Death Becomes Us, Part 3

Burying the dead can be hazardous to our health. Every year, across North America, enough embalming fluid is used to fill a swimming pool, and enough metal to build another Golden Gate Bridge. Cremation can be toxic too, creating vapours from mercury fillings and hip implants. Against this backdrop, IDEAS producer Mary O'Connell concludes her three-part series with a look at the burgeoning green burial movement and its message of de-corporatizing death. 

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Participants in the program:

Stephen Cave, philosopher, author of Immortality, The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization, Berlin. 

Josh Slocum, executive director of Funeral Consumers Alliance, South Burlington, Vermont, co-author  of Final Rights. 

Rochelle Martin, home funeral guide, Hamilton, Ontario.

Gary and Joy Warner, exploring the home funeral, Hamilton, Ontario. 

Jusuf and Jody Warner, waiting to discuss their parents' death plans, Toronto, Ontario. 

Hannah Rumble, Department of Anthropology, University of Exeter, England, co-author of Natural Burial: Traditional-Secular Spiritualities and Funeral Innovation.   

Mark Harris, green burial proponent, author of Grave Matters, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Related Websites:

• The Natural Death Centre
  
• Dr. Hannah Rumble
  
• Death Cafe - Impermanence 
  
• Final Passages
  
• Beyond Yonder - Death Midwifery
  
• Funeral Alternatives
  
• Funeral Watchdog
  
• Funeral Consumers Alliance
  
• Grave Matters
  
• Final Rights - Reclaiming the American Way of Death
  
• National Home Funeral Alliance
  
• Natural Burial Association