How A Green Burial Can Positively Affect The Environment

Unlike a grave site memorial, which marks where a body is burried, roadside memorials shows where a person died abruptly and unpredictably. When we see one, we get curious automatically and ask what might have happened in that place. Perhaps the basic reaction that we give when we see a roadside memorial is enough to understand its purpose and tolerate its presence when we are on the road. However, Some of the usual arguments that people post in opposing the presence of these memorials are dangerous distractions for drivers, illegal displays of religious symbols and it constitute the taking of public property for private purposes (Tiernan, 2009). I would like to argue all these arguments as I believe that the relevance of memorials outweighs all these concerns.

The amount of annual revenue allocated to funeral home versus cremation services is quickly evening out, and cremation is predicted by the NFDA to completely overtake burial selection within the next

Judith is obstinate and she often does not listen to anybody else's point of view. On page 177 the text states, " Judith had shut her mind to any consolation." Kit usually disagrees with Judith because their traits are different and each is very stubborn. So, Kit learns not to answer to Judith's challenge. Judith's arrogance may prove why Judith

Dead?" AlterNet. In this article, Frankie Colmane looks into how dead bodies are treated in the United State even after Mitford's expose of the funeral industry was published. The article takes both a philosophical and scientific issue with the procedure of embalming sighting proven negative effects to human beings and the environment. Colmane shows that even though people are aware of the malfeasance and misappropriations of the funeral industry following pieces like Mitford's, very little has changed. Therefore problems that have been discussed in earlier works should not be forgotten. Rather they should be continually brought up until the issue is solved. During the 1800s, embalming became common practice because the dead family member would lie in state within the home for a period of days or weeks until it would be buried (Colmane 2010). The article shows the duplicity such as when "funeral directors were arguing forcefully against charges that their mediation between the living and the dead translated into social obstruction that barred the stricken from facing death with maturity, realism, and honest" (page 2). This article will be used to illustrate that things have not changed with funereal practices despite the publication of Mitford's essay.

The issue was brought sharply into focus for me recently, when I was in the cemetery of Mission Santa Barbara. It was a sunny afternoon and the tiny graveyard was crowded with

The most evident event in Jeanette’s childhood that proves Rosemary’s desire to satisfy her own needs before her children’s when the entire Walls family has little food, Jeannette sees that, “Lying on the mattress next to Mom was one of those huge family-sized Hershey Chocolate bars, the shiny silver wrapper pulled back and torn away” (Walls 174 In an interview with the New York Times magazine, Jeanette expresses her most current feelings towards her mother as she is asked “How could you forgive your mother for the way you were raised?” Jeanette responds “It’s really not forgiveness in my opinion. It’s acceptance. She’s never going to be the sort of mother who wants to take care of me.” Rosemary’s lack of care towards her children’s needs is evident throughout the memoir as she belittles the extremes her children face. After Jeannette’s Uncle Stanley touches her inappropriately, Rosemary tells Jeannette that, “sexual assault was a crime of perception” (Walls 184). Her disregard for a tragic event like this results in deep inner resentment towards her mother. Later in life these events encourage Jeanette to be anything but her mother. She learns to be a giving women who deeply values the needs of others. Her high standards to care for others is exemplified when she finds her mother digging through a dumpster and instantly offers to clean her up and provide her with food. Jeanette was able to put aside her feelings of resentment to care for the needs of her

As a student of funeral service, Reverence for the Dead is extremely important. I found this book interesting and it made me think a lot more about ethical practices. Todd Van Beck has been a wonderful teacher, but my time being his student has made me come to realize that he’s also a very good person. Todd Van Beck talks about very serious topics in this book from death, to funerals, to caring for the dead in a correct manner. Van Beck gives us his beliefs on the subjects along with beliefs of many well-known psychologists. The passage about Dr. Edgar N. Jackson (1910-1994) had a strong impression on me. I joined this career path because I believe in the importance of preparation, preservation, and beautification of the dead also. Dr.

Death has always been and will be a topic that just a few want to talk, but since time immemorial man has worshiped their dead, and this is reflected in the various rituals and forms of burial. The anguish of death has been considered the deepest anguish of man. Death is the inevitable companion of life, is the final stage. It can occur at any age, suddenly or after a long illness. Despite knowing that someday we will have to die the death of a loved one is a terrible fact, very difficult to accept, that affects everyone around the deceased person. When the link with the deceased breaks, the suffering is so great, that they put into question the fundamentals of being, of human existence and our deepest beliefs, affecting significantly the basic family and social relationships.

Criticisms of American funeral practices have been made publicly aware since the 1920’s, and actually go back to ancient times in the scope of human’s ceremonies for the dead. Since the first published argument against modern funerals various authors joined the movement publishing their disparagements of customs for the deceased; that in essence contend the grandiosity and lavish displays are merely a social and psychological representation of the monetary opportunity of funerals (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015, p. 306-307). Even further, regarding the encompassing funeral industry as exploiting grieving loved ones for their financial gains, while disregarding the actual needs of modern society (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015, p. 307).

Throughout the course, I have paid close attention to the different methods of burial with hopes of finding an option suitable for my interests when I pass in the future. At Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, I took an interest in Amy Cunningham, an advocate for green burials. She had many wonderful experiences and expert opinions on the subject matter of types of burial practices but mostly accommodated natural full-body burials. The topic of green burials interested me greatly and upon further research, I found a sect of green burials where participants would use their cremains to help facilitate the growth of a tree. These tree burials seemed like a great solution the question I had proposed to myself while also aiding in the issue of overcrowded

No matter my role, I forge unique relationships with publicly elected leaders, public agencies, business, non-profits and community groups. Metro’s Lone Fir Cemetery, which is listed on the National Register for Historic Places and identified by National Geographic as one of the top ten cemeteries to visit in the world, hosts a forgotten piece of land that was one of the first burial grounds for early Chinese settlers and also for the first patients of the “Oregon Asylum.” I worked to bring together the Oregon Chinese Benevolent Association, the mental health community and pioneer family groups to create the Lone Fir Cemetery Foundation. This was unconventional; typically the public does not like to give money to the government, but Metro knew there needed to be more support for a nationally recognized cemetery in Portland. I led the process for the formation of the foundation, worked on donor identification and mapping and secured the first

Mankind’s history of burial practices and funeral customs are as old as civilization itself. There is no specific way to planning a funeral. Every civilization and culture has provided for their dead in different ways. Religion and personal beliefs play an important role in the burial practices and funeral customs of a given culture or civilization. Furthermore, each civilization and cultured ever studied have three things in common: some type of funeral rites, rituals, and ceremonies; A sacred place for the dead; and memorialization of the dead. As far back as the time of Christ, burials have been noted to take place. In time burial and funeral customs have become very distinct, interesting and

A lot of people are paying for insurance by which a great part of the payment goes for covering the expenses for their funerals all together with goods and services connected with it. Moreover, these costs are very high not only in the Balkans, but in every country where there is not a crematorium built. (D.J, 2014). The average cost of funeral services, today costs considerably more than 1000 $ here in the Balkans while in the US, UK , Japan, Canada and many other countries the price can reach up to 6,500 $. On the other hand the average costs of cremation including a basic memorial service costs from 1600 $ to 3000 $ but the prices vary which means that they can be lowered to 800 or 600 $ since you can choose the quality material of the casket and the services provided along with it. Nonetheless, basic cremation is very simple, much less expensive and you don`t have to add the cost of hearse, embalming, paper work, casket and grave purchase. With cremation, you only have to pay for the service, casket the urn and everything is resolved.

     Because of the increasing education of the consumer, many may choose to bypass the funeral home as a way of lowering costs.

The cemetery I chose to visit and explore was the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. On the way to the cemetery I couldn’t help but feel anxious. When I began to drive past the cemetery to its entrance, all I could see were miles and miles of headstones. It was eerie to say the least. As a kid, whenever my family would drive by a cemetery, my siblings and I would hold our breath until we passed so as to not breathe in the wandering, lost souls. Actually going into a cemetery to look around seemed counterintuitive, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to hold my breath for that long. It didn’t help that right when I entered those black gates that separated the living from the dead, clouds of smoke and ash permeated the air around me due to bodies being cremated on site.