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In Case of Emergency.....

2/24/2016

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I am not dying.  I am not in a health crisis.  I wanted to write this letter to make sure I have said what I want to say in case life takes a turn I do not expect.
 

To All of You Who Love Me,
 
I love life.  I have even come to love the struggles. I love overcoming them.  I love our ability to transform our lives.  I love how we love each other and how that love never ends. I love meeting new people and sharing the journey of this life with them for as long as I get to.  I love life.
 
At some point in this life we share, I will no longer be able to physically journey along with you.  No one knows the manner of his or her life, but I wanted you to keep some things in mind when my body starts to no longer serve its purpose. Please remember that I do not wish to die in the hospital if that can be avoided.  I know that might be impossible, but if at all possible, I wish to die at home or in hospice care.  Since dying at home might make things difficult for you, reach out to those in the alternative death care world.  Find a death doula or get connected with hospice at home.  Get support for yourselves. 
 
If you wonder what kind of music I want to hear, remember I have always loved the music others want to share with me the most.  I have always connected to people who love music and I have grown in my appreciation of music by the love others have shown me of the music dear to their hearts.  On the other hand, if you wish to sing I would love to hear the Paschal Cannon, The Paschal Tropar in as many languages as you can manage, The Angel Cried and the Pascal Verses.  You might notice a theme here.  That is not by accident.
 
I want each of you to know that I love you and forgive whatever little thing you think stands between us.  It does not.  I hope that you can forgive my shortcomings for I know they are many.
 
Love,
 
Caroline

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Cemeteries - Home Owners Associations?

7/22/2015

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 Last week, a friend of mine had a disagreement with a cemetery regarding a grave marker.  I began thinking about grave markers and the power cemetery owners/corporations have over our choices in marking the graves of those we love.  Memorialization and grave marking are two related, but different things.  As I have stated many times, how and where we remember those we love does not belong to the cemetery, but to our hearts and minds.   Grave marking differs from memorialization in that markers indicate the earthly remains of those we love. For many, the grave is sacred because it holds the remains of the loved one. The marker becomes the lasting word as the physical proclamation of the person’s life and a focal point of the grave.

When dealing with a cemetery for your grave marker or gravestone, you must remember that they are like a Home Owners Association.  They set the rules by which you must abide and they can change them at will.  Unlike a Home Owners Association, you will not have a voice in the rules or in any change.  The cemetery wishes to maintain a certain look.  For a time you might be allowed to keep things on a grave and then the cemetery might be sold to a different owner or corporation and rules change. The cemetery also just might want to change their look, and then the rules change. You need to make sure you know what the rules of the cemetery are before you purchase the right for burial.  Some cemeteries require flush stones or markers and will not allow upright stones.  Some cemeteries require bronze on the marker, others will not.  Some might specify what kind of stone you must have for the marker.  Different sections of a cemetery might have different rules about what kind of marker is allowed.  Again, you must check before you buy. 

You do not have to purchase a marker through the cemetery.  The cemetery might tack on fees if you do not, but you have a right to purchase elsewhere.  They might insist that you pay for a survey of the site or for installation the stone.  If you purchase a marker somewhere other than your cemetery, you most likely will have to send in a sketch or specs on the marker you wish to use.  They will have the final say as to what kind of marker is placed in their cemetery.  Do not purchase the marker without the go ahead from the cemetery. You have the right of burial, but they can tell you how a grave will look.

Sometimes cemeteries get mixed up in family conflicts regarding grave markers.  If you want to place a stone on a grave, make sure you have the right to do so.  At the time of death, sometimes old family wounds that have never healed properly, get reopened.  Sometimes these conflicts are fought out over the grave marker.  Try to make peace in the family before it gets to the point of a war over a gravestone.  Remember, the stone on a grave marks the final resting place of our loved ones remains, and should not become a battleground.  Family service counselors do not know the family histories and might not realize a conflict is brewing.  Let them know that there might be a conflict.  By doing so, the cemetery will know that a potential problem exists and might be able to assist in a resolution before a problem takes root. 

Grave markers tell a story.  People take a great deal of time with wording and design of the marker for the person they love.  I love to walk in old cemeteries and read the engraved stones.  I feel connected to the person and sometimes what I read on their markers stays with me.  Grave markers communicate who the person was.  They are important for families looking for family history.  While the cemetery does not hold the monopoly on memory, the fact that they create the rules about markers means they hold quite a bit of power as to how the marker will look.  Take the time to research the cemeteries you like in your area and figure out which ones fit your vision on marking your grave. 

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A Place of Memory

7/8/2015

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When I trained at the cemetery to be a family service counselor, we were taught a variety of sales technique.  One of them was how to sell niches for cremation.  We were instructed to emphasize that having a place such as a niche was a better place to hold a memory than the mantle or scattering to the wind. Cremation is the final disposition of a body and you need not by law bury the cremains. Cremation affords a family a many different ways to create a place of memory. You can scatter on your own land, be placed in bullets, pressed into a favourite record album or made into a jewel, just to name a few.  Cremation attracts people who do not want a lot of falderal in their funeral planning. The industry, knowing this, would like very much to be part of your decision-making and sell you a niche or a place in the lawn for burial.

I treasure the time I spend visiting graves.  When I was in High School, I went to Chaucer’s grave in Westminster Abby.  I remember standing there filled with awe and admiration.  I carry that memory always.  Standing by a grave is a powerful feeling at times be it your grandparents or a great poet.  Far be it from me to tell folks not to have a place in a cemetery or burial ground for those they love.  The place of memory is not my issue.  I take issue with making people think that a place of memory belongs to the corporate death care industry.

We have options for making a place of memory.  Cremains can always be scattered or buried on your own property rural or otherwise without having to make a notation on the deed. You can dedicate a place on your own property for full body burial through following your state’s laws. Full body burial might be easier in a rural setting, but it can be done. Always make sure you know and follow the laws in your state.  In ancient times, Christian communities formed around burial societies.  Old churches still have burial ground attached for members of the church.  I do not see why we cannot have more church run cemeteries or cemeteries associated with other groups.  Why don’t environmental groups set aside places for their members who wish to have a green burial?  Why don’t urban groups create burial coops?  I know cemeteries are tough to run, but we have options if we only look. We have options if only we take to time to create them for those around us.  We never have options if we take the industry representatives at their word.  We need to know our rights.  Modest burial grounds need not be moneymakers.  The municipal cemetery down the street from where I live sells plots for $250 – a far cry from the $18000+ in corporate run cemeteries.   

Many of us do not want to end up in a corporate run cemetery.  We need to face the fact that none of us have yet gotten out of this life alive, and research and plan our own deaths.  The time to make decisions is not at the time of someone’s death where grief can make the process more difficult, but when we calmly and logically look at what we and our family wants for a funeral and burial plan.  If we want to have the kind of funeral and burial we want, we need to start now looking at local resources. We might have to create the place of memory for our body at the end of our time on earth.  I do not recommend ever purchasing a plot for burial long before the time that it will be needed.  Once you purchase a right of burial, the cemetery will not likely return your purchase once the time for cooling off has past.  I do recommend setting money aside for the purpose of your final acts and let your money work for you, and not the cemetery’s corporation. 

The true place of memory will always reside in our hearts.  How we live our lives matters the most and remains with those who love and know us. Sometimes if we are lucky, our lives will be remembered from generation to generation. Having a place to visit at a graveside is useful for many.  Any place that reminds us of someone who has died becomes a place of memory. We need not pay a corporation for a place of memory.

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Helping Face Death

6/3/2015

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Death can happen anytime and sometimes without warning.  Naturally, when someone close to us suffers grief, we want to help them in anyway we can.  Some of us would love to help plan a memorial event.  The fact of the matter is that we cannot help unless asked.  I have attended funerals of someone I know, and see that the family has picked out a metal or an obviously expensive coffin.  I am saddened by it, and I will never say a word to them about it.   Our job as close family members or friends is to support those who have lost someone, not tell them they have done something wrong.

There are those who I believe are obligated to help families plan funerals and burials.  I believe that members of the clergy must play a central role in assisting members of their congregation prepare for death and all the rituals that follow.  Clergy are often one of the first ones called in a death and should have a basic understanding of the death care industry and how it works.  I know one clergy member who attends every meeting at the funeral home with his people.  Some members of the industry do not like clergy attending. Some clergy do not feel that it is their place to be with the family as they make choices about a funeral.  I am of the opinion, that having an objective person benefits families not only with the religious aspect of the funeral, but to help his or her people who are often overwhelmed in the face of planning the funeral.

So, what of those who do not belong to a spiritual community?  Are they at the mercy of the industry?  I hope not.  I hope that those who read this blog and books of similar topics will be ready when and if someone asks for your advice. When someone close to you dies, offer your time and let the family know you will do what they need for you to do.  If you are open about death, those around you will know that you are someone they can approach.  It’s a great gift to them that someone they know will not flinch when death is the topic.  Don’t be fooled.  I have brought down more parties and gotten more odd looks in restaurants while talking about death than I care to count.  I will go right on speaking.  I might not give all the details, but I will continue to speak and I encourage you to as well.  Our free words about such a taboo subject help bring death out of the closet one conversation at a time.  In doing this, we help those around us.

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Making and Changing Your Death Plans

11/19/2014

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As the days grow darker, we might find ourselves thinking about endings and maybe about death. I think it is a natural result of the changing season as the earth in the North goes to sleep.  Some of us might find thoughts about death uncomfortable.  I can’t say that the thought of death brings me joy, but I know I must face death.  At some point our biological existence ceases and then someone who loves us must deal with the physicality of our death.  No one wants to think that those who love us most facing our physical absence and dealing with all the details that come with death.  This week, I went to check out my final wishes document I wrote almost three years ago.  My partner and I thought we needed to write our own wishes if we were going to ask others to write one.  She has a whole section dedicated to the music at her memorial.  She’s a musician, so that makes sense.  I had a whole section devoted to caterers.  I come from a long line of great hostesses who know how to throw a great party.  When I opened the plan this week, I knew I needed to update it.

I surprised myself because nearly three years ago, I firmly wanted a coffin, which I called a casket.  I would never call a coffin a casket these days, because I now know the use of the term casket is used by the funeral industry to get us to think that we are putting our beloveds in a special treasure box.  So, I looked at shrouds, and pasted websites of my favourites into the body of the plan.  You can find a nice list on the Midwest Green Burial Society page, Shrouds, Coffins and Home Funeral Guides. Because I live in Illinois, I had to include a funeral director in my plan, and changed that too.   I removed the caterers from my list, because if I die there is a restaurant next door to the church we attend. (Score!)  I still want a Jazz Quartet to play When the Saints Go Marching In after the burial rites are completed.  I had a professor at seminary that had this at his funeral and I love the idea.

While making a plan for my death is uncomfortable, I know my family and loved ones will benefit.  In the time of great grief, I found it difficult to recall what I had been told or in other cases, come up with an idea that made sense for a funeral.  Read the Midwest Green Burial Society’s Planning Form. Our form is a formless form that should allow you to make plans that fit your needs.  No two of us are alike, and that is why this form was created to meet most everyone’s needs.  Start thinking about what you want and I encourage you all to start writing your plans.  Take it slowly.  If you come from a family that shies away from the topic of death, find one person and start a conversation with him or her.  If you don’t feel comfortable talking to your family, find a friend.  If that does not work for you, talk to your clergy if you have one.  You must find at least one person you feel comfortable with to tell him or her what you want and where to find the plan.  I recommend telling more than one person.  What you will find once you complete this exercise is a peace of mind you never thought you would have and a clearer idea what is important to you.  I found that once I figured out what I wanted at the time of death, I could choose to live the life I wanted.  You can change your mind as you go along.  I did. Give yourself and your loved ones this gift.

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Speaking of Vaults....

7/16/2014

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I was trained and worked in a cemetery run by one of the largest death care corporations.  We had a brief training on vaults.  Much of our training was brief because the purpose of a family service councilor is to sell.  We were told that vaults maintain the integrity of the grave, help keep the ground level for the cemetery and lined vaults kept out the elements (or nature) from reaching the casket. We sold all kinds of vaults from the simple to the high-end precious metal lined vaults.  To be quite fair, we were never trained to push the high-end vaults.  Our training also made it clear that vaults were not a legal requirement, but a requirement of the cemetery.

Let us look at this video demonstrating how tough the vault is.

My first comment about this video is about their scientific process.  We have no idea how long this vault remained buried before it was dug up again.  We have no idea if heavy equipment rode over this spot. Finally, the casket is empty.  We have no idea about the state of an occupied coffin buried for an unspecified amount of time.  I realize that they are selling vaults not coffins, but to be sure coffins and vaults are used together.   When I was a family service counselor, I became close to the grounds workers at the cemetery.  One member of the team who had been a grave digger for many, many years, told me that whenever he has been present at a disinterment, the vaults have always been cracked or otherwise breached.  Sometimes the breach was dramatic, other times, not so much.  Once interred, there is very little way of knowing the quality of the structure of a vault.  Some vaults are sturdier than others.  I do not mean to imply that vaults are designed to break or that all vaults do not stand up to the pressure.  What I am saying is no one really knows how tough any vault can be until you dig it up after use. 

Here is another video:

This one plays at the heartstrings.  As you know, I am all in favour of personalization of death rituals.  I find it odd that personalized vault that will spend most of its time underground, and that the only people who will be seeing it again will be those who would dig up the grave.  We are told in this video that a lined vault secures the casket and contents from water and insects.  It makes me wonder what it is we think we are doing when we bury our loved ones.  Do we really want to keep their bodies preserved for generations in hopes that one day an archeologist will dig them back up again? I think perhaps vaults are a hold over from the anti-theft devices developed for higher end burials in the 18th and 19th centuries when corpses were sometime dug up for scientists to study anatomy.  It’s not a pretty thought, but there you have it.  It’s not a huge leap from protecting bodies from body snatcher to protecting bodies from anything and everything. 

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Body Snatching Device
There are solutions for vaults in graves.  I suggest that vaults are not a necessity at all, providing steps are taken to prevent sunken graves. In green burial the grave is filled mounded with dirt on the graven so that once the settling of the grave takes place, the grave is not sunken.  A shrouded body creates less concern for grave settling than those using a biodegradable coffin because there is much less matter be broken down. In green certified burials, care is given to maintain the ground.  Green Burial does not mean haphazard burials without forethought.  To the contrary, certified green burial grounds undergo extensive planning and go through a strict process for certification.  Thought is given to preserving and restoring the land and in that maintaining the integrity of graves and the land in general.

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Green Burial Grave
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A Family's Right to Choose

6/11/2014

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Nine of the United States (Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Nebraska, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York) requires each citizen to hire a funeral director at the time of death. To the casual observer, this might seem like a good idea.  After all they are the professionals.   What people often over look is the culture of the death care industry in this nation and how isolated it functions.   As a culture, we no longer talk about death.  We leave it to the last second, if at all, to talk with our family about what we want to have done for our funeral and burial.  Some of us think we will never die and those around us will not either.  Sometimes we walk around in almost a fog thinking that we will never have to deal with planning a funeral.  The truth is most of us will have to plan a funeral of someone we love at some point in our lives.  When that happens, and we have not prepared, we are likely to follow what the funeral director or family service counselor at the cemetery suggests and do what is conventional.   This is not necessarily the industry’s fault.  They have a client coming in that needs service and quickly and if they do not know what they want, it is easy to follow convention.  Before we go further, embalming is not a requirement by law for burial or viewing of the body.  These are purely the requirement of the funeral director.  The same is true for vaults in cemeteries.  Vaults are not required by law for burial, but are requirements of the cemetery.

From my shopping experiences with funeral directors, I noticed that even if a greener funeral is wanted, funeral directors steer the conversation to the conventional, embalming funeral. Open coffins in most funeral homes would not be allowed without embalming.  Many reasons are given for this, but the truth is the funeral industry has enshrined embalming as the safe and only funeral option for those who want to follow traditional rites that involve open coffins.  Embalming does not make a body safe or sanitized -diseases die with us.  Embalming will not preserve a body forever- by law embalming can only be guaranteed for five days.  A properly cared for natural body can be refrigerated for as many days as ten and longer and still have an open coffin. Without refrigeration, taking into consideration a variety of ways to keep the body cool, a body can be above ground for about three day.  For thousands of years, people have buried and had viewings without embalming.  There is no reason why we need to do this invasive and unnecessary procedure to the bodies of our loved ones.

In many states, death doulas assist families with their funeral preparation without embalming.  They use tried and true methods of maintaining the body after death.  They guide the family through the process assisting the family when needed and providing a smooth and simple way of dealing with the death of a loved one.  In states that force their citizenry to hire funeral directors, death doulas either do not exist, or are forced to work in with a funeral director.  In the end, either a family does not have access to this service or they have to pay twice for the service because the family will have to pay the funeral director the basic service fee.  The basic service fee is a protected fee and unregulated that individual clients have no right to negotiate for a lower price.  I have found this fee in Illinois to be as little as 995.00 or as high as 2495.00.  That seems steep to me for someone who needs someone to fill out paper or for who wants to have a simple burial with little extras. 

In these states, we are forced to hire a private entity and to give money to an industry, which we might not want, or need.  It forces those of low income to raise money, to bury their loved ones or go into debt to pay off the end of life bills.  One funeral home website states that the reason that funerals cost so much is that they are like weddings. However, if a couple wants to be married and they do not want all the fuss of a big event, they need only take themselves down to the courthouse and get married.  They fill out the papers and take the vows with a judge. If we want to care for our own dead, the option of filling out our own forms and caring for our loved ones ourselves is not open to us who live in a state where we must hire a funeral director at the time of death.  If we live in one of these nine states, we are forced to pay, and pay dearly for a service we want or need without the benefit of hiring who we want and having a simple funeral. This goes against  free market and free enterprise where the laws of competition and demand have no bearing.  The industry can set up its own regulations that do not correspond to the law.  If the law states that embalming is not required for a funeral and burial, how can someone in that state get a simple funeral if no funeral director will provide that service?  We are forced into an industry which does not give us what we want - a simple farewell

The average funeral in the US is 10,000.00 this is before cemetery costs where you need to purchase the right to be buried in a plot, an open and close of a grave and in most cases a vault.   These laws which saddles its citizenry in such a way means they have lost touch with those of meager means in their state.   Cook County’s morgue a few years back was backlogged with bodies left unclaimed.  I do not wonder why.  Our position is a human rights and social justice issue.  How can we treat those of lesser means as lesser human because they cannot pay the high price of the death care industry? It’s an issue of common decency.  It is in no way just to force a family into a financial crisis or leave their loved ones behind and unclaimed.  That just is not right.

I know there are good and decent funeral directors who care for the families and want to provide good service to those in need.  I know there are those who work freelance because they want to help families, but do not like the culture of the industry.  I know there are people who work in cemeteries who want the family to have what they want for their loved ones at death.  In the end, even for those who have a great heart and are working to provide the best service they can, no one should be forced to take their services.  I do not wonder why cremation is on the rise.  In cremation, the family is offered a wide variety of possibilities that are not costly and give the family flexibility to have memorial and burial services where the industry is kept out almost entirely. We should be able to fill in the proper forms and hire who we want to help our families at the most tender times in our lives, instead of dealing with an industry that may not have our values for a simple funeral and burial at heart.

We allow home births, but we do not allow for home funerals. We have trained midwives and doulas to assist the new mother as she enters into the new life with her child.  We also allow women the option to have their babies in a hospital.  We need to begin to look at home funerals in this manner.  A death in the family is a life changing event where life as we knew it is over, and the new one, one we live without our loved one begin.  Families who wish to choose a simple funeral, where people gather to share stories and be together, where death doulas help walk them through the process without the death care industry telling them what they do and do not need, should be able to choose what is best for themselves.  We should have the right to choose how we want to gather and celebrate and remember the lives of our loved ones as we see fit. The state should keep their laws off the bodies of our loved one.  This is not about clandestine graves or not registering deaths properly.  It’s not about breaking the laws or thwarting important documentation laws.  It’s about our right to choose.  It’s about the rights of families to choose what is best for their family.  It’s about being true to traditions and true to your heart.  Call your state representative or senator and tell them you do not want this law in your state.  Contact us if you need more information on this topic.   

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Five Simple Green Burial Hacks

6/4/2014

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Many of us in the Midwest live in areas without access to certified burial grounds, conventional cemeteries that offer a green option, or in states that require the hiring of a funeral director at the point of death.  Because of the situation we face, many of us have to make choices that are not perfect choices. Here are five simple hacks to make a funeral and burial greener.  At the end of the day, we all can only do our best.


Don’t Be Embalmed   That is easier said than done if you live in Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, or New York.  Many funeral homes require embalming for public viewings, or wakes, or any kind of an open coffin. If you live in one of these states there might be a Death Doula close to you that will be able to direct you to a good funeral director.  If you do not live near a home funeral guide, I recommend you shop around at local funeral homes. If you live in the Chicagoland area, contact us and we can provide you with contacts. 

Some of us come from traditions that necessitate an open coffin for our religious rites.  Some of us come from cultural traditions where viewing the body is central to the grieving process.  Most funeral homes offer direct burial, but you should not have to settle for direct burial if it goes against your heart.   Any funeral director should be able to offer refrigeration. An open coffin with a natural body will not spread disease, most diseases die with the body. You still need to take proper care of the body after death, but this is not a difficult process. The point is, plan ahead of time.  Stand by what you know is right and what you know fits with what you need through the grieving process.  Feel free to contact Midwest Green Burial Society if you need any assistance with this.

Invert the Vault.  Many of us live in states where there are no certified green burial grounds.  You might find yourself wanting a green burial, but have no place to bury in a green site.  If you cannot find a cemetery that does not require a vault, or if you are pressed for time and are deep in grief, remember to ask that the vault be inverted.  The coffin or shroud will be in contact with the earth, and might be the most natural way you can bury your loved ones.  Many cemeteries will comply if you tell them that your loved one will not be embalmed and you want to make greener choices.

Low Impact Coffin or Shroud.  Shrouds least impact the environment at the time of burial.  You may need a board for extra support to help lower the body, but it is by far the simplest way to be buried.  There are a few on-line to choose from, but remember you can make a shroud from a qulit or blanket.  MGBS has a resource page with some low impact coffins and shrouds.  While we love the wicker and wool coffins, we look to the amount of jet fuel to takes to get here from Europe, and we feel strongly about shopping locally.

On-line Memorial. Remember not everyone can come to a memorial event or they live far away, making travel difficult, costly and use too much fossil fuel.  Create an online page for people to express their grief, and a way to share favourite stories.  We live far away from each other physically, but we can come together online to be a support to each other.

Use Locally Source Flowers.  Instead of using florists, who often use environmentally unfriendly practices get your flowers locally, even a home garden.  For an even greener choice, contact your local conservation district office and ask which indigenous flowers or decorative branches you could use.  In the winter, evergreens would be a beautiful choice. For a memory gift, consider making seed packets using seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or other local seed saving groups.   We use Seed Savers Exchange seeds for our seed pack/business card.  Use of these kinds of seeds promotes biodiversity.

Remember, whatever choices we made in the past were made because we thought we were being responsible. I suggest we do not beat ourselves up about the past and start today educating ourselves so that we can make better choices in the future. 

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In Lieu of Flowers........Social Justice?

5/28/2014

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Juliann Salinas is our guest author this week.  Juliann is a Co-founder of the Midwest Green Burial Society and social justice advocate, holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA from Ashford University with a specialization in Environmental Management.  Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Paraguay 1994-1996)

A few weeks back I was sent another link for a time-sensitive fundraiser.  A former coworker’s son had died at 16 in a tragic swimming accident, and donations were being sought to help cover the burial and funerary expenses.  It was a sad reminder of the practical realities of death.

With the average cost of funeral services and internment at about $10,000, few families are able to absorb the expense of modern death, particularly sudden death, which has given rise to crowdfunding requests.  Some sites, including Graceful Goodbye and Funeral Fund, have been created specifically to cater to death care expenses.

I am an advocate of, and oft-contributor to, crowdfunding requests.  I feel that it is a medium that provides the average Jane or Joe the opportunity to invest in projects that express their passions and interests in a way that most middle-class investment opportunities rarely can. Getting in on the ground floor of a new restaurant, supporting a local art gallery exhibit or rock band recording, or helping launch a great small business idea used to be the realm of the rarified-air-breathing “qualified investors,” those with a cool million or so of “risk-able” money. For the rest of us who find it difficult to figure out if our 401k is sunk in to big oil or Monsanto, crowdfunding provides a straightforward exchange and often has the advantage of instant and long-term gratification – although, rarely, huge financial gains. Crowdfunding “returns on investment” are, usually, mostly intangible -such as gratitude and the not-entirely-vicarious thrill of seeing one’s supported project succeed.

Another, often unmentioned, aspect of crowdfunding is its ability to bring attention to causes, issues and concerns that are not being addressed by the status quo.  Whether its investing in the exploration of solar roadways, or helping out uninsured folks upon whom tragedy has fallen, crowdfunding “asks” can highlight the cracks in the system and attempts to weave a social safety net and support structures where the free enterprise system and government fail.

Which brings me to a fundamental question – should burials be considered a basic human right and, if so, how should they be financed? Clearly an honorable burial is valued by the military for veterans, for whom they are provided at no cost, but what about every other world citizen? With our identification technology and digital cataloguing/GPS capacity there is no excuse for a nameless “paupers grave” to be the sole option for those without funds, or desire, to support the conventional, environmentally-damaging funeral practices. Why doesn’t our society have a simple, yet dignified, no cost option for all?

I propose that such an opportunity could be created through targeted investments, for vetted non-profit land conservation groups, that are specifically earmarked for the development of natural and/or conservation burial grounds. Hundreds, if not thousands, of green jobs could be created, including local urban wood/reclaimed wood coffin makers, shroud manufacturers, “death midwives” or re-trained green funeral directors, site planners, land managers, and documentarians.

Death care is a $20.7B industry.  If even a tenth of that funding was made accessible to support the preservation of open space while providing a no cost burial option to all, hundreds of thousands of acres could be saved or restored, and tens of thousands of families could avoid sinking further into debt in the name of “honoring” their loved ones - instead focusing on their natural grieving process and life celebrations. That’s an investment I’d be willing to make.  Time to Indiegogo?


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    Caroline Vuyadinov


    I graduated from St. Vladamir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York with a Master of Divinity.  I trained as a chaplain following graduation and worked with a wide variety of people. 

    When I moved to Canada, I began work in a women's halfway house in Hamilton, Ontario which worked with women in conflict with the law on a federal level.  I became the program manager and  loved working alongside the women, creating their plans for their reintegration back to the community.  I also worked as a liaison with the parole board, parole officers and other community service providers.

    Upon my return to the United States, I worked in the Death Care Industry as a Family Service Counselor, which lead me to become a green burial advocate. I co-founded Midwest Green Burial Society with Juliann Salinas. I speak  to community groups and have developed practical seminars for a variety of audiences.  I have been interviewed on a national podcast and was featured on a WGN spot dealing with green burial. 

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