Summary Of The Documentary 'Green Burial'

The Sociology of Burials: Green Burials

I happened to stumble upon an unusual PBS documentary recently called Will for the Woods (2013). The program had already begun, however the idea was very interesting and immediately I wanted to see what was happening. Any environmentally conscious person would find the Green Burial a good alternative, as the film suggests it is a simple, elegant and natural alternative to contemporary burial or cremation.
Green burials greatly reduce resource use and pollution, and is much less expensive than a conventional funeral. The fact that natural areas used for the burials saves the land from development, this burial practice is seen as a conservation means as well, restoring and/or maintaining lands in their
natural splendor. Using only natural, biodegradable materials the deceased is buried without a vault or toxic embalmment in a woodland or other natural setting, often using an indigenous plant to mark the place.
The Documentary tells the story of Clark Wang, a psychiatrist with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who dying.
Wang learns of the Green Burial movement and being a lover of the earth, he adopts the idea to use this method, making his last act a gift to the earth. Wang’s wife and caregiver supports him as struggles with the pain of his disease. They find a forest tract on a conventional cemetery’s property that is saved as a future green burials site. After continually receiving treatments for his cancer, it eventually becomes clear he only has a few months left to live. The film covers the few days after Wang’s death, from the time he is brought home from the hospital until he is moved to the forest where his loved ones perform numerous rituals at the graveside. The nonchalant attitude throughout the film did not prepare me for what was about to take place.
Similar to a home funeral for a wake, a way to honor and care for a loved one in the hours or days after death, the body was brought home and then friends and family were invited to the home to care for the body themselves. This included washing, dressing and cooling with dry ice, and preparing the body naturally for the green burial. His loved ones covered, washed, and recovered parts of his body and spoke to him as if he were sleeping over the course of a few
days.
The mouth and eyes are swabbed, and they must continue gently closing the eyes.
They lubricated with oil to make the eyelids more flexible so that they stay closed. Rigor mortis sets in between 2-4 hours after the death. Preparing the body afterwards however is much easier as rigor mortis passes after 24-48 hours, the body returning to a limp state. A sheet is kept over private parts, and they gently push on the bladder, etc., so that any liquids can escape. Two or more people are always necessary throughout the handling of the body. Basins are filled with warm water with added aromatic oils. Starting at the head and using slightly moistened cloths on hand; they take turns gently and thoroughly wash the body front and back, and work together to turn the body when needed. They remove sheets from the bed by rolling the body from side to side, and replacing them with a clean bottom sheet, or some other clean cloth. Dry ice pieces about the size of a brick are wrapped in cloth, placed under the back, at either side of the torso, and alongside the body. The family and friends are tranquil and peaceful as they lovingly caress the body with the
cleansing.
The Green Burial movement is not the typical ethnomethodology encountered in America and seems to go against the social construction of reality (Conley 2013: 143). However, with environmental awareness finally establishing itself, the ritual may become a normal part of modern society. Clearly, Wang’s family and friends displayed a sense of symbolic interactionism
1. Human beings act toward ideas, concepts, and values on the basis of the meaning that those things have for them.
2. These meanings are the products of social interaction in human society.
3. These meanings are modified and filtered through an interpretive process that each individual uses in dealing with outward signs. The natural burials appear to have purifying benefits, allowing people to engage naturally with death through a process that works out the emotions of loss and personal grieving (Ingold: 2011).
In Minton’s paper, I did not feel it was off the mark as far as how he portrayed the Nacirema. I felt it was a factual, true to life view (Miner: 1956)