Township council gets the dirt on proposed cremation pilot for cemetery

As the conversation around municipal acquisition of cemeteries grows, space within designated cemeteries remains the same which could impact how families plan for their end of life destinations.

At the recent council meeting for Tay Township a presentation was made by AWAKE president and co-founder Amanda Kelly, who shared burial and cremation statistics while offering her company’s patented method to return ashes back to a natural earthen state.

“We've actually spoken to a number of municipalities who — while they have inherited multiple cemeteries in the last number of years from organizations within the town — simply have no capacity; the cemeteries are full,” said Kelly. “And it's particularly heartbreaking to hear this when we speak to these towns who have growing populations but have nowhere for their residents to be laid to rest.”

The challenges rest in design and science, according to Kelly.

Citing that the method of cremation normally results in a toxic product equivalent to pouring bleach into the earth (“but now if you can picture 86 per cent of community members all taking a jug of bleach to one dedicated space in the local cemetery”), Kelly offered that her company would utilize a Vaughan-produced biochemical soil mix solution to detoxify the remains to safe levels in a natural way.

Cemeteries are also a business, and Kelly laid out four differences within an example of 50 square feet between: traditional casket burials (six double-plot burials for $24,000 in revenue); standard ash scattering at a larger quantity and cheaper cost for a slightly higher revenue; a stacked wall niche (80 urns for $96,000 revenue with a hefty cost); and her company’s Municipal Cemetery Adoption Program (MCAP) to offer 500 scatterings for a cheap cost but an approximate $250,000 in revenue.

Kelly added that through natural erosion as soil compacted, additional scatterings could occur for “unlimited burial capacity”. 

As AWAKE had been making deputations and presentations to cemetery-owning municipalities across Canada over the past few years, showing slides from areas including Stayner, Hamilton, Lakefield, and in Nova Scotia, Kelly’s pitch to Tay council was for them to consider adopting the MCAP garden for the Waubaushene Protestant Cemetery at a projected cost of $8,800 plus HST.

Mayor Ted Walker asked several questions to Kelly regarding the relative toxicity involved with wall niches and biodegradable urns as cheaper options; Kelly’s response was that the high cost and large carbon emission footprint to install wall niches, as well as toxicity remaining from traditionally cremated ashes made her product and its greater renewable quantity a viable option for those looking.

Walker also asked if the company would deal with families directly, with Kelly replying that they would only be working with cemetery partners, monitoring environmental levels of the garden and deferring to the municipality.

“I like to use the analogy of: We are the developer, we've built your house; and it's up to you to decide how you'd like to decorate it,” Kelly explained.

With the presentation concluded, the matter was discussed later in the meeting with council agreeing to have staff provide a report on the proposal.

While Walker humourously exchanged banter over pronunciation of the word ‘niche’, substituting ‘shelving units’ in its stead, he shared an observation over Kelly’s measurements cited in the presentation.

“When she talked about the square footage (of the stacked wall niche), she wasn’t taking into consideration that most of the square footage is above ground,” said Walker. “From an earth perspective, they’re smaller.”

MidlandToday, an affiliate of BradfordToday and InnisfilToday, spoke with Walker following the meeting regarding the presentation.

“I found it very informative,” said Walker, admitting there were numerous statistics he hadn’t known prior.

“The one that struck me the most was … the number of people (choosing) burial versus cremation (at 86 per cent); the percentage was way higher than I thought it was.

“That’s something we have to adjust to from a cemetery perspective,” he added, referring to recent municipalities such as Tay acquiring cemeteries to manage. “We’re pretty new in that game, but we’re getting there.”

The slideshow presentation from AWAKE regarding scatting gardens can be found in the agenda page on the Tay Township website.