#alternative funerals

[princessemacabre]

Home - Wikkelgoed

In een lijkwade van Wikkelgoed gewikkeld is een overledene toenaderbaar, dichtbij en zacht. Dit maakt het afscheid nemen persoonlijker.

Alternative burial options. I love the products that this company offers. I hope to see more things like this available in North America. Yes, the page can be translated to English.

[x-amber-x]

Crestone End of Life Project -- open air cremation

[annerbisafreak-blog]

Animal Bone Preservation in Texas?

This might be strange or disgusting to some, but I am looking to preserve my dog’s skull once she passes on to the next life. I’ve been doing research into alternative funerals and have been studying mortician practices for a bit just out of curiosity. To me, it would be out of respect that I would keep the bones of my dog with me always. She has been my best friend throughout my whole life. It just seems wrong to pack her body away into some vet’s office to be burned along with thousands of other animals. I want to return what I can of her body to the earth as bodies are meant to go. Its the natural way of things and keeping her skull would mean a lot to me. She’s 15 and slowing down rather noticeably, but I want to make plans long before I think she will pass. So if anyone knows of someone willing to help me with this in Texas, please PM me.  

[katsylver-deathcare]

What’s a Death Midwife? Inside the Alternative Death Care Movement

From funeral cooperatives to green burials, there’s a kinder, gentler, less expensive way to die.

To Barrett and many other professionals who are offering alternatives to the more status-oriented, profit-driven funeral industry, it’s time to rethink how we handle death. From consumer cooperatives that combat price gouging, to putting the power of choice back in the hands of the family, the city of Seattle has become a hub for alternative death care in the last two years, according to Barrett. The subculture of “deathxperts” want not only to empower their clients, but also potentially phase out their jobs altogether—a sort of death of the funeral director as we know it.

[katsylver-deathcare]

"Many elderly couples say they want to buy their own lots ahead of time ‘because my kids will want someplace to come to remember me.’ But the truth is, many of them won't, and that doesn’t mean they don’t love their parents. It means people are finding different ways to remember the dead that aren’t bound to where their remains are buried. Perhaps your letters, recipes, or photographs mean more to them than the location of your coffin." - Final Rights : Reclaiming the American Way of Death, Joshua Slocum & Lisa Carlson

[katsylver-deathcare]

I just finished reading Caitlin Doughty's book "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes & Other Lessons From the Crematory." I've never really thought that much about what I wanted done with my body postmortem. My previous plan was to die with no real pomp and circumstance in my wake. I do not wish my body to be shot up with chemicals that can harm anything that plans to eat my corpse. and buried. I wanted cremation, but now I know of the environmental impact. I would still like to be scattered. Your advice?

Thank you for asking!

There are a number of alternative methods of disposition to choose from & changing deathcare technologies are adding new methods all the time.

An organization called Crestone End-of-Life Project is home to the only open-air cremation pyre in the United States. You must be a resident of Crestone, CO for at least three months in order to be eligible for this service. I am tremendously inspired by the work this group has done & plan on looking into incorporating an open-air pyre in my future natural burial grounds.

Another option that has started making a name for itself is Alkaline Hydrolysis. This is a process that uses water & lye to reduce a human corpse to a sort of composite liquid & the more familiar ash of the bone remains. Your ashes can be scattered and the liquid can be disposed of. Alkaline Hydrolysis is getting praise for using less resources & producing fewer pollutants than traditional cremation. 

There are also options that may even things out, environmentally(if that’s something you’d consider plausible). You can have your ashes incorporated in a reef ball which is placed in a memorial reef which allows for the ecological growth of reefs in that area. One might argue that whatever resources or pollution are produced by your cremation process are cancelled out by the ongoing environmental benefits provided by your reef ball.

Of course, there is always green or natural burial. By allowing your corpse to decompose naturally, you are providing a return to the earth as your final act on it.

Please let me know if you have any other questions!