.

In fact, it's likely happening right now as we speak.

Zapravo, verovatno je da se dešava upravo sada dok govorimo.

In the mountainous regions of Tibet,

U planinskim područjima Tibeta

they practice "sky burial,"

primenjuju „nebeske sahrane“,

a ritual where the body is left to be consumed by vultures.

ritual gde se telo ostavlja da ga pojedu lešinari.

In Mumbai, in India, those who follow the Parsi religion

U Mumbaju u Indiji, sledbenici parsijske vere

put their dead in structures called "Towers of Silence."

stavljaju svoje mrtve u strukture zvane „kule tišine“.

These are interesting cultural tidbits,

Ovo su zanimljive kulturološke poslastice,

ali prosto nisu toliko popularne u zapadnom svetu;

but they just haven't really been that popular in the Western world --

they're not what you'd expect.

nisu ono što biste očekivali.

In America, our death traditions have come to be chemical embalming,

U Americi, naše tradicije vezane za smrt svode se na balsamovanje hemikalijama,

zatim, sahranu na lokalnom groblju,

followed by burial at your local cemetery,

or, more recently, cremation.

i, u skorije vreme, kremaciju.

I myself, am a recent vegetarian,

Ja sam od nedavno vegetarijanac,

which means I spent the first 30 years or so of my life

što znači da sam provela prvih tridesetak godina života

frantically inhaling animals --

u pomahnitalom gutanju životinja -

koliko god sam mogla.

as many as I could get my hands on.

Why, when I die, should they not have their turn with me?

Zašto ne bi bio njihov red da navale na mene kada umrem?

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Am I not an animal?

Zar ja nisam životinja?

Biologically speaking, are we not all, in this room, animals?

Biološki govoreći, zar nismo svi mi u ovoj prostoriji životinje?

Accepting the fact that we are animals

Prihvatanje činjenice da smo svi životinje

has some potentially terrifying consequences.

ima potencijalno zastrašujuće posledice.

It means accepting that we are doomed to decay and die,

To podrazumeva prihvatanje da smo osuđeni da istrulimo i umremo,

just like any other creature on earth.

kao i sva druga stvorenja na planeti.

For the last nine years, I've worked in the funeral industry,

Proteklih devet godina radim u pogrebnoj delatnosti,

first as a crematory operator,

najpre kao rukovodilac krematorijuma,

then as a mortician

zatim kao pogrebnik,

and most recently, as the owner of my own funeral home.

i od nedavno kao vlasnik sopstvene firme za pogrebne usluge.

And I have some good news:

Imam dobre vesti.

if you're looking to avoid the whole "doomed to decay and die" thing:

Ako želite da izbegnete sve to sa „osuđenošću na trulež i smrt“,

you will have all the help in the world in that avoidance

imaćete svu pomoć ovog sveta u tom izbegavanju

from the funeral industry.

od pogrebnih usluga.

It's a multi-billion-dollar industry,

To je industrija vredna više milijardi dolara,

and its economic model is based on the principle

a njen ekonomski model zasnovan je na principu

of protection, sanitation and beautification of the corpse.

očuvanja, dezinfekcije i ulepšavanja leša.

Whether they mean to or not,

Nameravala to ili ne,

the funeral industry promotes this idea of human exceptionalism.

pogrebna delatnost podstiče ideju o ljudskoj izuzetnosti.

It doesn't matter what it takes,

Nebitno je šta je potrebno,

how much it costs,

koliko košta,

how bad it is for the environment,

koliko je štetno za životnu sredinu,

we're going to do it because humans are worth it!

učinićemo to jer su ljudi vredni toga!

It ignores the fact

Ignoriše se činjenica

that death can be an emotionally messy and complex affair,

da smrt može biti emocionalno haotična i složena stvar,

and that there is beauty in decay --

kao i da ima lepote u propadanju -

beauty in the natural return to the earth from whence we came.

lepote u prirodnom povratku zemlji iz koje smo potekli.

Ne bih da me pogrešno shvatite -

Now, I don't want you to get me wrong --

I absolutely understand the importance of ritual,

potpuno razumem važnost rituala,

especially when it comes to the people that we love.

naročito kada se radi o ljudima koje volimo,

ali moramo biti u mogućnosti da stvorimo i upražnjavamo taj ritual

But we have to be able to create and practice this ritual

without harming the environment,

a da ne naškodimo životnoj sredini,

which is why we need new options.

zbog čega su nam potrebne nove opcije.

So let's return to the idea of protection, sanitation and beautification.

Vratimo se ideji o očuvanju, dezinfekciji i ulepšavanju.

We'll start with a dead body.

Počećemo od mrtvog tela.

The funeral industry will protect your dead body

Pogrebna delatnost će zaštititi vaše mrtvo telo

by offering to sell your family a casket made of hardwood or metal

ponudivši da proda vašoj porodici kovčeg sačinjen od tvrdog drveta ili metala

with a rubber sealant.

sa gumenim zaptivačem.

At the cemetery, on the day of burial, that casket will be lowered

Na groblju, na dan sahrane,

taj kovčeg će biti spušten u veliku betonsku ili metalnu grobnicu.

into a large concrete or metal vault.

We're wasting all of these resources -- concretes, metal, hardwoods --

Traćimo sva ta sredstva - beton, metal, tvrdo drvo -

hiding them in vast underground fortresses.

time što ih sakrivamo u ogromne podzemne tvrđave.

When you choose burial at the cemetery,

Kada odaberete sahranu na groblju,

your dead body is not coming anywhere near the dirt that surrounds it.

vaše mrtvo telo se ne približava zemlji koja ga okružuje.

Food for worms

Hrana za crve

you are not.

ne postajete.

Next, the industry will sanitize your body through embalming:

Zatim, dezinfikovaće vam telo balsamovanjem,

the chemical preservation of the dead.

hemijskim procesom za očuvanje mrtvih.

This procedure drains your blood

Ova procedura vam ispušta krv

and replaces it with a toxic, cancer-causing formaldehyde.

i zamenjuje je otrovnim formaldehidom koji prouzrokuje rak.

They say they do this for the public health

Kažu da to rade zbog javnog zdravlja

because the dead body can be dangerous,

jer mrtva tela mogu biti opasna,

but the doctors in this room will tell you

ali doktori u ovoj prostoriji će vam reći

that that claim would only apply

da bi ta tvrdnja važila samo ako je osoba umrla

if the person had died of some wildly infectious disease, like Ebola.

od neke užasno infektivne bolesti kao što je ebola.

Even human decomposition, which, let's be honest,

Čak i raspadanje ljudskog bića,

koje, iskreno rečeno, jeste malo smrdljivo i neprijatno,

is a little stinky and unpleasant,

is perfectly safe.

savršeno je bezbedno.

The bacteria that causes disease is not the same bacteria

Bakterija koja izaziva bolest nije ista bakterija

that causes decomposition.

koja dovodi do raspadanja.

Finally, the industry will beautify the corpse.

Najzad, ove usluge će ulepšati vaš leš.

They'll tell you that the natural dead body of your mother or father

Reći će vam da prirodno mrtvo telo vaše majke ili oca

is not good enough as it is.

nije dovoljno dobro takvo kakvo je.

They'll put it in makeup.

Staviće mu šminku.

They'll put it in a suit.

Obući će mu odelo.

They'll inject dyes so the person looks a little more alive --

Ubrizgaće boje tako da osoba izgleda malo življe -

just resting.

kao da samo odmara.

Embalming is a cheat code,

Balsamovanje je prevara

providing the illusion that death and then decay are not the natural end

koja pruža iluziju da smrt i potom propadanje nisu prirodan kraj

for all organic life on this planet.

svakog organskog života na ovoj planeti.

Now, if this system of beautification, sanitation, protection

Ako vam se ovaj sistem ulepšavanja, dezinfekcije i očuvanja ne dopada,

doesn't appeal to you,

you are not alone.

niste jedini.

There is a whole wave of people --

Postoji čitav talas ljudi -

funeral directors, designers, environmentalists --

direktori pogrebnih firmi, dizajneri, borci za zaštitu životne sredine -

trying to come up with a more eco-friendly way of death.

koji pokušavaju da osmisle ekološki bolji način za umiranje.

For these people, death is not necessarily

Za ove ljude, smrt nije nužno

a pristine, makeup, powder-blue tuxedo kind of affair.

savršena, ušminkana stvar u svečanom odelu.

There's no question

Nema dileme

that our current methods of death are not particularly sustainable,

da naše trenutne metode u smrti nisu naročito održive,

what with the waste of resources and our reliance on chemicals.

sa svim tim traćenjem sredstava i našim oslanjanjem na hemikalije.

Even cremation,

Čak i kremacija,

which is usually considered the environmentally friendly option,

koja se obično smatra opcijom koja je naklonjena životnoj sredini,

uses, per cremation,

koristi, po jednoj kremaciji,

the natural gas equivalent of a 500-mile car trip.

prirodni gas količine potrebne za putovanje autom od 800 km.

So where do we go from here?

Pa, šta ćemo dalje?

Last summer, I was in the mountains of North Carolina,

Proteklog leta sam bila u planinama Severne Karoline

hauling buckets of wood chips in the summer sun.

i vukla kofe piljevine na letnjem suncu.

I was at Western Carolina University at their "Body Farm,"

Bila sam na Univezitetu Zapadne Karoline na njihovoj „farmi tela“,

more accurately called a "human decomposition facility."

koja se preciznije zove „ustanova za ljudsko raspadanje“.

Bodies donated to science are brought here,

Tu se donose tela donirana nauci,

and their decay is studied to benefit the future of forensics.

a njihovo propadanje se izučava zarad budućnosti forenzike.

On this particular day,

Ovog konkretnog dana,

there were 12 bodies laid out in various stages of decomposition.

12 tela je bilo izloženo u različitim fazama raspadanja.

Some were skeletonized,

Od nekih je ostao samo skelet,

one was wearing purple pajamas,

na jednom je bila ljubičasta pidžama,

one still had blonde facial hair visible.

a na jednom su se još videle plave dlačice na licu.

The forensic aspect is really fascinating,

Forenzički aspekt je zaista fascinantan,

but not actually why I was there.

ali nisam zapravo zbog toga bila tamo.

I was there because a colleague of mine named Katrina Spade

Bila sam tamo jer moja koleginica po imenu Katrina Spejd

is attempting to create a system, not of cremating the dead,

pokušava da sačini sistem, ne za kremaciju mrtvih,

već za kompostiranje mrtvih.

but composting the dead.

She calls the system "Recomposition,"

Svoj sistem naziva „Rekompozicija“,

and we've been doing it with cattle and other livestock for years.

a godinama smo ga sprovodili sa govedima i ostalom stokom.

She imagines a facility

Ona zamišlja ustanovu

gde bi porodica mogla da dođe i položi svoje voljene koji su umrli

where the family could come and lay their dead loved one

in a nutrient-rich mixture that would, in four-to-six weeks,

u smešu bogatu hranljivim materijama koja bi za četiri do šest nedelja

reduce the body -- bones and all -- to soil.

razložila telo - kosti i ostalo - u zemlju.

In those four-to-six weeks,

Za tih četiri do šest nedelja,

your molecules become other molecules;

vaši molekuli postaju drugi molekuli;

you literally transform.

bukvalno se transformišete.

How would this fit in with the very recent desire

Kako bi se ovo uklopilo

sa željom koju izgleda da mnogi imaju od nedavno -

a lot of people seem to have

to be buried under a tree,

da budu sahranjeni ispod drveta

or to become a tree when they die?

ili da postanu drvo kada umru?

In a traditional cremation, the ashes that are left over --

Pri tradicionalnoj kremaciji, pepeo koji preostane -

inorganic bone fragments --

neorganski delići kostiju -

form a thick, chalky layer

formira gusti sloj poput krede

that, unless distributed in the soil just right,

koji, ako se ne raspodeli baš kako treba u zemljište,

can actually hurt or kill the tree.

zapravo može da naškodi drvetu ili da ga ubije.

But if you're recomposed, if you actually become the soil,

Ali ako ste „rekomponovani“, ako zapravo postanete zemljište,

you can nourish the tree,

možete hraniti drvo

and become the post-mortem contributor you've always wanted to be --

i posmrtno dati doprinos kao što ste oduvek želeli,

that you deserve to be.

kao što i zaslužujete.

So that's one option for the future of cremation.

Dakle, to je jedna opcija za budućnost kremacije.

A šta je sa budućnošću groblja?

But what about the future of cemeteries?

There are a lot of people who think we shouldn't even have cemeteries anymore

Postoji mnogo ljudi koji smatraju da uopšte ne treba da više imamo groblja

jer nam ponestaje zemljišta.

because we're running out of land.

But what if we reframed it,

Međutim, šta ako bismo to preformulisali,

and the corpse wasn't the land's enemy,

ako leš ne bi bio neprijatelj zemlje,

but its potential savior?

već njen potencijalni spasitelj?

I'm talking about conservation burial,

Govorim o konzervacijskom pogrebu,

where large swaths of land are purchased by a land trust.

gde ogromne količine zemljišta kupi povereničko društvo.

The beauty of this is that once you plant a few dead bodies in that land,

Lepota ovoga je u tome da, kada stavite nekoliko mrtvih tela u tu zemlju,

it can't be touched, it can't be developed on --

ne može se dirati, ne može se graditi na njoj -

hence the term, "conservation burial."

otuda termin „konzervacijski pogreb“.

It's the equivalent of chaining yourself to a tree post-mortem --

To je isto kao da se vežete za drvo nakon smrti.

"Hell no, I won't go!

„Nema šanse, neću da idem!

No, really -- I can't. I'm decomposing under here."

Ne, stvarno, ne mogu. Razlažem se ovde.“

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Any money that the family gives to the cemetery

Novac koji porodica daje groblju

would go back into protecting and managing the land.

išao bi za zaštitu zemljišta i njegovo upravljanje.

There are no headstones and no graves in the typical sense.

Nema spomenika i grobova u tipičnom smislu.

The graves are scattered about the property

Grobovi su rasuti po posedu

under elegant mounds,

pod elegantnim humkama,

marked only by a rock or a small metal disk,

obeleženi samo kamenom ili malim metalnim diskom,

ili se ponekad mogu locirati samo satelitskom navigacijom.

or sometimes only locatable by GPS.

There's no embalming,

Nema balsamovanja,

no heavy, metal caskets.

teških i metalnih kovčega.

My funeral home sells a few caskets

Moja pogrebna firma prodaje nekoliko kovčega

made out of things like woven willow and bamboo,

sačinjenih od materijala kao što su pletena vrba i bambus,

but honestly, most of our families just choose a simple shroud.

ali iskreno, većina naših porodica odabere samo jednostavan pokrov.

There are none of the big vaults that most cemeteries require

Nema velikih grobnica koje većina groblja zahteva

just because it makes it easier for them to landscape.

samo zato što im to olakšava uređivanje prostora.

Families can come here; they can luxuriate in nature;

Tu mogu doći porodice, mogu da uživaju u prirodi,

they can even plant a tree or a shrub,

mogu čak i da zasade drvo ili žbun,

though only native plants to the area are allowed.

mada su dozvoljene samo domaće biljke sa područja.

The dead then blend seamlessly in with the landscape.

Mrtvi se tada lako spajaju sa predelom.

U konzervacijskim grobljima je nada.

There's hope in conservation cemeteries.

They offer dedicated green space in both urban and rural areas.

Nude namenske zelene površine kako u gradskim, tako i seoskim sredinama.

They offer a chance to reintroduce native plants and animals to a region.

Nude priliku za ponovno uvođenje domaćih biljaka i životinja u regiji.

They offer public trails,

Nude javne staze,

places for spiritual practice,

mesta za duhovnu praksu,

places for classes and events --

mesta za časove i događaje -

places where nature and mourning meet.

mesta gde se sreću priroda i oplakivanje.

Most importantly, they offer us, once again,

Što je najvažnije, nude nam, još jednom,

a chance to just decompose in a hole in the ground.

priliku da se prosto razložimo u rupi u zemlji.

The soil,

Zemljištu smo,

let me tell you,

da vam kažem,

has missed us.

nedostajali.

I think for a lot of people,

Mislim da mnogi ljudi

they're starting to get the sense

počinju da stiču utisak

that our current funeral industry isn't really working for them.

da im sadašnje pogrebne usluge ne odgovaraju.

U slučaju mnogih među nama,

For many of us,

being sanitized and beautified just doesn't reflect us.

pročišćavanje i ulepšavanje jednostavno ne odgovara onome što jesmo.

It doesn't reflect what we stood for during our lives.

Ne poklapa se sa onim za šta smo se zalagali tokom života.

Will changing the way we bury our dead solve climate change?

Hoće li promena načina na koji sahranjujemo mrtve

rešiti klimatske promene?

No.

Ne.

But it will make bold moves

Ali će načiniti hrabre poteze

in how we see ourselves as citizens of this planet.

u načinu na koji vidimo sebe kao građane ove planete.

If we can die in a way that is more humble and self-aware,

Ako možemo umreti na način koji je skromniji i samosvesniji,

I believe that we stand a chance.

verujem da za nas ima šanse.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)