I value choice and access to information, especially when it comes to big life and death decisions. With respect to death care here in North America, there are pretty strong traditions and expectations with how we care for our dead. There is a lot of pressure to do the very best for your loved one who has passed, and if they didn't specify their own wishes for their body this will often default to a costly embalming and burial or cremation.
Looking to the future I hope that everyone can have access to information regarding death care. I also hope that we can break down some of the taboos surrounding death and dying. So many people are so scared of death and of the decomposition process that they don't want to even think about their options. I think that if people learned to accept the idea returning to the earth after death we could start working towards making the death care industry as a whole less predatory and more green. It's also important that those of us who want a green burial are vocal about it and talk about it with others to spread awareness.
To make these changes I think that awareness is key. We need to intervene by talking to people about more environmentally friendly death care. Once people know that there are more options, we need to fight for the legality of options such as aquamation and natural burial so that less effort needs to be made by grieving families to allow their loved one to return to the earth in an eco-friendly way.
Agreed. My sense of purpose is to move the interment industry away from profit driven big business and into the domain of conservation. Death care can be turned into health care. This should be the challenge for conservancies and land trusts. A Conservation Burial Reserve would offer greater protection (from politicians) and be more nature and people positive.
I agree that it is much about education and spreading the word. I believe a lot of people would choose differently, maybe for ecological reasons, maybe for economic reasons.
Hi Sofie!
I agree with you! I think conversations regarding death are often shut down very quickly but having a discussion about the death care is extremely important. I share the same vision - if there is more awareness on sustainable death care options, there may then be a stronger legal and cultural shift, resulting in more individuals choosing aquamation or natural burial as an option.
Hi Sofie,
I agree in that awareness and education can help people understand that more eco-friendly options exist for after-death care. A barrier is definitely the fact that many individuals refrain from acknowledging that death is a part of life that everyone will eventually undergo!
Thank you for your post Sofia! I do think that death care, unlike a lot of other environmental issues, is so rarely talked about, mostly because of the taboo surrounded by the issue. Therefore, I totally agree with you that awareness is key regarding greener death care choices. As mentioned in the eco-death video, people will choose greener death care options like aquamation when it is available. Of course, the fighting for legality is also important so we can have these options available to us.
Hi Sofie, what a great post! I totally agree that we should respect our loved ones, and give them the opportunity to return completely to the earth!
Yes, I agree that we need to increase the awareness of death care options. Most people do not even know that other options are available other than cremation and anti-ecological burials. We need to educate ourselves, and perhaps funeral homes should be mandated to reveal all of the options you have, rather than only the ones that make them the most money.
Hey Sofie!
You make a great point in acknowledging the strong traditions and expectations with how we care for the dead. The pressure is definitely real as it is such a tough decision to decide what to do for death care.
I share the same vision and values with you, let's make eco-sustainable options more accessible to all!
I agree! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I do think that having the transparency conversation is so important, and beneficial to become used to practicing
Hi Sofie, I love the term "Greener Death"! I agree we need to make people more aware of their options. regardless of it being a difficult conversation.