Sustainability
and the use of Formaldehyde

By Craig L. Caldwell, Mazwell Group, UK

Every day we hear about sustainability and how we should do our part to protect the world we live in so those we love will have the same world as part of their future. Rarely though is sustainability discussed about in how it affects us in our daily lives. What can we do in our own funeral homes to make a difference, any amount of difference.

It’s important for us to talk about Sustainability in the context of what we as Funeral professionals know and understand so I am speaking about it in the world of formaldehyde and embalming. Let’s first understand what is sustainability. It is the ability to maintain and support a process continually overt time. In the context of Business or Policy it seeks to prevent the depletion of natural or physical resources so they remain available for the long(er) term. In essence this is what the European Union Biocides Regulation we are all concerned with is supposed to be all about. Sustainability at its very core is for our own individual benefit.

In order for Sustainability to be effective, there are 3 Components or Pillars that must work together in a harmonious way although not always equally or at the same time. In fact, if you look at your own business structure, they are fairly similar. The 3 components are People/Society, Profit/Economy, and Environment/Planet. If you look at the area where all 3 areas overlap, there is a small triangular arcing section that represents Sustainability.

The issues we are faced with that determine success are the variables. We have been facing them from the past to the present and most likely will be to the future! The Planet/Environment for the purpose of discussion, has little variation, other than that it is affected by changes in its own environs by what goes on within it as a result of the actions of the other two entities. Profit/Economy is a result of the actions of Society and the more profit, the greater effect on the environment – sometimes for the better but most often not. Society/People is the greatest of the variables and has the largest affect as to what degree it wants to control the end result of the discussion. By use of incomplete but not untruthful facts and figures, a misconception can be created in the minds of many and sway them into believing that something is bad when the opposite may be the case – if the whole story was told.

Several years ago, an article in a news magazine highlighted this example perfectly. The article revolved around the fact that there was a cemetery located high above a city and below the cemetery was located an aquifer which supplied the city with much of its water supply. A local journalist had decided to write an article about the potential damage for devastating pollution to the aquifer caused by the formaldehyde from the buried deceased leaking from the coffins and rolling down the hillside into the aquifer. With the help of a local University, the journalist calculated based on 3.5 gallons of formaldehyde per deceased that approximately 865,000 gallons would flow down the hillside. This figure no doubt caught the attention of everyone in the city as one would expect.

We invite you to read whole article in the winter issue of THANOS magazine
- you can read online at pages 24-27

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