Toxic+Burials+-+The+Final+Insult

Stowe, Johnny P., et al. "Toxic Burials: The Final Insult." Conservation Biology, no. 6, 2001, p. 1817. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url= [].

This article from Conservation Biology addresses the many issues that exist with the conventional burial of humans in Western societies. The majority of human burials that take place in the West involve embalming the dead and burying them in fancy boxes that don't decay. This leads to the build-up of toxic wastes that are concentrated in cemeteries. The amount of waste in the land deters vegetation from growing in the cemeteries, so caretakers are inclined to plant grasses and maintain them with chemicals, which further pollute the earth.

This article is helpful to indicate the need for change in society relating to burial practices. The links it creates from toxic burial to continuing pollution are paramount to placing the argument that we must start addressing our futures with what is, or what will become, the past. We must begin to think about how we want to be disposed of and how that affects the future of our societies. We need to have an understanding what we leave behind.