Flaming Auntie Nora!

Photo by paloetic

I heard about this on the radio last night, and my initial thought was 'cool!'. But it's not the initial thought of everyone...

Redditch Borough Council has proposed to use the excess heat from a crematorium to heat up a swimming pool.

Sharing heat sources isn't exactly a new idea - the local high school 200 yards from my flat is heated by the nearby distillery - but it's the first time I've heard about a crematorium getting involved.

I'm aware, though, that some people may have another reaction, as a local Unison union official did:

Union Unison said the proposals "are sick and an insult to local residents". It has called on the council to apologise for the "insensitive" plans.

We have such a weird relationship to death in this country, and indeed in the "western" world. Some deaths we mourn deeply, some deaths we celebrate the life that enriched ours. But in both cases, we want any deaths around us "sanitised".

Which I guess is why some people would view using the excess heat from the crematorium "sick".

Now I'm not naive enough to not realise that the union official is making a political point, and saying that the Conservative council are only trying to find ways to save money, but for once in my life I'm with the Tories.

It's a sensible solution not just to save money, but to save carbon emissions.