Grave Matters follows families who found in “green” burial a more natural, more economic, and ultimately more meaningful alternative to the tired and toxic send-off offered at the local funeral parlor.
Eschewing chemical embalming and fancy caskets, elaborate and costly funerals, they have embraced a range of natural options, new and old, that are redefining a better American way of death. Environmental journalist Mark Harris examines this new green burial underground, leading you into natural cemeteries and domestic graveyards, taking you aboard boats from which ashes and memorial “reef balls” are cast into the sea. He follows a family that conducts a home funeral, one that delivers a loved one to the crematory, and another that hires a carpenter to build a pine coffin.
In the morbidly fascinating tradition of Stiff, Grave Matters details the embalming process and the environmental aftermath of the standard funeral. Harris also traces the history of burial in America, from frontier cemeteries to the billion-dollar business it is today, reporting on real families who opted for more simple, natural returns.
For readers who want to follow the examples of these families and, literally, give back from the grave, appendices detail everything you need to know, from exact costs and laws to natural burial providers and their contact information.
Grave Matters…
Shunning chemical embalming and fancy caskets, elaborate and costly funerals, many have embraced a range of natural options….
at 2:35 amGrave Matters…
At the end of life there are still a few choices to be made. One of them is the type of memorial service. More and more, people are shunning chemical embalming, fancy caskets, and costly funerals. A new option is the eco burial. This type of ‘green’ …
at 2:45 amGrave Matters…
Many are starting to shu the chemical embalming, fancy caskets, elaborate and costly funerals, and embrace a range of natural ‘eco’ burials….
at 2:55 amI never thought about the impact that modern burial practices have on our environment.
at 5:07 amAs a holistic health and fitness professional I help people make the best choices for themselves and our environment while they are living… Green Living
This information is new to me. I will pass it on to my family, friends, and clients.
Thank you. I look forward to reading the book.
My husband and I have been discussing this very thing over the last several months. I’m so glad to realize that we are not the only “crack pots” who think the American way of death is outrageous and environmentally hazardous.
We have friends who have put their entire family in serious debt, just to provide a fancy ’send-off’. The biggest discussion at the funeral is how gorgeous the coffin is and how beautiful the flowers are. As if those are memorials to a life well-lived.
Thank you for the book recommendation.
Brennan Kingsland’s last blog post..Flying Treadmilla Meets Simpleology
at 12:56 pmMy husband’s just passed away recently, and her funeral cost at least $8,000. At least she had set aside money in an account for this purpose. I think it’s ridiculous, not to mention the toxic aspects.
I used to live in a Plain community, and funerals there are a different matter entirely. Men in the family build the casket, the body is packed in ice to keep it for a day or two, the young men dig the grave and fill it afterwards. Burial takes place quickly, as there is no embalming.
My hubby and me shocked a few people at his mom’s funeral, as we both said,” when it’s our time, just dig a hole, and put me in it.” I don’t even need a box–just wrap me in an old quilt, and plant a tree on my grave.
Darlene Norris’s last blog post..Feline Eye Diseases
at 5:38 pmDarlene-
My grandfather used to say, ‘You don’t have to bury me. If you can stand the stink, just leave me where I drop.’ I’m starting to lean toward that way of thinking.
at 6:16 pmI’m not planning on taking my body with me.. so I usually don’t like to think much about it.
But when I saw this.. I thought.. “sure am glad somebody is writing this”
Hope for changes in the expensive, destructive morbid practices we have for the living to suffer with now.
Thanks
at 6:16 pmBrennan-
My parents have already told me they want the works. I’m saving now
at 6:25 pmWarren-
Thanks for stopping by. Expensive, destructive and morbid is right.
at 6:25 pmI never thought that modern burial practices would have such an impact on our environment, and not one to have considered this at all, thank-you for bringing it to my attention. It is something I will give considerable thought too in the distant future!
at 11:51 pmYes, the distant, distant future
at 12:14 am