Books
- The Green Burial Guidebook: Everything You Need to Plan an Affordable, Environmentally Friendly Burial Fournier, Elizabeth, 2018. Funeral expenses in the United States average more than $10,000. And every year conventional funerals bury millions of tons of wood, concrete, and metals, as well as millions of gallons of carcinogenic embalming fluid. Elizabeth Fournier provides comprehensive and compassionate guidance, covering everything from green burial planning and home funeral basics to legal guidelines and outside-the-box options, such as burials at sea. Fournier points the way to green burial practices that consider both the environmental well-being of the planet and the economic well-being of loved ones.
- The Natural Burial Cemetery Guide Burial Guidebook Hoffner, Anne, 2017. With the new update to the digital edition, this full-color 338-page publication now presents 142 cemeteries that practice green burial across the US organized to make it easy to find the closest to you. The Natural Burial Cemetery Guide is available as a complete guidebook in print or digital, or in four regions, Northeast, South, Midwest and West. Regions are available in PDF for digital download only.
- The Grace in Dying: A Message of Hope, Comfort, and Spiritual Transformation Singh, Kathleen Dowling, 1998. Right from the start Kathleen Dowling Singh proclaims: “Dying is safe. You are safe. Your loved one is safe. That is the message of all the words here.” True to her promise, Dowling Singh walks us through the final stages of dying with complete honesty, yet she manages to quell our ultimate fear of dying.
- Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows: A Couple’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s Hoblitzelle, Olivia Ames, 2010. Filled with practical guidance and spiritual perspectives, this memoir offers an inspiring vision for maintaining hope and grace in the face of one of life’s greatest challenges.
- The Up-Rising in Dying: Words and Verses for those close to the experience surrounding The Threshold of Death Barnes, Christy and Hutchinson, Janet, Ed.. Poems by Rudolf Steiner and other anthroposophists
- Circle of Compassion: Meditations for Caring – for the Self and for the World Straub, Gail, 2001. These two are companion books with a focus on the many dimensions of caregiving
- Awakening from Grief: Finding the Way Back to Joy Welshons, John E, 2003. A compassionate, introspective autobiography about grieving and moving through grief
- When Prayers Aren’t Answered Welshons, John E, 2010. With insights from a range of spiritual traditions, this book shows how to use painful circumstances to open our hearts
- Illuminata: A Return to Prayer Williamson, Marianne, 1994. Prayers for all life’s occasions; includes beautiful memorial service text
- No One Has to Die Alone: Preparing for a Meaningful Death Leary, Ph.D., Lani, 2012. No One Has to Die Alone offers the practical skills, vocabulary, and insights needed to truly address the needs of a dying loved one while caring for yourself in the process.
- Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness Needs, and Communications of the Dying Callanan, Maggie & Kelley, Patricia, 1992. Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them to prepare emotionally and spiritually, Final Gifts shows how we can support the dying person in living fully to the very end.
- Making Friends With Death: A Buddhist Guide to Encountering Mortality Leaf, Judith L, 2001. Shows us that through the powerful combination of contemplation of death and mindfulness practice, we can change how we relate to death, enhance our appreciation of everyday life, and use our developing acceptance of our own vulnerability as a basis for opening to others.
- The Inevitable Hour: A History of Caring for Dying Patients in America Abel, Emily K, 2013. Helps to explain why a movement to restore dignity to the dying arose in the early 1970s and why its goals have been so difficult to achieve
- A Celtic Book of Dying: Walking with the Dying, Traveling with the Dead Anam-Aire, Phyllida, 2005. This guide to the mystic self encourages listeners to let the past die, let the future create, and to live in the present moment.
- On Death and Dying Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth,1969. Gives the reader a better understanding of how imminent death affects the patient, the professionals who serve that patient, and the patient’s family, bringing hope to all who are involved.
- Facing The Final Mystery-Second Edition by Larsen, RN, Laura, 2004. A provocative, practical, and compassionate guide for everyone confronting the challenges of illness, dying and death.
- Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death by Slocum, Josh and Carlson, Lisa. This book provides in-depth, state-by-state information about funeral and burial laws. For $5 you can download information about an individual state at state-by-state information on the Funeral Consumers Alliance website (funerals.org).
- Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial by Harris, Mark. 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 on offer at the local funeral parlor.
- The American Way of Death Revisited by Mitford, Jessica. When first published in 1963 this landmark of investigative journalism became a runaway bestseller and resulted in legislation to protect grieving families from the unscrupulous sales practices of those in “the dismal trade.”
TED Talks
- Phyllis Shacter: Not Here by Choice Nov 2013: In this 17-minute TEDx video, Phyllis Shacter talks compellingly about her husband’s decision to voluntarily stop eating and drinking (VSED) to avoid living in the late stages of Alzheimer’s.
- Kelli Swazey: Life that doesn’t end with death Apr 2013: In Tana Toraja, weddings and births aren’t the social gatherings that knit society together. In this part of Indonesia, big, raucous funerals form the center of social life. Anthropologist Kelli Swazey takes a look at this culture, in which the bodies of dead relatives are cared for even years after they have passed. While it sounds strange to Western sensibilities, she says, this could actually be a truer reflection of the fact that relationships with loved ones don’t simply end when breathing does. (Filmed at TEDMED.)
- Judy MacDonald Johnston: Prepare for a good end of life Feb 2013: Thinking about death is frightening, but planning ahead is practical and leaves more room for peace of mind in our final days. In a solemn, thoughtful talk, Judy MacDonald Johnston shares 5 practices for planning for a good end of life.
- Candy Chang: Before I die I want to… Jul 2012: In her New Orleans neighborhood, artist and TED Fellow Candy Chang turned an abandoned house into a giant chalkboard asking a fill-in-the-blank question: “Before I die I want to ___.” Her neighbors’ answers — surprising, poignant, funny…
- Peter Saul: Let’s talk about dying Nov 2011: We can’t control if we’ll die, but we can “occupy death,” in the words of Dr. Peter Saul. He calls on us to make clear our preferences for end of life care – and suggests two questions for starting the conversation. (Filmed at TEDxNewy.)
- Joan Halifax: Compassion and the true meaning of empathy Dec 2010: Buddhist Roshi Joan Halifax works with people at the last stage of life (in hospice and on death row). She shares what she’s learned about compassion in the face of death and dying, and a deep insight into the nature of empathy.
Articles
My Dad Created An ‘Ethical Will.’ Here’s What That Means And Why You May Want One Too
Huff Post | By Carrie Friedman
Published: June 20, 2020
What do you want your legacy to your community and your children to be after you’re gone?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ethical-will-legacy-letter-why-you-want-one_n_5eeb7a09c5b6c8594c7f2d03
Why Millennials Are the “Death Positive” Generation
Vox Media | By Eleanor Cummins
Published: January 22, 2020
Unlike boomers, young people are embracing planning their own funerals. It’s fueling changes in the death industry.
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2020/1/15/21059189/death-millennials-funeral-planning-cremation-green-positive
The Movement to Bring Death Closer
The New York Times | Compiled by Maggie Jones
Published: December 19, 2019
Home-funeral guides believe that families can benefit from tending to — and spending time with — the bodies of their deceased.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/magazine/home-funeral.html
Everyone You Know Someday Will Die
The New York Times | Compiled by Kathleen O’Brien
Published: May 4, 2018
The end of life, either your own or a loved one’s, is difficult to fathom. Brilliant writers have confronted the subject with honesty and courage in our section, creating essays that are among our most thought-provoking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/opinion/everyone-you-know-someday-will-die.html
An Alternative to Burial and Cremation Gains Popularity
The New York Times | By Jonah Engel Bromwich
Published: October 17, 2017
For most Americans, there have long been only two obvious choices when you die: burial or cremation. But a third option, a liquefaction process called by a variety of names — flameless cremation, green cremation or the “Fire to Water” method — is starting to gain popularity throughout the United States. California recently became the 15th state to outline commercial regulations for the disposal of human remains through the method, chemically known as alkaline hydrolysis. http://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/business/flameless-cremation.html
This Is How I Want to Be Dead
The New York Times | By Richard Conniff
Published: July 7, 2017
“That is, in the woods, with wild things all around. No hurry. Happy to wait at the back of the line. But beyond the familiar “green burial” business of escaping the toxic culture of the conventional death industry, what I particularly like is the idea of using the cost of burials to buy and preserve undeveloped land — a relatively new wrinkle in the world of dead things. It just seems so much more appealing than the alternatives.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/opinion/sunday/death-cremation-.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share
Creating the New American Buddhist Funeral
How the at-home death movement can provide a dignified, personal, and meaningful send-off (whether we’re Buddhists or not).
Trident | By Julia Hirsch
Published: June 30, 2017
“An interview with Amy Cunningham, a New York State-licensed funeral director and death educator trained in overseeing at-home funerals to discuss her latest pioneering endeavor, the New American Buddhist Funeral, and how methods and attitudes toward end-of-life disposal should honor faith-based principles, which will lead to more meaningful send-offs.”
http://tricycle.org/trikedaily/creating-new-american-buddhist-funeral/
Inside the Machine That Will Turn Your Corpse Into Compost
Wired| By Robyn Ross
Published: October 25, 2016
“When you die, do you want to be buried or cremated? If the architect Katrina Spade gets her Urban Death Project to work, you might have a third option: compost.”
http://www.wired.com/2016/10/inside-machine-will-turn-corpse-compost
What It Feels Like to Die
The Atlantic | By Jennie Dear
Published: September 9, 2016
“What does dying feel like? Despite a growing body of research about death, the actual, physical experience of dying—the last few days or moments—remains shrouded in mystery. Medicine is just beginning to peek beyond the horizon. Science is just beginning to understand the experience of life’s end.”
http://www.atlantic.com/health/archive/2016/09/what-it-feels-like-to-die
A New Vision for Dreams of the Dying
The New York Times | By Jan Hoffman
Published: January 30, 2016
“For thousands of years, the dreams and visions of the dying have captivated cultures, which imbued them with sacred import. Anthropologists, theologians and sociologists have studied these so-called deathbed phenomena.
Now a team of clinicians and researchers led by Dr. Kerr at Hospice Buffalo, an internist who has a doctorate in neurobiology, are seeking to demystify these experiences and understand their role and importance in supporting “a good death” — for the patient and the bereaved.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/health/dreams-dying-deathbed-interpretation-delirium.html
Start-Ups Take Rites From the Funeral Home to the Family Home
The New York Times | By Claire Martin
Published: January 30, 2016
“When people call Undertaking LA, they might ask a question like: “My mom just died of cancer in our home. We want to keep her until noon tomorrow. Is that legal? Is that O.K.?”
The answer to both questions is yes, says Amber Carvaly, who founded Undertaking LA along with Caitlin Doughty last summer. They are part of a group that is encouraging more family involvement in end-of-life rituals, including home funerals and cremations that loved ones can watch, called witness cremations.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/business/start-ups-take-rites-from-the-funeral-home-to-the-family-home.html
Our Bodies, Ourselves
American Chronicles | http://www.newyorker.com/contributors/rebecca-mead””>Rebecca Mead
Published: November 30, 2015
Funeral Director, Caitlin Doughty, wants to bring death back home. Author of the best-selling memoir, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory, Doughty says “Maybe we need to look and say, Wow, let’s look at this beautiful, natural corpse.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/30/our-bodies-ourselves
Ecological Burial Practices: Overcoming the Myth of the Infectious Corpse
Truthout | Interview by Lorna Garano
Published: Wednesday, August 19, 2015
“Dead bodies endure as objects of cultural fear, especially in US popular culture, where the specter of their attendant decay is on display in everything from crime scene investigations to zombie sagas. But this threat is not only the stuff of fiction. Over the last 150 years, US funerary practices have spun a similar story in which humans, as well as the whole of nature, must do its best to guard against the dangerous wrath of the corpse.”
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32417-ecological-burial-practices-overcoming-the-myth-of-the-infectious-corpse
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.
Yes! Magazine| By Jennifer Luxton
Published: August 07, 2015
“Char Barrett walked into a quaint cafe in Seattle with business in mind. Over the smell of coffee and freshly baked tarts, she was going to advise a client on how best to host a special event at her home, helping coordinate everything from the logistics of the ceremony, to how to dress the guest of honor. People might cry, they might laugh, and all attention would be on the person of the hour—only that person would never see, hear, or enjoy the festivities, because they would be dead.”
http://www.yesmagazine.org/inside-the-alternative-death-care-movement-20150807
The Right Paperwork for Your End-of-Life Wishes
By Jessica Nutik Zitter
Published: April 29, 2015
“Once the patient has been lifted onto the conveyor belt of life support, it can be very hard to take him off. A Polst form can help.”
http://nyti.ms/1PXMFkM?smid=pl-share
How human composting will change death in the city
Grist| By Katie Herzog
Published: March 9, 2015
“For most people in this country, there are two options after death: You are buried or you are burned. The costs, both environmental and financial, are significant, but we accept these options because they are all that we know. One Seattle architect wants to change this, to develop a form of body disposal that will both cost little and actually improve the environment.”
http://www.grist.org/living/how-human-composting-will-change-death-in-the-city
How to Be Eco-Friendly When You’re Dead
Published: October 30, 2014
The Atlantic | By Shannon Palus
Standard burial and cremation take tons of energy and resources. So what’s the most environmentally sound way to deal with a dead person?
Read entire article
Parents Share Devastating, Beautiful Photos To Break Down The Silence Around Stillbirth
The Huffington Post | By Caroline Bologna
Posted: 08/06/2014 10:50 am EDT Updated: 08/12/2014 4:59 am EDT
“This summer, California couple Emily and Richard Staley went through one of the most devastating experiences parents can endure when Emily delivered a stillborn baby girl. But thanks to the help of one photographer, their tragedy might help break down the silence around the little-discussed topic of stillbirth.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/05/devastating-beautiful-stillborn-baby-photos_n_5651328.html
The Rise of Back-to-the-Basics Funerals
By Susan Chumsky
Published: March 12, 2014
Baby Boomers Are Drawn to Green and Eco-Friendly Funerals
http://nyti.ms/1qxqDcNsmid=pl-share
DIY Death: Natural, At-Home Funerals And Their Boomer Appeal
By Rachel Zimmerman
Published: November 22, 2013
“Death remains a topic that many of us would rather avoid. And when it comes to the actual nuts and bolts of caring for the dead, most of us tend to think it’s best — and furthermore, required by law — to let professional funeral arrangers handle the arrangements.”
http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/11/diy-death-natural-home-funerals?smid=pl-share
How Doctors Die: Showing Others the Way
By Dan Gorenstein
Published: November 19, 2013
“BRAVE. You hear that word a lot when people are sick. It’s all about the fight, the survival instinct, the courage. But when Dr. Elizabeth D. McKinley’s family and friends talk about bravery, it’s not so much about the way Dr. McKinley, a 53-year-old internist from Cleveland, battled breast cancer for 17 years. It’s about the courage she has shown in doing something so few of us are able to do: stop fighting.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/your-money/how-doctors-die.html?smid=pl-share
At-Home With Death: The Home Funeral Movement Gains Momentum
By D. Selinger
Published: October 3, 2013
“In one of the most memorable passages in American literature, John Steinbeck’s fictional family, the Joads, bury their beloved grandfather just off the highway, unable to afford a proper funeral or burial plot. Though they know it’s illegal to bury their dead there without going through the proper channels, the family finds they have no choice, and with love and dignity they conduct their own impromptu funeral—leaving a note with Grampa’s body explaining the circumstances of his death and burial.”
http://www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/at-home-in-death-as-in-life-reclaiming-an-american-tradition/?smid=pl-share
Bringing Out the Dead, At Home
By John Hockenberry
Published: February 20, 2013
“The Takeaway with John Hockenberry ran a beautiful radio piece called Bringing Out the Dead, At Home.”
The audio is available at thetakeaway.org
Home Burials Offer an Intimate Alternative
By Katie Zezima
Published: July 21, 2009
“In the downturn, the do-it-yourself ethos extends to families burying loved ones, sometimes in their yards.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/us/21funeral.html
Dying to Be Green
By Susan J. Tweit
Published: October, 2010
“Following the old dust-to-dust credo, a growing number of people are choosing to be laid to rest in biodegradable caskets and graveyards filled with wildflowers, not granite.”
http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/audubonliving/audubonliving1009.html
Choices at the end of life
By Lisa Zamosky
Published: January 22, 2010
“It’s a time that can be emotionally and financially draining. Those who’ve studied the matter say that informed choice can make a difference.”
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/22/health/la-he-end-of-life-costs25-2010jan25
Aquamation: A Greener Alternative to Cremation?
By Marina Kamenev
Published: September 28, 2010
“In Western societies, disposing of a dead body has come down to two choices: there’s burial, and there’s cremation.”
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2022206,00.html?artId=2022206?contType=article?chn=health
Huff Post | By Carrie Friedman
Published: June 20, 2020
What do you want your legacy to your community and your children to be after you’re gone?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ethical-will-legacy-letter-why-you-want-one_n_5eeb7a09c5b6c8594c7f2d03
Why Millennials Are the “Death Positive” Generation
Vox Media | By Eleanor Cummins
Published: January 22, 2020
Unlike boomers, young people are embracing planning their own funerals. It’s fueling changes in the death industry.
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2020/1/15/21059189/death-millennials-funeral-planning-cremation-green-positive
The Movement to Bring Death Closer
The New York Times | Compiled by Maggie Jones
Published: December 19, 2019
Home-funeral guides believe that families can benefit from tending to — and spending time with — the bodies of their deceased.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/magazine/home-funeral.html
Everyone You Know Someday Will Die
The New York Times | Compiled by Kathleen O’Brien
Published: May 4, 2018
The end of life, either your own or a loved one’s, is difficult to fathom. Brilliant writers have confronted the subject with honesty and courage in our section, creating essays that are among our most thought-provoking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/opinion/everyone-you-know-someday-will-die.html
An Alternative to Burial and Cremation Gains Popularity
The New York Times | By Jonah Engel Bromwich
Published: October 17, 2017
For most Americans, there have long been only two obvious choices when you die: burial or cremation. But a third option, a liquefaction process called by a variety of names — flameless cremation, green cremation or the “Fire to Water” method — is starting to gain popularity throughout the United States. California recently became the 15th state to outline commercial regulations for the disposal of human remains through the method, chemically known as alkaline hydrolysis. http://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/business/flameless-cremation.html
This Is How I Want to Be Dead
The New York Times | By Richard Conniff
Published: July 7, 2017
“That is, in the woods, with wild things all around. No hurry. Happy to wait at the back of the line. But beyond the familiar “green burial” business of escaping the toxic culture of the conventional death industry, what I particularly like is the idea of using the cost of burials to buy and preserve undeveloped land — a relatively new wrinkle in the world of dead things. It just seems so much more appealing than the alternatives.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/opinion/sunday/death-cremation-.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share
Creating the New American Buddhist Funeral
How the at-home death movement can provide a dignified, personal, and meaningful send-off (whether we’re Buddhists or not).
Trident | By Julia Hirsch
Published: June 30, 2017
“An interview with Amy Cunningham, a New York State-licensed funeral director and death educator trained in overseeing at-home funerals to discuss her latest pioneering endeavor, the New American Buddhist Funeral, and how methods and attitudes toward end-of-life disposal should honor faith-based principles, which will lead to more meaningful send-offs.”
http://tricycle.org/trikedaily/creating-new-american-buddhist-funeral/
Inside the Machine That Will Turn Your Corpse Into Compost
Wired| By Robyn Ross
Published: October 25, 2016
“When you die, do you want to be buried or cremated? If the architect Katrina Spade gets her Urban Death Project to work, you might have a third option: compost.”
http://www.wired.com/2016/10/inside-machine-will-turn-corpse-compost
What It Feels Like to Die
The Atlantic | By Jennie Dear
Published: September 9, 2016
“What does dying feel like? Despite a growing body of research about death, the actual, physical experience of dying—the last few days or moments—remains shrouded in mystery. Medicine is just beginning to peek beyond the horizon. Science is just beginning to understand the experience of life’s end.”
http://www.atlantic.com/health/archive/2016/09/what-it-feels-like-to-die
A New Vision for Dreams of the Dying
The New York Times | By Jan Hoffman
Published: January 30, 2016
“For thousands of years, the dreams and visions of the dying have captivated cultures, which imbued them with sacred import. Anthropologists, theologians and sociologists have studied these so-called deathbed phenomena.
Now a team of clinicians and researchers led by Dr. Kerr at Hospice Buffalo, an internist who has a doctorate in neurobiology, are seeking to demystify these experiences and understand their role and importance in supporting “a good death” — for the patient and the bereaved.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/health/dreams-dying-deathbed-interpretation-delirium.html
Start-Ups Take Rites From the Funeral Home to the Family Home
The New York Times | By Claire Martin
Published: January 30, 2016
“When people call Undertaking LA, they might ask a question like: “My mom just died of cancer in our home. We want to keep her until noon tomorrow. Is that legal? Is that O.K.?”
The answer to both questions is yes, says Amber Carvaly, who founded Undertaking LA along with Caitlin Doughty last summer. They are part of a group that is encouraging more family involvement in end-of-life rituals, including home funerals and cremations that loved ones can watch, called witness cremations.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/business/start-ups-take-rites-from-the-funeral-home-to-the-family-home.html
Our Bodies, Ourselves
American Chronicles | http://www.newyorker.com/contributors/rebecca-mead””>Rebecca Mead
Published: November 30, 2015
Funeral Director, Caitlin Doughty, wants to bring death back home. Author of the best-selling memoir, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory, Doughty says “Maybe we need to look and say, Wow, let’s look at this beautiful, natural corpse.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/30/our-bodies-ourselves
Ecological Burial Practices: Overcoming the Myth of the Infectious Corpse
Truthout | Interview by Lorna Garano
Published: Wednesday, August 19, 2015
“Dead bodies endure as objects of cultural fear, especially in US popular culture, where the specter of their attendant decay is on display in everything from crime scene investigations to zombie sagas. But this threat is not only the stuff of fiction. Over the last 150 years, US funerary practices have spun a similar story in which humans, as well as the whole of nature, must do its best to guard against the dangerous wrath of the corpse.”
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32417-ecological-burial-practices-overcoming-the-myth-of-the-infectious-corpse
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.
Yes! Magazine| By Jennifer Luxton
Published: August 07, 2015
“Char Barrett walked into a quaint cafe in Seattle with business in mind. Over the smell of coffee and freshly baked tarts, she was going to advise a client on how best to host a special event at her home, helping coordinate everything from the logistics of the ceremony, to how to dress the guest of honor. People might cry, they might laugh, and all attention would be on the person of the hour—only that person would never see, hear, or enjoy the festivities, because they would be dead.”
http://www.yesmagazine.org/inside-the-alternative-death-care-movement-20150807
The Right Paperwork for Your End-of-Life Wishes
By Jessica Nutik Zitter
Published: April 29, 2015
“Once the patient has been lifted onto the conveyor belt of life support, it can be very hard to take him off. A Polst form can help.”
http://nyti.ms/1PXMFkM?smid=pl-share
How human composting will change death in the city
Grist| By Katie Herzog
Published: March 9, 2015
“For most people in this country, there are two options after death: You are buried or you are burned. The costs, both environmental and financial, are significant, but we accept these options because they are all that we know. One Seattle architect wants to change this, to develop a form of body disposal that will both cost little and actually improve the environment.”
http://www.grist.org/living/how-human-composting-will-change-death-in-the-city
How to Be Eco-Friendly When You’re Dead
Published: October 30, 2014
The Atlantic | By Shannon Palus
Standard burial and cremation take tons of energy and resources. So what’s the most environmentally sound way to deal with a dead person?
Read entire article
Parents Share Devastating, Beautiful Photos To Break Down The Silence Around Stillbirth
The Huffington Post | By Caroline Bologna
Posted: 08/06/2014 10:50 am EDT Updated: 08/12/2014 4:59 am EDT
“This summer, California couple Emily and Richard Staley went through one of the most devastating experiences parents can endure when Emily delivered a stillborn baby girl. But thanks to the help of one photographer, their tragedy might help break down the silence around the little-discussed topic of stillbirth.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/05/devastating-beautiful-stillborn-baby-photos_n_5651328.html
The Rise of Back-to-the-Basics Funerals
By Susan Chumsky
Published: March 12, 2014
Baby Boomers Are Drawn to Green and Eco-Friendly Funerals
http://nyti.ms/1qxqDcNsmid=pl-share
DIY Death: Natural, At-Home Funerals And Their Boomer Appeal
By Rachel Zimmerman
Published: November 22, 2013
“Death remains a topic that many of us would rather avoid. And when it comes to the actual nuts and bolts of caring for the dead, most of us tend to think it’s best — and furthermore, required by law — to let professional funeral arrangers handle the arrangements.”
http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/11/diy-death-natural-home-funerals?smid=pl-share
How Doctors Die: Showing Others the Way
By Dan Gorenstein
Published: November 19, 2013
“BRAVE. You hear that word a lot when people are sick. It’s all about the fight, the survival instinct, the courage. But when Dr. Elizabeth D. McKinley’s family and friends talk about bravery, it’s not so much about the way Dr. McKinley, a 53-year-old internist from Cleveland, battled breast cancer for 17 years. It’s about the courage she has shown in doing something so few of us are able to do: stop fighting.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/your-money/how-doctors-die.html?smid=pl-share
At-Home With Death: The Home Funeral Movement Gains Momentum
By D. Selinger
Published: October 3, 2013
“In one of the most memorable passages in American literature, John Steinbeck’s fictional family, the Joads, bury their beloved grandfather just off the highway, unable to afford a proper funeral or burial plot. Though they know it’s illegal to bury their dead there without going through the proper channels, the family finds they have no choice, and with love and dignity they conduct their own impromptu funeral—leaving a note with Grampa’s body explaining the circumstances of his death and burial.”
http://www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/at-home-in-death-as-in-life-reclaiming-an-american-tradition/?smid=pl-share
Bringing Out the Dead, At Home
By John Hockenberry
Published: February 20, 2013
“The Takeaway with John Hockenberry ran a beautiful radio piece called Bringing Out the Dead, At Home.”
The audio is available at thetakeaway.org
Home Burials Offer an Intimate Alternative
By Katie Zezima
Published: July 21, 2009
“In the downturn, the do-it-yourself ethos extends to families burying loved ones, sometimes in their yards.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/us/21funeral.html
Dying to Be Green
By Susan J. Tweit
Published: October, 2010
“Following the old dust-to-dust credo, a growing number of people are choosing to be laid to rest in biodegradable caskets and graveyards filled with wildflowers, not granite.”
http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/audubonliving/audubonliving1009.html
Choices at the end of life
By Lisa Zamosky
Published: January 22, 2010
“It’s a time that can be emotionally and financially draining. Those who’ve studied the matter say that informed choice can make a difference.”
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/22/health/la-he-end-of-life-costs25-2010jan25
Aquamation: A Greener Alternative to Cremation?
By Marina Kamenev
Published: September 28, 2010
“In Western societies, disposing of a dead body has come down to two choices: there’s burial, and there’s cremation.”
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2022206,00.html?artId=2022206?contType=article?chn=health
Videos
PBS Frontline Broadcast: Being Mortal
Writer and surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande’s compelling show argues for better care for us all and examines how doctors care for the terminally ill. If you missed the original broadcast, see it here Being Mortal
To learn more about the broadcast, and about Dr. Gawande, click on the PBS Press Release | FRONTLINE Teams with Atul Gawande to Explore Being Mortal
For more information on Dr. Atul Gawande’s work and his books visit his web site Atul Gawande
Writer and surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande’s compelling show argues for better care for us all and examines how doctors care for the terminally ill. If you missed the original broadcast, see it here Being Mortal
To learn more about the broadcast, and about Dr. Gawande, click on the PBS Press Release | FRONTLINE Teams with Atul Gawande to Explore Being Mortal
For more information on Dr. Atul Gawande’s work and his books visit his web site Atul Gawande
