A team of gardeners called Friends of Sunny Corner in Cornwall, England, is dealing with a strange problem. Since 2016, they have been working hard to make a riverside area beautiful. But now, people are scattering the ashes of their loved ones in the flower beds.
Paul Caruana, the chairman of the group, said they found human ashes in their garden at least 15 times without permission. One volunteer accidentally got a mouthful of ashes when the wind blew them toward him. “It’s really upsetting,” said Caruana, who is 71 years old. “People think it’s just ashes, but it’s not a nice experience when it happens to you.”
To stop this, Friends of Sunny Corner has asked people to please not spread ashes in their garden. They want everyone to know that it’s against the law to do this without permission, and it makes their volunteers very upset.
In the UK, you can scatter ashes if you have permission from the landowner. In the U.S., the rules depend on the state. Richard Budge, a parks officer in Truro, said that while other local parks don’t have this issue, the problem at Sunny Corner is real. “It can be distressing for others who find the ashes,” he explained.
Caruana understands why people want a special place for their loved ones but offered a simple idea: “Just put the ashes in the sea or river, which is only five meters away.”
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