tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/cremation-3990/articlesCremation – The Conversation2022-07-22T12:28:37Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1866182022-07-22T12:28:37Z2022-07-22T12:28:37ZMost Americans today are choosing cremation – here’s why burials are becoming less common<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474963/original/file-20220719-22-31fpv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=129%2C8%2C5613%2C3794&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Environmental concerns are one of the reasons Americans are opting for cremation. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cremation-royalty-free-image/525622135">Godong/Stone via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The National Funeral Directors Association has predicted that by 2035, nearly <a href="https://nfda.org/news/media-center/nfda-news-releases/id/3526/cremation-on-the-rise-nfda-predicts-the-national-cremation-rate-will-climb-by-a-third-within-20-years">80% of Americans will opt for cremation</a>. </p>
<p>When the first U.S. indoor cremation machine <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03612759.1992.9950605">was opened in 1876</a> in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the creator and operator, Francis LeMoyne, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Purified_by_Fire.html?id=XqVOH9uzDDwC">was severely criticized by the Catholic Church</a>. The new method of disposal was viewed as dangerous because it threatened traditional religious burial and society’s sense of morality and dignity. </p>
<p>Less than 100 years later – in 1963 – English writer Jessica Mitford wrote the bestselling book “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/115611/the-american-way-of-death-revisited-by-jessica-mitford/">The American Way of Death</a>” as a way to educate Americans about what she viewed as the awful commercialization of dying, death and commemoration. After a strong criticism of funeral directors, cemeterians and other associated professions, she ended with a plea for cremation. </p>
<p>However, as late as 1970, according to figures from the Cremation Association of America, <a href="https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.cfsaa.org/resource/resmgr/files/CANAStatisticsReport2021.pdf">only about 5% of American chose the method</a>. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/04/18/cremation-death-funeral/">In 2020, more than 56% Americans opted for it</a>. </p>
<p>So what has led to such a dramatic shift today? As an American historian who wrote “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/last-great-necessity-cemeteries-in-american-history/oclc/1066917788?referer=di&ht=edition">The Last Great Necessity: Cemeteries in American History</a>,” following that up almost 30 years later with “<a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo28082520.html">Is the Cemetery Dead?</a>,” I know that people are choosing cremation for different reasons, depending on their circumstances. </p>
<p>Here are three main ones:</p>
<h2>1. Funerals and ground burials are expensive</h2>
<p>Although figures differ depending on the source, families are spending an average of over US$8,000 on funerals, <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/average-funeral-cost-by-state">ranging from $6,700 in Mississippi to just under $15,000 in Hawaii</a>, according to the World Population Review.</p>
<p>That compares with <a href="https://www.parting.com/blog/cost-considerations-when-choosing-direct-cremation/">$1,000 to $2,000 for a direct cremation</a>, in which the crematory or funeral director doesn’t provide any services beyond the actual cremation of the body, as the blog Parting.com, which compares the pricing of funerals and cremations, points out. </p>
<p>However, many survivors don’t choose to do the least costly cremation. The National Funeral Directors Association noted that for a funeral with a cremation, the median cost was over $6,000 – certainly a savings, but not the <a href="https://www.lhlic.com/consumer-resources/average-funeral-cost/#:%7E:text=The%20National%20Funeral%20Directors%20Association,on%20what%20options%20you%20select">enormous amount many websites proclaim</a>. </p>
<p>Additionally, this is not a new development: Direct cremation was far cheaper than a full burial in 1960 or 1990, too.</p>
<h2>2. Environmental costs</h2>
<p>Cost clearly plays a role, but not a determining one for such a rapid shift in cultural practices. A second major factor is environmental concerns related to a conventional interment, in which a body is placed in a casket and the casket is buried or entombed. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.alexandraharker.com/">Alexandra Harker</a>, a landscape architect working to improve America’s sustainable environments, has described how concerns about such burials in the cemetery range from issues about the use of the land to the methods by which the <a href="https://doi.org/10.5070/BP325111923">body is prepared and stored</a>. </p>
<p>Some people are increasingly upset by the environmental costs of a burial. A conventional burial necessitates the <a href="https://doi.org/10.5070/BP325111923">body being embalmed</a>, usually with formaldehyde; placed in a casket, often made of hardwood or steel; then lowered in many cases into a concrete or steel grave liner or vault, with the surrounding lawn typically kept green by the use of pesticides. Roughly 1.5 million burials or entombments means <a href="https://doi.org/10.5070/BP325111923">Americans are using</a> thousands of tons of copper, bronze and steel, over 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid and millions of feet of wood. </p>
<p>In a related concern, Harker notes that in a survey by the Cremation Association of North America in 2008, 13% of people chose cremation because of worries about cemetery land scarcity. Cremation internments take up much less space than ground burials.</p>
<p>However, people are exploring the idea of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/smarter-living/green-funeral-burial-environment.html">“green” burial</a> in some new cemeteries where money earned from burials can serve to fund a “conservation easement” that protects the space so it will be there long after those interned have become part of the land. </p>
<p>Conventional cremation burns the body by use of natural gas, which is <a href="https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/environmental_impact_cremation.html">not considered as environmentally sensitive as simply burying the body</a> without the <a href="https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/environmental_impact_cremation.html">use of harmful chemicals</a> among other materials. Natural gas emits particulate matter and hard metals such as mercury, especially in older crematories.</p>
<h2>3. Fewer Americans belong to a church</h2>
<p>A third factor is the disruption of people’s connection to religious institutions, which leads them away from the cemetery. </p>
<p>In 2021, only about <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/30/982671783/fewer-than-half-of-u-s-adults-belong-to-a-religious-congregation-new-poll-shows">47% of Americans</a> belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, compared with 1999, when over 70% of adults stated they were affiliated with one such religious institution. </p>
<p>A growing number of younger Americans in particular are not tied to the religious institution where their grandparents and parents may have had a service after their death or from which funeral corteges would have left for the cemetery. The result is that they are more likely to <a href="https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/environmental_impact_cremation.html">opt for a method of disposing the body</a> that places them in control of the remains. </p>
<h2>Is cremation here to stay?</h2>
<p>Will the rise of cremation affect other elements of the way Americans respond to deaths? Americans have long been accused of having “death anxiety,” a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK233601/">fear of even discussing death</a>. For many families, the control that cremations give them has been accompanied by a increased willingness to publicly mourn, as evidenced by the rapid spread of roadside shrines, memorial tattoos and other “everyday memorials” that are utilized by a widespread number of families. </p>
<p>Most Americans are now comfortable with cremation as a practice. They like the power that it gives them to inter the remains in the cemetery, keep them at home, or scatter them in forests, parks, oceans and streams. </p>
<p>Alternatives, such as green burial, will challenge this practice, but for the foreseeable future, Americans have joined much of the world in embracing cremation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186618/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Sloane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As late as 1970, only about 5% of Americans chose to be cremated. In 2020, more than 56% Americans opted for it.David Sloane, Professor and Chair of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis, University of Southern CaliforniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1643422021-08-06T15:32:53Z2021-08-06T15:32:53ZFunerals will hit 100 million a year by 2060 – here’s how to make them more sustainable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414371/original/file-20210803-13-zqcl22.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3872%2C2590&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cemeteries across the world, particularly in cities, are dealing with serious issues of overcrowding.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GravesOcoCemCV2.JPG">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across the world, resting places for the dearly departed are running out of space: and it’s spelling bad news for the environment.</p>
<p>In many countries, splashing the cash to secure a traditional grave in commercial cemeteries and columbaria (urn storage buildings) can be something of a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/hongkong-death-idUSL3N0IC2D020140603">status symbol</a>, not least because of the increasingly limited real estate available for grave sites. </p>
<p>It is satisfying to tut over the wastefulness of <a href="https://www.messynessychic.com/2016/04/05/beverley-hills-of-the-dead-luxury-tombs-complete-with-kitchens-air-conditioning/">“necro-bling”</a> in wealthy communities worldwide, but the commercialisation of funeral services forces us to contemplate a much bigger issue about how much of the planet’s finite resources we should dedicate to people who are dead. </p>
<p>It has been estimated that the world will accommodate 80 million deaths a year by 2040, rising to <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/births-and-deaths-projected-to-2100?country=%7EOWID_WRL">102 million by 2060</a>. Each dead body will be cremated or placed in the ground or in a vault until decomposition has reduced the body to skeletal fragments. These transitions take up energy, space, time and material. </p>
<p>The pandemic has given global audiences greater familiarity with images of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-56897970">funeral pyres</a> in countries like India, requiring massive consumption of wood and charcoal. But many developed countries are also reliant on a finite resource – in this case, natural gas – to cremate bodies. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People sit and stand around a burning pyre" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414377/original/file-20210803-23-1loy81s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414377/original/file-20210803-23-1loy81s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414377/original/file-20210803-23-1loy81s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414377/original/file-20210803-23-1loy81s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414377/original/file-20210803-23-1loy81s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414377/original/file-20210803-23-1loy81s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414377/original/file-20210803-23-1loy81s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Hindu cremation ceremony at Pashputhinath Ghat, one of the holiest sites in Nepali Hinduism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinzac/7226162840">Gavin Golden/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Simply burying bodies in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jpln.201600351">aerated soil</a> can cause decomposition relatively quickly, but cemeteries are now often constructed using pre-cast concrete vaults and reusing graves is not common across countries including the US, UK and Australia. In these places, cemetery space would have to expand indefinitely. </p>
<p>However, the dead are not just matter requiring disposal. Our level of humanity is frequently judged by the care we afford <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07481187.2020.1776791">mortal remains</a>.</p>
<p>Across the globe, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52241221">poorly-considered responses</a> to those who have died from COVID-19 – such as mass burials without appropriate funeral rites – has shown that delivering inadequate levels of care and respect to the dead can inflict emotional damage on the living. </p>
<p>Indeed, atrocities often consist of deliberately disregarding the bodies of subjugated people. <a href="http://auschwitz.org/en/history/auschwitz-and-shoah/the-extermination-procedure-in-the-gas-chambers">Mass cremations</a> during the Holocaust framed the dead as meaningless material. Conflict across parts of Africa, South America and the Middle East has created a legacy of families seeking to find and reclaim their dead from mass <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IQ/UNAMI_Report_on_Mass_Graves4Nov2018_EN.pdf">burial pits</a>. </p>
<p>The way we deal with human remains should be guided by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07481187.2020.1776791">social justice</a>, and this means balancing three major principles. </p>
<h2>Sustainability</h2>
<p>First, any burial system should aim for minimal environmental impact. Poorly functioning cemeteries and crematoria can be serious pollutants, generating greenhouse gases and heavy metal deposits that are prone to accumulating in <a href="https://ncceh.ca/documents/field-inquiry/crematoria-emissions-and-air-quality-impacts">human tissue</a>. There is no commonly accepted framework for measuring the <a href="http://www.greenergoodbyes.co.uk/two/">carbon cost</a> of funeral activities, and no clear pathway to reducing that cost. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A church with crematorium behind, out of which smoke is issuing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414770/original/file-20210805-17-14sio7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414770/original/file-20210805-17-14sio7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414770/original/file-20210805-17-14sio7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414770/original/file-20210805-17-14sio7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414770/original/file-20210805-17-14sio7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414770/original/file-20210805-17-14sio7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414770/original/file-20210805-17-14sio7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Regulation of crematorium emissions can be poor in some countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glyntaff_Crematorium_-_geograph.org.uk_-_622694.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>At the same time, there should be acknowledgement that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8470.00061">deathscapes</a> – the mature cemeteries, churchyards and burial grounds that grace our cities with patches of green – are contributing substantially to <a href="https://theconversation.com/using-captured-co-in-everyday-products-could-help-fight-climate-change-but-will-consumers-want-them-158683">carbon capture</a>. </p>
<p>With the right kind of management to encourage <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235198941930174X">habitat diversity</a>, these locations can be serene, highly restorative places for quiet contemplation and engagement with nature. </p>
<p>Effort has been directed towards new technology and design solutions, including the development of <a href="https://www.funeralguide.co.uk/help-resources/arranging-a-funeral/funeral-guides/a-guide-to-water-cremation#:%7E:text=Water%20cremation%20is%20also%20known,the%20liquid%20that%20is%20produced.">“green cremation”</a> which breaks bodies down using alkaline hydrolysis. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/smarter-living/green-funeral-burial-environment.html">“Green burial”</a> has also become a worldwide phenomenon, offering places for interment where a tree can be planted on the grave. This option reduces the resources needed to mine and transport stone from one part of the world to another to create a memorial. However, greener solutions will make a limited contribution to sustainability if they cannot accommodate <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e30b16e2-9604-11ea-899a-f62a20d54625">mega city</a> death tolls that reach tens of thousands every year. </p>
<h2>Affordability</h2>
<p>Second, any changes to the funeral process must be affordable. Every family – whatever their income – should be able to show respect to their loved ones.</p>
<p>Some countries include access to a free burial or cremation as part of local taxation. It might even be appropriate to consider decent treatment of the dead as a <a href="https://www.stimmel-law.com/en/articles/rights-and-obligations-human-remains-and-burial">citizen right</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Graves crowd together in a cemetery" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414378/original/file-20210803-25-472ap0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414378/original/file-20210803-25-472ap0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414378/original/file-20210803-25-472ap0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414378/original/file-20210803-25-472ap0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414378/original/file-20210803-25-472ap0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414378/original/file-20210803-25-472ap0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414378/original/file-20210803-25-472ap0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crowded cemeteries are often the result of historical injustices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/curiousexpeditions/1277019461">Curious Expeditions/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cultural sensitivity</h2>
<p>Third, any initiative delivering environmentally beneficial and affordable disposal of bodies must be sensitive to cultural differences in how people treat their dead. </p>
<p>Some funeral practices, which are defended on theological grounds, are <a href="https://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/PDFFiles/Funerals,-Cremations--Bereavement/Environmental-Impact-of-a-Funeral.pdf">unsustainable</a> or can cause significant environmental damage. But there may well be room to offer sensitive compromise. For example, where grave reuse is not acceptable, some form of <a href="https://theconversation.com/lack-of-burial-space-is-changing-age-old-funeral-practices-and-in-japan-tree-burials-are-gaining-in-popularity-161323">green burial</a> might be a more sustainable option compared to the creation of further acres of concrete or stone. </p>
<p>Global population growth is driving disastrous levels of climate change. All aspects of life – and death – must adjust to lower levels of consumption. The wealthy dead cannot take more than their fair share.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Rugg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Death is a part of life: but environmentally harmful burial practices, overcrowded cemeteries and unaffordable funerals are denying many the right to a good death.Julie Rugg, Senior Research Fellow, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1613232021-06-09T12:39:04Z2021-06-09T12:39:04ZLack of burial space is changing age-old funeral practices, and in Japan ‘tree burials’ are gaining in popularity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405135/original/file-20210608-121132-4wsiw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C44%2C4925%2C3173&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many of the tombs in Japan are elaborately decorated. Nearby visitors can buy flowers, buckets. brooms and other gardening tools to tidy up the graves.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/yanaka-cemetery-the-vast-cemetery-surrounding-tennoji-news-photo/595023564?adppopup=true">John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the global population continues to grow, space for putting the dead to rest is at a premium. In the U.S., some of the biggest cities <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bisnow/2017/11/03/urban-cemeteries-running-out-of-space-as-baby-boomers-enter-twilight-years/?sh=731b6cf9579c">are already short on burial land</a>, and so are many other nations around the world.</p>
<p>At the same time, many nations are transforming funerary rituals, changing the way cemeteries operate and even destroying historic cemeteries to reclaim land for the living. In Singapore, for example, the government has forcibly demolished family tombs in favor of columbariums, structures that can hold the urns of the cremated. Grave spaces in the city-state can be used only for a term of <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=28087">15 years</a>, after which the remains are cremated and the space is used for another burial.</p>
<p>In Hong Kong, gravesites are among the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/23/dead-pricey-hong-kong-burial-plots-now-more-expensive-than-living-space">most expensive real estate</a> per square foot and the government has enlisted pop stars and other celebrities to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/216158">promote cremation over physical burial</a>.</p>
<p>As a scholar who studies Buddhist funerary rituals and narratives <a href="https://faculty.txstate.edu/profile/1922200">about the afterlife</a>, what interests me are the innovative responses in some Buddhist majority nations and the tensions that result as environmental needs clash with religious beliefs. </p>
<h2>Practice of tree burial</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/20/archives/land-shortage-alters-old-japanese-burial-practices-wave-of-the.html">As early as the 1970s</a>, public officials in Japan were concerned about a lack of adequate burial space in urban areas. They offered a variety of novel solutions, from cemeteries in distant resort towns where families could organize a vacation around a visit for traditional graveside rituals, to chartered bus trips to rural areas to bury loved ones. Beginning in 1990, the Grave-Free Promotion Society, a volunteer social organization, publicly advocated for the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/30234479">scattering of human ashes</a>. </p>
<p>Since 1999, the Shōunji temple in northern Japan has attempted to offer a more innovative solution to this crisis through Jumokusō, or “tree burials.” In these burials, families place cremated remains in the ground and a tree is planted over the ashes to mark the gravesite. </p>
<p>The Shōunji parent temple opened a smaller temple site known as Chishōin in an area where there was already a small woodland. Here, in a small park, free from the large, stone markers of traditional Japanese grave sites, Buddhist priests <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/A+Companion+to+the+Anthropology+of+Death-p-9781119222293">perform annual rituals</a> for the deceased. Families are also still able to visit loved ones and perform their own religious rituals at the site – unlike the scattering of cremated remains promoted by the Grave-Free Promotion Society, which leaves the family without the specific ritual space required for traditional Confucian and Buddhist rituals. </p>
<p>While many families electing for tree burials do not explicitly identify as Buddhist or associate with <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320297098_An_Anthropological_Study_of_a_Japanese_Tree_Burial_Environment_Kinship_and_Death">a Buddhist temple</a>, the practice reflects Japanese Buddhism’s larger interest in environmental responsibility. Perhaps influenced by Shinto beliefs about gods living in the natural world, Japanese Buddhism has historically been unique among Buddhist traditions for its focus on the environmental world. </p>
<p>Whereas the earliest Indian Buddhist thought framed plants as nonsentient and, therefore, outside of the cycle of reincarnation, Japanese Buddhism frames flora as a living component of the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Japanese_Buddhism.html?id=elcqAAAAYAAJ">cycle of reincarnation</a> and, therefore, necessary to protect. </p>
<p>As a result, Japanese Buddhist institutions today often frame the challenge of humanity’s impact on the environment as a specifically <a href="https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v7i3.334">religious concern</a>. The head of the Shōunji temple has described tree burials as part of a uniquely Buddhist commitment to preserving <a href="https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v7i3.334">the natural environment</a>.</p>
<h2>Social transformations</h2>
<p>The idea of tree burials has proven so popular in Japan that other temples and public cemeteries have mimicked the model, some providing burial spaces under individual trees and others spaces in a columbarium that surrounds a single tree.</p>
<p>Scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.co.jp/citations?user=vJOBvpQAAAAJ&hl=en">Sébastian Penmellen Boret</a> writes in his 2016 book that these tree burials <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Japanese-Tree-Burial-Ecology-Kinship-and-the-Culture-of-Death/Boret/p/book/9781138200333">reflect larger transformations in Japanese society</a>. After World War II, Buddhism’s influence on Japanese society declined as hundreds of new religious movements flourished. Additionally, an increasing trend toward urbanization undermined the ties that had traditionally existed between families and the local temples, which housed and cared for their ancestral gravesites. </p>
<p>Tree burials also cost significantly less than <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/A+Companion+to+the+Anthropology+of+Death-p-9781119222293.">traditional funerary practices</a>, which is an important consideration for many Japanese people struggling to support multiple generations. <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/268083/countries-with-the-lowest-fertility-rates/">The birth rate in Japan is one of the lowest in the world</a>, so children often struggle without siblings to support ailing and deceased parents and grandparents. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405185/original/file-20210608-21-d8bj82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cemetery at the Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto, in Japan." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405185/original/file-20210608-21-d8bj82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405185/original/file-20210608-21-d8bj82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405185/original/file-20210608-21-d8bj82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405185/original/file-20210608-21-d8bj82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405185/original/file-20210608-21-d8bj82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405185/original/file-20210608-21-d8bj82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405185/original/file-20210608-21-d8bj82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Traditionally, ties existed between families and the local temples, which housed and cared for their ancestral gravesites.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/cemetery-at-the-kiyomizu-dera-buddhist-temple-in-eastern-news-photo/683399574?adppopup=true">Yuri Smityuk\TASS via Getty Image</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Concern over traditional ceremonies</h2>
<p>This move has not been without controversy. Religious and cultural communities across East Asia maintain that a physical space is necessary to visit the deceased for various afterlife rituals. <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/confucianism-a-very-short-introduction-9780195398915?cc=us&lang=en&">Confucian traditions</a> maintain that it is the responsibility of the child to care for their deceased parents, grandparents and other ancestors through ritual offerings of food and other items. </p>
<p>During the festival of Obon, typically held in the middle of August, Japanese Buddhists will visit family graves and make food and drink offerings for their ancestors, as they believe the deceased visit the human world during this period. These offerings for ancestors are repeated biannually at the spring and fall equinoxes, called “ohigan.” </p>
<p>Additionally, some Buddhist temples have expressed concern that tree burials are irrevocably undermining their social and economic ties to local communities. Since the institution of the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2385001">Danka system</a> in the 17th-century, Japanese Buddhist temples have traditionally held a monopoly on ancestral burial sites. They performed a variety of gravesite services for families to ensure their loved one has a good rebirth in return for annual donations.</p>
<h2>American funeral traditions</h2>
<p>Tree burials still remain a minority practice in Japan, but there is evidence they are quickly <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/22/national/for-baby-boomers-return-to-nature-emerges-as-alternative-burial-option/">growing in popularity</a>. Japanese tree burials, however, mirror trends happening in burial practices in the United States.</p>
<p>Whereas in the past, grave slots were thought of as being in perpetuity, now most cemeteries offer burial leases for a <a href="https://www.burialplanning.com/resources/how-long-do-you-own-a-cemetery-plot#:%7E:text=This%20is%20usually%20after%20several,the%20plot%20will%20be%20reused.">maximum period of 100 years</a>, with shorter leases both common and encouraged. As represented by the pioneering work of mortician <a href="http://caitlindoughty.com/">Caitlin Doughty</a> and others, <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393351903">consumers are turning an increasingly doubtful eye</a> to the accouterments of the traditional American funeral, including the public viewing of an embalmed body, a casket communicative of social status and a large stone marking one’s grave. </p>
<p>Part of this undoubtedly reflects sociological data indicating the <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx">decline of traditional religious institutions</a> and a rise at the same time in alternative spiritualities. However, above all, such efforts toward new forms of burial represent the fundamental versatility of religious rituals and spiritual practices as they transform to address emerging environmental and social factors. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natasha Mikles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In a Japanese tree burial, cremated remains are placed in the ground and a tree is planted over the ashes to mark the gravesite. Environmental responsibility is part of Buddhism.Natasha Mikles, Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Religious Studies, Texas State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1600762021-05-04T12:17:12Z2021-05-04T12:17:12ZIndians are forced to change rituals for their dead as COVID-19 rages through cities and villages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398447/original/file-20210503-21-1jco2wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3288%2C2169&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mass cremations in the city of Bengaluru, India, due to the large number of COVID-19 deaths.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/men-wearing-ppe-perform-the-last-rites-of-a-deceased-news-photo/1315456370?adppopup=true">Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the past several weeks, the world has looked on in horror <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/24/world/asia/india-coronavirus-deaths.html">as the coronavirus rages across India</a>. With <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/india-pandemic-record-coronavirus-oxygen/2021/04/24/3afea474-a4f3-11eb-b314-2e993bd83e31_story.html">hospitals running out of beds, oxygen and medicines</a>, the official daily death toll has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/05/01/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases">averaged around 3,000</a>. Many <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/04/30/992451165/india-is-counting-thousands-of-daily-covid-deaths-how-many-is-it-missing">claim that number</a> could be an undercount; crematoriums and cemeteries have run out of space.</p>
<p>The majority of India’s population are Hindu, who favor cremation as a way of disposing of the body. But <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/21/by-2050-india-to-have-worlds-largest-populations-of-hindus-and-muslims/">the Muslim population, which is close to 15%,</a> <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/muhammads-grave/9780231137423">favors burying its dead</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398449/original/file-20210503-21-1kuba0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A worker digging a cemetery in Guwahati, India." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398449/original/file-20210503-21-1kuba0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398449/original/file-20210503-21-1kuba0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398449/original/file-20210503-21-1kuba0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398449/original/file-20210503-21-1kuba0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398449/original/file-20210503-21-1kuba0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398449/original/file-20210503-21-1kuba0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398449/original/file-20210503-21-1kuba0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Workers digging as they prepare to bury the body of a person who died of COVID-19 in Guwahati, Assam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/workers-digging-as-they-are-prepare-to-bury-a-body-of-a-news-photo/1232595392?adppopup=true">David Talukdar/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Generally, tradition holds that the body is to be cremated or buried as quickly as possible – within <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Death-and-Religion-in-a-Changing-World/Garces-Foley/p/book/9780765612229">24 hours for Hindus, Jains and Muslims, and within three days for Sikhs</a>. This need for rapid disposal has also contributed to the current crisis.</p>
<p>Hundreds of families want their loved ones’ bodies cared for as quickly as possible, but there is a shortage of people who can do the funerals and last rites. This has led to a situation where people are <a href="https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/covid-narendra-modi-pits-smashan-against-kabristan-in-polarising-elections-speech-in-uttar-pradesh/cid/1813065">paying bribes</a> in order to get space or a furnace for cremation. There are also reports of <a href="https://qz.com/india/1824866/indian-doctors-fighting-coronavirus-now-face-social-stigma/">physical fights, and intimidation</a>. </p>
<p>As a scholar interested in the ways Asian societies tell stories about the afterlife and prepare the <a href="https://faculty.txstate.edu/profile/1922200">deceased for it</a>, I argue that the coronavirus crisis represents an unprecedented cultural cataclysm that has forced the Indian culture to challenge the way it handles its dead. </p>
<h2>Cremation grounds and colonial rule</h2>
<p>Many Americans think of cremation happening within an enclosed, mechanized structure, but most Indian crematoriums, known as “shmashana” in Hindi, are open-air spaces with dozens of brick-and-mortar platforms upon which a body can be burned on a pyre made of wood. </p>
<p>Hindus and Sikhs will dispose of the remaining ashes <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/hinduism-today-9781441138200/">in a river</a>. Many shmashana are therefore built near the banks of a river to allow for easy access, but many well-off families often travel to a sacred city along the banks of the river Ganges, such as Hardiwar or Benares, for the final rituals. Jains – who have traditionally given significant consideration to humanity’s impact <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P86357M/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">on the environmental world</a> – bury the ashes as a means to return the body to the Earth and ensure they do not contribute to polluting rivers.</p>
<p>The workers who run shmashana often belong to the Dom ethnicity and have been doing this work for generations; they are lower caste and subsequently perceived as polluted for their intimate <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nomads-India-Proceedings-National-Seminar/dp/B0042LSNH0">work with dead bodies</a>.</p>
<p>The act of cremation has not always been without controversy. In the 19th century, British colonial officials viewed the Indian practice of cremation as barbaric and unhygienic. But they <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520379343/burning-the-dead">were unable to ban it</a> given its pervasiveness. </p>
<p>However, Indians living in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/sep/05/law.religion">United Kingdom</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3557415">South Africa</a> and <a href="https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1178&context=jhcs">Trinidad</a> often had to fight for the right to cremate the dead in accordance with religious rituals because of the mistaken and often racist belief that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/sep/05/law.religion">cremation was primitive, alien and evironmentally polluting</a>. </p>
<h2>Rituals and a long history</h2>
<p>The earliest writings on Indian funerary rituals can be found in the Rig Veda – a Hindu religious scripture orally composed thousands of years ago, potentially as <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rigveda-9780199370184?cc=us&lang=en&">early as 2000 B.C.</a> In the Rig Veda, a hymn, traditionally recited by a priest or an adult male, urges Agni, the Vedic god of fire, to “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Textual_Sources_for_the_Study_of_Hinduis.html?id=YxoaUKmMG9gC">carry this man to the world of those who have done good deeds</a>.” </p>
<p>From the perspective of Hindu, Jain, and Sikh rituals, the act of cremation is <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Many_Colors_of_Hinduism.html?id=RVWKClYq4TUC">seen as a sacrifice</a>, a final breaking of the ties between the body and the spirit so it may be free to reincarnate. The body is traditionally bathed, anointed, and carefully wrapped in white cloth at home, then carried ceremonially, in a procession, by the local community to the cremation grounds. </p>
<p>While Hindus and Sikhs often decorate the body with flowers, Jains avoid natural flowers for concern of inadvertently destroying the lives of insects that may be hidden within its petals. In all of these faiths, a priest or male member of the family recites prayers. It is traditionally the eldest son of the deceased who lights the funerary pyre; women do not go to the <a href="https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/why-women-are-not-allowed-at-shamshan-ghat-55126.html">cremation ground</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398450/original/file-20210503-17-1g3f6c0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Relatives gather around the body of a man who died of COVID-19 in India, to perform religious rituals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398450/original/file-20210503-17-1g3f6c0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398450/original/file-20210503-17-1g3f6c0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398450/original/file-20210503-17-1g3f6c0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398450/original/file-20210503-17-1g3f6c0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398450/original/file-20210503-17-1g3f6c0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398450/original/file-20210503-17-1g3f6c0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398450/original/file-20210503-17-1g3f6c0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Family members perform rituals at a crematorium for a person who died of the coronavirus in India.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/family-members-and-relatives-perform-rituals-before-the-news-photo/1232622320?adppopup=true">Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>After the ceremony, mourners return home to bathe themselves and remove what they regard as the inauspicious energy that surrounds the cremation grounds. Communities host a variety of postmortem rituals, including scriptural recitations and symbolic meals, and in some Hindu communities the sons or male members of household will shave their head as a sign of their bereavement. During this mourning period, lasting from 10 to 13 days, the family performs scriptural recitations and prayers in honor of their deceased loved one. </p>
<h2>The changing times of COVID-19</h2>
<p>The wave of death from the COVID-19 pandemic has forced transformations to these long-established religious rituals. <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/india-delhi-pyres-public-parks-b1838649.html">Makeshift crematoriums are being constructed</a> in the parking lots of hospitals and in city parks.</p>
<p>Young women may be the only ones available to light the funerary pyre, which was previously not permissible. Families in quarantine are forced to use WhatsApp and other video software to visually identify the body and recite digital <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/30/opinion/india-covid-crematorium.html">funerary rites</a>. </p>
<p>Media reports have pointed out how in some cases, crematorium workers <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3dggy/we-spoke-to-a-cremator-at-the-center-of-indias-covid-hell">have been asked to read prayers</a> traditionally reserved for Brahmin priests or people from a higher caste. Muslim burial grounds have begun to run out of space and are tearing up parking lots to bury more bodies. </p>
<h2>The work of the dead</h2>
<p>While other important rituals such as marriage and baptism may take on a new appearance in response to cultural changes, social media conversations or economic opportunities, funerary rituals <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195183559.001.0001/acprof-9780195183559">change slowly</a>. </p>
<p>Historian <a href="https://history.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/emeritus/thomas-w-laqueur">Thomas Laqueur</a> has written on what he calls “<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691157788/the-work-of-the-dead">the work of the dead</a>” – the ways in which the bodies of the deceased participate in the social worlds and political realities of the living. </p>
<p>In India’s coronavirus pandemic, the dead are announcing the health crisis that the country believed it had conquered. As recently as April 18, 2021, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-modi-scorned-over-reckless-rallies-religious-gathering-amid-virus-mayhem-2021-04-19/">holding crowded political rallies</a>, and his government allowed the massive Hindu pilgrimage festival of <a href="https://theconversation.com/india-prepares-for-kumbh-mela-worlds-largest-religious-gathering-amid-covid-19-fears-158364">Kumbh Mela</a> to proceed a year early in response to the <a href="https://science.thewire.in/health/leaders-listened-to-astrologers-so-haridwar-mela-happened-after-11-years-not-12/">auspicious forecasts of astrologers</a>. Authorities began to act only when the deaths became impossible to ignore. But even then, the Indian government appeared more concerned about <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/27/991343032/indias-government-is-telling-facebook-twitter-to-remove-critical-posts">removing social media posts that were critical of its functioning</a>.</p>
<p>India is one of the world’s <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/03/18/978065736/indias-role-in-covid-19-vaccine-production-is-getting-even-bigger">largest vaccine-producing nations</a>, and yet it was unable to make or even purchase the needed vaccines to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/25/world/asia/india-covid-vaccine-astrazeneca.html">protect its population</a>. </p>
<p>The dead have important stories to tell about neglect, mismanagement or even our global interdependence – if we care to listen.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natasha Mikles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As cremation grounds struggle to keep up with the long line of people dying from COVID-19, age-old customs are being pushed aside.Natasha Mikles, Lecturer in Philosophy, Texas State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1430702020-09-15T11:49:57Z2020-09-15T11:49:57ZWhen someone dies, what happens to the body?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357962/original/file-20200914-24-jc0twd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=383%2C225%2C4551%2C3250&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When a life ends, those who remain deal with the body.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/funeral-home-director-chris-fontana-and-apprentice-news-photo/1212133109">Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Upwards of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm">2.8 million people die</a> every year in the United States. As a funeral director who heads a university mortuary science program, I can tell you that while each individual’s life experiences are unique, what happens to a body after death follows a broadly predictable chain of events.</p>
<p>In general, it depends on three things: where you die, how you die and what you or your family decide on for funeral arrangements and final disposition.</p>
<h2>In death’s immediate aftermath</h2>
<p>Death can happen anywhere: at home; in a hospital, nursing or palliative care facility; or at the scene of an accident, homicide or suicide.</p>
<p>A medical examiner or coroner must investigate whenever a person dies unexpectedly while not under a doctor’s care. Based on the circumstances of the death, they determine whether an autopsy is needed. If so, the body travels to a county morgue or a funeral home, where a pathologist conducts a detailed internal and external examination of the body as well as toxicology tests.</p>
<p>Once the body can be released, some states allow for families to handle the body themselves, but most people employ a funeral director. The body is placed on a stretcher, covered and transferred from the place of death – sometimes via hearse, but more commonly these days a minivan carries it to the funeral home. </p>
<p>State law determines who has the authority to make funeral arrangements and decisions about the remains. In some states, you can choose during your lifetime how you’d like your body treated when you die. In most cases, however, decisions fall on surviving family or someone you appointed before your death.</p>
<h2>Preparing the body for viewing</h2>
<p>In a 2020 consumer survey conducted by the National Funeral Directors Association, 39.4% of respondents reported feeling it’s very important to have the <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/newsroom/press-kits/2018/jsm/jsm-presentation-pop-projections.pdf">body or cremated remains present</a> at a funeral or memorial service.</p>
<p>To prepare for that, the funeral home will usually ask whether the body is to be embalmed. This process sanitizes the body, temporarily preserves it for viewing and services, and restores a natural, peaceful appearance. Embalming is typically required for a public viewing and in certain other circumstances, including if the person died of a communicable disease or if the cremation or burial is to be delayed for more than a few days.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357964/original/file-20200914-18-5u75p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two funeral home staff stand behind a mortuary table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357964/original/file-20200914-18-5u75p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357964/original/file-20200914-18-5u75p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357964/original/file-20200914-18-5u75p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357964/original/file-20200914-18-5u75p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357964/original/file-20200914-18-5u75p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357964/original/file-20200914-18-5u75p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357964/original/file-20200914-18-5u75p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A funeral home director and an intern stand by a mortuary table.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/funeral-director-alexandra-burke-and-intern-vincent-news-photo/1248738963">John Moore/Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>When the funeral director begins the embalming process, he places the body on a special porcelain or stainless steel table that looks much like what you’d find in an operating room. He washes the body with soap and water and positions it with the hands crossed over the abdomen, as you’d see them appear in a casket. He closes the eyes and mouth.</p>
<p>Next the funeral director makes a small incision near the clavicle, to access the jugular vein and carotid artery. He inserts forceps into the jugular vein to allow blood to drain out, while at the same time injecting embalming solution into the carotid artery via a small tube connected to the embalming machine. For every 50 to 75 pounds of body weight, it takes about a gallon of embalming solution, largely made up of formaldehyde. The funeral director then removes excess fluids and gases from the abdominal and thoracic cavities using an instrument called a trocar. It works much like the suction tube you’ve experienced at the dentist.</p>
<p>Next the funeral director sutures any incisions. He grooms the hair and nails and again washes the body and dries it with towels. If the body is emaciated or dehydrated, he can inject a solution via hypodermic needle to plump facial features. If trauma or disease has altered the appearance of the deceased, the embalmer can use wax, adhesive and plaster to recreate natural form. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357966/original/file-20200914-20-ys77cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A funeral home worker handles cosmetics used to makeup the deceased." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357966/original/file-20200914-20-ys77cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357966/original/file-20200914-20-ys77cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357966/original/file-20200914-20-ys77cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357966/original/file-20200914-20-ys77cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357966/original/file-20200914-20-ys77cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357966/original/file-20200914-20-ys77cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357966/original/file-20200914-20-ys77cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A funeral director prepares to apply makeup to a man who died of COVID-19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jeffrey-rhodes-funeral-home-director-applies-makeup-for-man-news-photo/1228017197">Octavio Jones/ Getty Images North America via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Lastly, the funeral director dresses the deceased and applies cosmetics. If the clothing provided does not fit, he can cut it and tuck it in somewhere that doesn’t show. Some funeral homes use an airbrush to apply cosmetics; others use specialized mortuary cosmetics or just regular makeup you might find at a store.</p>
<h2>Toward a final resting place</h2>
<p>If the deceased is to be cremated without a public viewing, many funeral homes require a member of the family to identify him or her. Once the death certificate and any other necessary authorizations are complete, the funeral home transports the deceased in a chosen container to a crematory. This could be onsite or at a third-party provider.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357967/original/file-20200914-14-b2zisf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man reaches into cremator with a long-handled tool." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357967/original/file-20200914-14-b2zisf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357967/original/file-20200914-14-b2zisf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357967/original/file-20200914-14-b2zisf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357967/original/file-20200914-14-b2zisf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357967/original/file-20200914-14-b2zisf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357967/original/file-20200914-14-b2zisf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357967/original/file-20200914-14-b2zisf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More people in the U.S. are now cremated than embalmed and buried.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/maryland-cremation-services-cremation-operator-edward-pugh-news-photo/1225638524">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Cremations are performed individually. Still in the container, the deceased is placed in the cremator, which produces very high heat that reduces the remains to bone fragments. The operator removes any metal objects, like implants, fillings and parts of the casket or cremation container, and then pulverizes the bone fragments. He then places the processed remains in the selected container or urn. Some families choose to keep the cremated remains, while others bury them, place them in a niche or scatter them.</p>
<p>The year 2015 was the first year that the <a href="https://nfda.org/news/in-the-news/nfda-news/id/5223/2020-cremation-burial-projects-cremation-rate-of-87-by-2040">cremation rate exceeded the casketed burial rate</a> in the U.S., and the industry expects that trend to continue.</p>
<p>When earth burial is chosen, the casket is usually placed in a concrete outer burial container before being lowered into the grave. Caskets can also be entombed in above-ground crypts inside buildings called mausoleums. Usually a grave or crypt has a headstone of some kind that bears the name and other details about the decedent.</p>
<p>Some cemeteries have spaces dedicated to environmentally conscious “green” burials in which an unembalmed body can be buried in a biodegradable container. Other forms of final disposition are less common. As an alternative to cremation, the chemical process of alkaline hydrolysis can reduce remains to bone fragments. Composting involves placing the deceased in a vessel with organic materials like wood chips and straw to allow microbes to naturally break down the body.</p>
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<p>I’ve seen many changes over the course of my funeral service career, spanning more than 20 years so far. For decades, funeral directors were predominantly male, but now mortuary school enrollment nationwide is roughly 65% female. Cremation has become more popular. More people pre-plan their own funerals. Many Americans do not have a religious affiliation and therefore opt for a less formal service.</p>
<p>Saying goodbye is important for those who remain, and I have witnessed too many families foregoing a ceremony and later regretting it. A dignified and meaningful farewell and the occasion to share memories and comfort each other <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26555297">honors the life of the deceased and facilitates healing</a> for family and friends.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143070/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Evely is affiliated with Volunteer with National Funeral Directors Association, Michigan Funeral Directors Association, American Board of Funeral Service Education and International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards.</span></em></p>A funeral director explains how the bodies of the deceased are prepared for burial or cremation in the United States.Mark Evely, Program Director and Assistant Professor of Mortuary Science, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1336052020-04-17T12:11:15Z2020-04-17T12:11:15Z1918 flu pandemic killed 12 million Indians, and British overlords’ indifference strengthened the anti-colonial movement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327346/original/file-20200412-8893-1ihy43t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C56%2C4200%2C4011&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cremation on the banks of the Ganges river, India.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/crémation-sur-les-bords-du-gange-à-benarès-inde-circa-1920-news-photo/833384176?adppopup=true">Keystone-France via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In India, during the 1918 influenza pandemic, a staggering <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-012-0116-x">12 to 13 million people died</a>, the vast majority between the months of September and December. According to an eyewitness, “There was none to remove the dead bodies and the jackals made a feast.” </p>
<p>At the time of the pandemic, India had been under British colonial rule for over 150 years. The fortunes of the British colonizers had always been vastly different from those of the Indian people, and nowhere was the split more stark than during the influenza pandemic, as I discovered while researching <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zQnyI1cAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">my Ph.D. on the subject</a>. </p>
<p>The resulting devastation would eventually lead to huge changes in India – and the British Empire. </p>
<h2>From Kansas to Mumbai</h2>
<p>Although it is commonly called the Spanish flu, the 1918 pandemic likely <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-american-history/americas-forgotten-pandemic-influenza-1918-2nd-edition?format=PB">began in Kansas</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwy191">killed between 50 and 100 million people</a> worldwide. </p>
<p>During the early months of 1918, the virus incubated throughout the American Midwest, eventually making its way east, where it <a href="https://www.army.mil/article/210420/worldwide_flu_outbreak_killed_45000_american_soldiers_during_world_war_i">traveled across the Atlantic Ocean</a> with soldiers deploying for WWI. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327347/original/file-20200412-138728-1tayb5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327347/original/file-20200412-138728-1tayb5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327347/original/file-20200412-138728-1tayb5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327347/original/file-20200412-138728-1tayb5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327347/original/file-20200412-138728-1tayb5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327347/original/file-20200412-138728-1tayb5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327347/original/file-20200412-138728-1tayb5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327347/original/file-20200412-138728-1tayb5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indian soldiers in the trenches during World War I.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/indian-soldiers-in-the-trenches-world-war-i-1914-1918-news-photo/463957843">Print Collector / Contributor via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Introduced into the trenches on Europe’s Western Front, the virus tore through the already weakened troops. As the war approached its conclusion, the virus followed both commercial shipping routes and military transports to infect almost every corner of the globe. It <a href="https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/product/Influenza-Pandemic-of-1918-1919/p/0312677081">arrived in Mumbai in late May</a>.</p>
<h2>Unequal spread</h2>
<p>When the first wave of the pandemic arrived, it was not particularly deadly. The only notice British officials took of it was its effect on some workers. A report noted, “As the season for cutting grass began … people were so weak as to be unable to do a full day’s work.” </p>
<p>By September, the story began to change. Mumbai was still the center of infection, likely due to its position as a commercial and civic hub. On Sept. 19, an English-language newspaper reported 293 influenza deaths had occurred there, but assured its readers “The worst is now reached.” </p>
<p>Instead, the virus tore through the subcontinent, following trade and postal routes. Catastrophe and death overwhelmed cities and rural villages alike. Indian newspapers reported that crematoria were receiving between 150 to 200 bodies per day. According to one observer, “The burning ghats and burial grounds were literally swamped with corpses; whilst an even greater number awaited removal.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327348/original/file-20200412-1397-po6zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327348/original/file-20200412-1397-po6zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327348/original/file-20200412-1397-po6zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327348/original/file-20200412-1397-po6zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327348/original/file-20200412-1397-po6zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327348/original/file-20200412-1397-po6zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327348/original/file-20200412-1397-po6zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327348/original/file-20200412-1397-po6zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Members of the British Raj out for a stroll, circa 1918.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-british-raj-walking-together-in-an-indian-news-photo/3398825?adppopup=true">Fox Photos/Stringer via Getty images</a></span>
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<p>But influenza did not strike everyone equally. Most British people in India lived in spacious houses with gardens and yards, compared to the lower classes of city-dwelling Indians, who lived in densely populated areas. Many British also employed household staff to care for them – in times of health and sickness – so they were only lightly touched by the pandemic and were largely unconcerned by the chaos sweeping through the country. </p>
<p>In his official correspondence in early December, the Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces did not even mention influenza, instead noting “Everything is very dry; but I managed to get two hundred couple of snipe so far this season.”</p>
<p>While the pandemic was of little consequence to many British residents of India, the perception was wildly different among the Indian people, <a href="https://www.saada.org/item/20130823-3118">who spoke of universal devastation</a>. A letter published in a periodical lamented, “India perhaps never saw such hard times before. There is wailing on all sides. … There is neither village nor town throughout the length and breadth of the country which has not paid a heavy toll.” </p>
<p>Elsewhere, the Sanitary Commissioner of the Punjab noted, “the streets and lanes of cities were littered with dead and dying people … nearly every household was lamenting a death, and everywhere terror and confusion reigned.” </p>
<h2>The fallout</h2>
<p>In the end, areas in the north and west of India saw death rates between 4.5% and 6% of their total populations, while the south and east – where the virus arrived slightly later, as it was waning – generally lost between 1.5% and 3%. </p>
<p>Geography wasn’t the only dividing factor, however. In Mumbai, almost seven-and-a-half times as many lower-caste Indians died as compared to their British counterparts - <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/001946468602300102">61.6 per thousand</a> versus 8.3 per thousand. </p>
<p>Among Indians in Mumbai, socioeconomic disparities in addition to race accounted for these differing mortality rates.</p>
<p><iframe id="9Mq9o" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/9Mq9o/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The Health Officer for Calcutta remarked on the stark difference in death rates between British and lower-class Indians: “The excessive mortality in Kidderpore appears to be due mainly to the large coolie population, ignorant and poverty-stricken, living under most insanitary conditions in damp, dark, dirty huts. They are a difficult class to deal with.” </p>
<h2>Change ahead</h2>
<p>Death tolls across India generally hit their peak in October, with a slow tapering into November and December. A high ranking British official wrote in December, “A good winter rain will put everything right and … things will gradually rectify themselves.” </p>
<p>Normalcy, however, did not quite return to India. The spring of 1919 would see the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Jallianwala-Bagh-Massacre">British atrocities at Amritsar</a> and shortly thereafter the launch of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/noncooperation-movement">Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement</a>. Influenza became one more example of British injustice that spurred Indian people on in their fight for independence. A <a href="https://www.saada.org/item/20130128-1271">nationalist periodical stated</a>, “In no other civilized country could a government have left things so much undone as did the Government of India did during the prevalence of such a terrible and catastrophic epidemic.”</p>
<p>The long, slow death of the British Empire had begun.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct that the final quote is not from a periodical published by Mahatma Gandhi, but rather a separate nationalist publication of the same name based in New York.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133605/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maura Chhun does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When the 1918 influenza pandemic struck India, the death toll was highest among the poor.Maura Chhun, Community Faculty, Metropolitan State University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1348422020-03-30T15:02:33Z2020-03-30T15:02:33ZCoronavirus is changing funerals and how we deal with the dead<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323640/original/file-20200327-146689-b5zwtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C5613%2C3739&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/people-mourning-concept-woman-white-lily-664197991">Syda Productions/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-how-the-current-number-of-people-dying-in-the-uk-compares-to-the-past-decade-134420">death rate climbs from COVID-19</a>, what happens to the bodies of those who’ve died will become an increasingly pressing issue. People who have lost loved ones will have to contend with the additional trauma of not being able to give them a proper “send off”, as funerals change dramatically in the short-term. </p>
<p>The law’s treatment of human remains has always been premised on two things: respect for the dead, and <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/22">public health concerns</a> around bodily decay and risk of disease. And while all possible steps will be taken to uphold respect for the dead, in pandemics the emphasis inevitably shifts to public health.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/contents/enacted/data.htm">The Coronavirus Act 2020</a> is the emergency legislation passed by the UK parliament to deal with an outbreak that could affect up to 80% of the UK population. The act introduces a range of sweeping powers that allow public bodies to respond to the pandemic. These and other government measures will have a significant impact on what happens to the dead and how funerals are conducted in the coming weeks and months – as I outline below:</p>
<h2>1. Family-only funerals</h2>
<p>As part of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52014472%207%20https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52019102">the lockdown</a> introduced on March 23, funerals can still go ahead to prevent a backlog building up – but with attendance limited to immediate family. </p>
<p>This will make <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-experts-in-evolution-explain-why-social-distancing-feels-so-unnatural-134271">social distancing</a> easier, protecting not only the small numbers of mourners, but also funeral directors and other cemetery staff who will play a vital role as mortality rates increase. </p>
<p>Of course, the emotional impact of altered funeral formats on the living will be horrendous. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52019102">Closed coffins</a> prevent families from seeing a loved one who may have died alone in hospital, or kissing them goodbye. And limiting attendance at funerals will upset relatives and friends of the deceased who cannot physically attend. </p>
<p>Live-streaming funerals may help – as some families are doing – but many people will feel that it’s not the same – with the wider social support that funerals provide, which is such an important part of the grieving process, lost as well. </p>
<h2>2. Death registrations</h2>
<p>Deaths are usually registered by a family member who attends the registrar’s office in person. But to allow greater flexibility as pressures on the system increase – and to curb the rate of virus transmission – the Coronavirus Act also allows funeral directors to register deaths, and for documentation to be submitted electronically. </p>
<p>When doctors certify the cause of death for COVID-19 victims, the rule that a second doctor must also check this and provide a confirmatory certificate has also been relaxed to speed things up. The rule was introduced after Manchester GP, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-death-certification-process/an-overview-of-the-death-certification-reforms">Harold Shipman</a>, was convicted in 2000 of murdering 15 of his patients and cremating their bodies (though the suspected number is over 200).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323664/original/file-20200327-146666-1pz9f6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323664/original/file-20200327-146666-1pz9f6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323664/original/file-20200327-146666-1pz9f6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323664/original/file-20200327-146666-1pz9f6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323664/original/file-20200327-146666-1pz9f6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323664/original/file-20200327-146666-1pz9f6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323664/original/file-20200327-146666-1pz9f6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Family only funerals will make grieving hard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/people-mourning-concept-woman-white-lily-664197991">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Scrapping inquests</h2>
<p>Deaths by certain diseases trigger jury inquests as a matter of law. Jury members hear evidence and can return conclusions where there are questions over how the deceased died. But the act removes the legal requirement for jury inquests into confirmed or suspected COVID-19 deaths, since jury inquests take a long time to carry out. Delaying these inquests until after the pandemic would also be traumatic for families of COVID-19 victims. </p>
<h2>4. Transporting, storing and dealing with bodies</h2>
<p>Local authorities have been given extensive powers under the new act to ensure that bodies are treated with care and respect and that the system does not become overwhelmed. Examples of this have been seen elsewhere: in Bergamo, Italy, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-italian-army-called-in-to-carry-away-corpses-as-citys-crematorium-is-overwhelmed-11959994">bodies had to be dispatched</a> to other crematoria in the province when the city’s own crematorium was struggling to cope. </p>
<p>In the UK, local authorities can now request that organisations help them transport and store bodies. Additional facilities can also be set up to handle the volume of deaths -– though it is hoped this won’t involve <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-spain-madrid-ice-rink-morgue-death-toll-china-covid-19-a9424541.html">converting an ice rink into a temporary morgue</a>, as authorities in Madrid were forced to do when death rates soared. Increased space for graves will also be set aside and crematoria may have to increase their operating hours to cope with the influx of bodies. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324079/original/file-20200330-146712-sngvyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324079/original/file-20200330-146712-sngvyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324079/original/file-20200330-146712-sngvyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324079/original/file-20200330-146712-sngvyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324079/original/file-20200330-146712-sngvyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324079/original/file-20200330-146712-sngvyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324079/original/file-20200330-146712-sngvyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All over the world, coronavirus has changed the way we are carrying out funerals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wooden-coffins-store-297270401">Alzbeta/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Every society <a href="https://www.azquotes.com/quote/934227">prides itself on how it treats its dead</a>, and it is hoped that the more radical measures contemplated in the Coronavirus Act never have to be implemented. Yet, in a time of such fear and uncertainty, when governments worldwide are adopting emergency powers to protect their citizens, there are no guarantees. How we deal with our dead will change – and funerals, as we know them, will regrettably but necessarily, be another of our social rituals that must radically alter in the short term.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134842/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather Conway is a Council Member and trustee of the Cremation Society of GB. </span></em></p>Funerals, as we know them, will regrettably but necessarily be another of our social rituals that must radically alter in the short-term.Heather Conway, Professor of Property Law and Death Studies, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1277942020-01-02T21:56:20Z2020-01-02T21:56:20ZAshes to ashes, dust to … compost? An eco-friendly burial in just 4 weeks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306945/original/file-20191215-85412-109k0lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1006%2C2700%2C1657&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artist's impression of the proposed ceremonial space of the Recompose facility in Seattle.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://olsonkundig.com/">Images courtesy of Olson Kundig</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Australia, interment in a cemetery or a churchyard has been the most common choices for in-ground burial. Over the past 20 years, though, burial has become a less accessible and more costly option for many people. This is because increasing numbers of deaths have created a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/grave-sellers-take-advantage-of-high-sydney-cemetery-prices-20150709-gi8ih9.html">boom in demand for burial plots</a> and cemeteries are fast <a href="https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/143402/CCNSW-Metropolitan-Sydney-Cemetery-Capacity-Report.pdf">running out of space</a>.</p>
<p>Since the 1950s, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-04-27/green-death-funeral-environment/10994330">cremation has gained in popularity</a>. But, although a <a href="https://www.gatheredhere.com.au/burial-cremation-everything-need-know/">majority of Australians who died last year were cremated</a>, it is far from sustainable. Each cremation releases about <a href="https://www.foreground.com.au/environment/urban-burial-cemetery-landscapes/">50 kilograms of CO₂</a> as well as <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eco-afterlife-green-buria/">toxins</a> into the atmosphere. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-the-dead-what-happens-when-a-city-runs-out-of-space-70121">Housing the dead: what happens when a city runs out of space?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Australian way of death clearly needs to change, but arriving at solutions is a far more complicated matter.</p>
<p>Some people believe composting burial might provide one answer. Also known as “<a href="https://www.recompose.life/faq">natural organic reduction</a>”, composting burial is the brainchild of Katrina Spade, CEO of alternative burial company <a href="https://www.recompose.life/">Recompose</a>. The process involves decomposition of the corpse in soil — but not within a traditional cemetery. </p>
<h2>How does it work?</h2>
<p>The first step in the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/washington-first-state-allow-burial-method-human-composting-180972020/">process</a> of composting burial is to place the body into a vessel containing a mix of soil, wood chips, straw and alfalfa. As decomposition begins, microbial activity creates heat. This speeds things up and eliminates germs from the mix. </p>
<p>Over time the body is transformed into soil – <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/02/everything-youre-afraid-to-ask-about-human-composting">around 760 litres of it</a>. A portion of this soil will be returned to relatives for scattering, to make a memorial garden, or to use in public greening projects. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-beneath-the-trees-a-plan-to-solve-our-shortage-of-cemetery-space-124259">Buried beneath the trees: a plan to solve our shortage of cemetery space</a>
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<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306946/original/file-20191215-85417-di777i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306946/original/file-20191215-85417-di777i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306946/original/file-20191215-85417-di777i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306946/original/file-20191215-85417-di777i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306946/original/file-20191215-85417-di777i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306946/original/file-20191215-85417-di777i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306946/original/file-20191215-85417-di777i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artist’s impression of the proposed decomposition vessel in Seattle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Images courtesy of Olson Kundig</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="https://www.recompose.life/pilot">pilot interment program</a> conducted by Washington State University showed the process takes about four weeks. This is a big difference to traditional burial. It can take up to hundreds of years before a grave can be reused. </p>
<p>The state of Washington recently <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/04/26/washington-passes-bill-become-first-state-compost-human-bodies/">legalised composting burial</a>. The next step is implementation and Recompose has paired with architecture firm Olson Kundig to design the <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2019/11/20/recompose-seattle-human-composting-olson-kundig/">world’s first facility</a> for composting burial in Seattle. It has 75 vessels. If these are reused every four weeks, the facility could process about 900 burials per year. </p>
<h2>How does the cost compare?</h2>
<p>These recent developments pave the way for its possible introduction in Australia. However, many questions remain to be answered. Is it really a more affordable or sustainable option than traditional modes of bodily disposal?</p>
<p>In 2019, Australian Seniors’ <a href="https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/fe157580-e3ba-00c4-7df9-7b5d8eaae1c1/9f2cd012-2946-4653-bf32-78eb4801c175/whitepaper-australian-seniors-cost-of-death-report.pdf">Cost of Death Report</a> found the average cost of a basic burial is $8,048. A basic cremation costs $3,108 on average. </p>
<p>However, the cost of an individual burial depends on where you live. Exclusive beachside locales command the <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/realestate/news/sydney-burial-plots-more-expensive-per-square-metre-than-luxury-homes-worth-millions/story-fni0cly6-1227209414874">highest prices</a> for burial real estate. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306948/original/file-20191215-85422-ay26ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306948/original/file-20191215-85422-ay26ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306948/original/file-20191215-85422-ay26ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306948/original/file-20191215-85422-ay26ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306948/original/file-20191215-85422-ay26ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306948/original/file-20191215-85422-ay26ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306948/original/file-20191215-85422-ay26ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306948/original/file-20191215-85422-ay26ol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At Waverley Cemetery in Sydney a burial can cost upwards of $25,000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Waverley_Cemetery#/media/File:Waverley_Cemetery,_Bronte,_New_South_Wales_31.jpg">Kgbo/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/losing-the-plot-death-is-permanent-but-your-grave-isnt-33459">Losing the plot: death is permanent, but your grave isn't</a>
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</em>
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<p>And, if you’re an Australian pensioner with no savings who has lived your whole life in the inner city, you’re going to <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/money-markets/the-most-expensive-land-in-australia-might-be-graves-heres-the-problem-20180627-h11wzp-441795/">struggle to afford a burial plot</a> in your neighbourhood. </p>
<p>When the Recompose facility opens in 2021 in Seattle, composting burial will be <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/04/26/washington-passes-bill-become-first-state-compost-human-bodies/">on offer for about USD$5,500</a> (A$8,000) — about the same as a basic traditional burial in Australia. The costs might come down if the practice becomes widespread.</p>
<p>However, the technology is likely to be covered by patent. This means licensing agreements would limit its adoption. So, in the short term at least, composting burial is likely to be marketed towards those on average to high incomes. </p>
<h2>Honouring the dead</h2>
<p>Perhaps the main benefit of composting burial is the flexibility of having remains that are not attached to a traditional grave site. If you want to be buried in a particular place that holds personal meaning for you, but don’t mind being decomposed in a building, composting burial may allow this to happen. </p>
<p>Of course, local bylaws that govern the disposal of human remains in public places will continue to play an important role. </p>
<p>Related to this is an underexplored potential for composting burial businesses to partner with government, private industry, nonprofit organisations and local councils to create memorial parks where “human soils” might be interred. A drawback to this could be squeamishness in the community about playing frisbee on top of grandpa.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306949/original/file-20191215-85381-5rje8o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306949/original/file-20191215-85381-5rje8o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306949/original/file-20191215-85381-5rje8o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306949/original/file-20191215-85381-5rje8o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306949/original/file-20191215-85381-5rje8o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306949/original/file-20191215-85381-5rje8o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306949/original/file-20191215-85381-5rje8o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306949/original/file-20191215-85381-5rje8o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artist’s impression of the interior of the proposed Recompose facility in Seattle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Images courtesy of Olson Kundig</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A greener alternative</h2>
<p>Another potential benefit of composting burial is its sustainability. Founder Katrina Spade claims <a href="https://www.recompose.life/faq">a metric ton of CO₂ will be saved</a> every time someone chooses composting burial over traditional burial or cremation. </p>
<p>When seen in this light, composting burial makes more environmental sense than cremation. But, just like buying organic fruit, sustainability comes at a premium. </p>
<p>Beneath the practical considerations of space, cost and sustainability are the less visible questions about change and community resistance to burial practices that are new and confronting. It will take a lot to abandon traditional mourning practices that celebrate ideas of permanence, attachment to the grave and the notion of the loved one resting in an earthbound coffin. </p>
<p>There is hope, though, that composting burial will gain in appeal as a way of maintaining these important connections to traditional burial. By respecting each person’s desire to be returned after death to a place of their choosing, composting burial offers an intriguing and sensitive alternative.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127794/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Sheppard-Simms receives funding from the University of Tasmania under a Tasmanian Graduate Research Scholarship.</span></em></p>Composting burial could revolutionise bodily disposal in Australia. The need for a sustainable and affordable alternative to traditional burial practices is becoming increasingly urgent.Emma Sheppard-Simms, PhD Candidate, School of Technology, Environments and Design, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1241802019-10-21T02:00:33Z2019-10-21T02:00:33ZMigrant communities keep our cemeteries alive as more Anglo-Australians turn to cremation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295751/original/file-20191007-121097-1s82sea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C34%2C4594%2C3028&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Would you prefer to be buried or cremated? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian society has changed significantly since cemeteries in Victoria were planned and designed 150 years ago. But there haven’t been any major redevelopment or review of the community’s changing requirements for what happens to our bodies when we die. </p>
<p>The Australian population is ageing, with around 15% of Australians aged 65 and over <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/older-people/older-australia-at-a-glance/contents/demographics-of-older-australians">in 2017</a>. About a third of older people in Australia were born overseas, with most coming from a non-English speaking background. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-beneath-the-trees-a-plan-to-solve-our-shortage-of-cemetery-space-124259">Buried beneath the trees: a plan to solve our shortage of cemetery space</a>
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<p>This has implications for our rituals for death and memorialisation, as well as for existing and future cemeteries. </p>
<p>In a new collaborative <a href="https://monash.figshare.com/articles/Approaches_to_Death_Funeral_Rites_and_Memorialisation_in_Contemporary_Australia_Changes_and_Continuities/9922631">research project</a> taken from survey responses and in-depth interviews with members of different communities, we found cemeteries have ongoing significance to Australians, although its meaning and function are changing.</p>
<p>More than half of the 380 survey respondents said they still visit a cemetery once a year or more, and 23% visit once a month or more. But the interview data reveal a more complex and dynamic picture.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296148/original/file-20191009-3851-avyyjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296148/original/file-20191009-3851-avyyjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296148/original/file-20191009-3851-avyyjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296148/original/file-20191009-3851-avyyjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296148/original/file-20191009-3851-avyyjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296148/original/file-20191009-3851-avyyjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296148/original/file-20191009-3851-avyyjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296148/original/file-20191009-3851-avyyjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">People from CALD communities believed Australia’s cemeteries are greener, better managed and less scary than those in their original countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>We found people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities tend to visit the cemetery more than their Anglo counterparts, and prefered to be memorialised in cemeteries to preserve a sense of belonging.</p>
<p>Anglo-Australians, on the other hand, generally prefer to be cremated and often choose to scatter ashes in places other than a cemetery. In one participant’s case, that meant scattering remains in a French vinyard, an island volcano and their local beach.</p>
<h2>Calling Australia home</h2>
<p>The cemetery remains an important site of cultural ritualisation and expression to most CALD interviewees.</p>
<p>Interviewees from the CALD communities - especially those from an Asian cultural background - had positive experiences with cemeteries in Australia. When comparing Australian cemeteries with those in Malaysia, Jenny (60s, Malaysian Chinese) said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In Malaysia, the cemeteries are not like this […] they are all overgrown […] and we were taught that graves are places where the gangsters will hide out, the thieves will hide out, people will come and rob you, so we don’t go.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The perceptions that Australian cemeteries are more open, greener, better managed, more accessible, and not as scary as those in their original countries made many Asian migrants felt more willing to visit a cemetery here. </p>
<p><iframe id="NJCPx" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/NJCPx/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Besides the aesthetic contrast, for many CALD interviewees, the cemetery offers a space that embraces their culture and gives them a sense of belonging in Australia. </p>
<p>Tony (30s, Tongan) would love to have a traditional Tongan way of burial in Australia, which involves bone picking (removing the bones from the grave), and grave re-using for future generations. These traditions strengthen their inter-generational connections. </p>
<p>Australian regulations mean these ritual practices are not possible here. But Tony was prepared to make a compromise. </p>
<p>Instead of following the ritual, he insisted on being buried in Australia because his children and family live in Australia. The inter-generational connections can prevail here. They call Australia home. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-the-dead-what-happens-when-a-city-runs-out-of-space-70121">Housing the dead: what happens when a city runs out of space?</a>
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<p>Participants from the CALD communities generally shared Tony’s idea. They believed having a physical place in Australia (either a grave or a plot for the ashes) gave them a sense of belonging and settlement for themselves and their families.</p>
<h2>A library of local history, not a ‘resting place’</h2>
<p>On the other hand, people from an Anglo-cultural background no longer see cemeteries as just a space for memorialisation and mourning. From our interviews, many see it as a “library” or a “depository” of the local history and family genealogy. </p>
<p>Cemetery visits, in this sense, contrast between fulfilling one’s cultural duty of memorialisation, and obtaining historical knowledge for self-learning, reflection, and development. </p>
<p>Alfred’s (50s, Anglo-Australian) cemetery visits had been driven by his interest in his family history. Family history can give someone “an explanation” about the kind of person they are, and: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>how the attitudes were passed on to the next generation so you can learn a tremendous amount, multi-generation through a family history search.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet, while many Anglo interview participants appreciated the historical and cultural values of the cemetery, they became less enthusiastic when considering the cemetery as their “resting places”.</p>
<p>We believe this corresponds with the nationwide trend since 2012 of more Australians <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/cremations-overtake-burials-as-final-choice-20120813-244ft.html">preferring cremation</a> to traditional full-body burial. </p>
<p><iframe id="tS6fB" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/tS6fB/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>We found 56% of our survey respondents preferred cremation, 32% indicated preference for a ground burial and 12% were undecided. </p>
<p>In any case, our research indicated many people prefer to be memorialised at a place or site that’s meaningful. This might include their favourite beach or the park where they spent time with their children, rather than in a cemetery, which is outside their social, family spaces.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/during-the-holidays-giving-gifts-to-the-dead-can-help-you-cope-with-grief-87556">During the holidays, giving gifts to the dead can help you cope with grief</a>
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<p>Tina (50s, Anglo-Australian) embarked on a global journey to fulfil her late husband’s wishes as he wanted his cremation remains (called cremains) scattered in three locations he loved: a vinyard in Burgundy, France, a volcano in Reunion Island, and the family’s local beach in Williamstown, Melbourne. Tina did all three. </p>
<h2>Planning your body disposal</h2>
<p>More people have started pre-planning what happens to their body when they die. The quantitative data shows 64% of people have already discussed their end of life-related wishes with close friends or family, and 11% have pre-paid for a funeral service. </p>
<p>In an earlier study, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17450101.2018.1471847">we found</a> Chinese Australians, for example, tended to pre-purchase their funeral services and grave sites before they died. </p>
<p><iframe id="Tkfbr" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Tkfbr/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>As previously mentioned, this might enhance their sense of cultural belonging in Australia. </p>
<p>On the other hand, people from an Anglo cultural background would “talk about it”, but few actually “lock things in”. </p>
<p>Interviews from the present study revealed people with an Anglo cultural background had a strong desire of “flexibility”. Many didn’t wish to decide at the time of their interview, as they were still exploring possibilities and opportunities outside the conventional modes of body disposal and memorialisation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/life-after-death-americans-are-embracing-new-ways-to-leave-their-remains-85657">Life after death: Americans are embracing new ways to leave their remains</a>
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<p>In other words, the idea of being memorialised outside the cemetery was an emerging rather than established idea. </p>
<p>Understanding the contemporary and future funeral needs of the culturally diverse Australian population is important to policy makers, as well as the cemetery and funeral industries. </p>
<p>With increasingly limited access to usable land suitable for burial practices – particularly in metropolitan areas – planning must consider the funeral rites of the ageing population and incoming migrant groups. They are likely to make end of life choices in the coming decades.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wilfred Wang received funding for this project from the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services and the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gil-Soo Han has received funding from Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, and the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (2016-19). The research project undertaken has been an intellectually independent work.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Forbes-Mewett received funding for this project from the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services and the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT). She is affiliated with the Victorian Multicultural Commission Regional Advisory Committee (Eastern Region) and the SMCT Community Advisory Committee.</span></em></p>Migrant communities believed having a physical resting place gave them a sense of settlement in Australia.Wilfred Yang Wang, Lecturer, Communications & Media Studies, Monash UniversityGil-Soo Han, Associate Professor, Communications & Media Studies, Monash UniversityHelen Forbes-Mewett, Senior lecturer, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1242592019-09-30T19:45:19Z2019-09-30T19:45:19ZBuried beneath the trees: a plan to solve our shortage of cemetery space<p>There’s a <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/forget-housing-grave-space-is-the-new-millennial-headache">lack of new cemetery space</a> in parts of Australia but we could solve that problem by burying the dead among newly planted vegetation belts near our towns and cities.</p>
<p>Burial Belt is a proposal we’ve been working on for reinventing the Australian cemetery landscape by creating near-limitless land for burial. Our idea is currently on exhibition at the <a href="http://oslotriennale.no/en/aboutoat2019">Oslo Architecture Triennale</a>, in Norway. </p>
<p>This new approach to burial would feature native trees rather than rows of headstones.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-the-dead-what-happens-when-a-city-runs-out-of-space-70121">Housing the dead: what happens when a city runs out of space?</a>
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<p>It would reforest cleared land and provide an alternative to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth">high-emissions livestock grazing</a>. It could even prevent suburban sprawl by safeguarding green space in perpetuity. </p>
<p>All it requires is a new way of thinking about what happens to our bodies when we die.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294690/original/file-20190930-185369-1uzbli3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294690/original/file-20190930-185369-1uzbli3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294690/original/file-20190930-185369-1uzbli3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294690/original/file-20190930-185369-1uzbli3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294690/original/file-20190930-185369-1uzbli3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294690/original/file-20190930-185369-1uzbli3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294690/original/file-20190930-185369-1uzbli3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294690/original/file-20190930-185369-1uzbli3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Burial space is running out in some Australian cemeteries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quirky/6527021105/">Flickr/Wendy Harman</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>After life</h2>
<p>Traditional burial in a local cemetery was the norm for most Australians until late in the 20th century. Today an increasing proportion of Australians choose cremation.</p>
<p>Unlike burial, cremation seems clean, efficient and free of the emotional weight of a sombre headstone in a grid of other graves. Cremation doesn’t have to take up space and ashes can be stored in a special place or dispersed into a favourite landscape. </p>
<p>Cremation now accounts for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-04-27/green-death-funeral-environment/10994330">more than 70% of all Australian interments</a>. That is not surprising when you consider that the average cost of cremation is <a href="https://www.gatheredhere.com.au/burial-cremation-everything-need-know/">less than half that of burial</a>.</p>
<p>Soaring land costs and dwindling reserves of existing cemetery space have also contributed to the high cost of burial.</p>
<p>Australian burial plots are among <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/money-markets/the-most-expensive-land-in-australia-might-be-graves-heres-the-problem-20180627-h11wzp-441795/">the most valuable real estate</a> in the country. </p>
<h2>What else goes up in smoke?</h2>
<p>Most people we speak to are surprised to learn that cremation is an energy-intensive and toxic process.</p>
<p>The energy consumed by a single cremation is equal to about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2005/oct/18/ethicalmoney.climatechange">one person’s average monthly domestic use</a>.</p>
<p>Each <a href="https://www.foreground.com.au/environment/urban-burial-cemetery-landscapes/">cremation</a> releases on average about 50kg of CO2 and other toxins.</p>
<p>When you consider both the economic and environmental costs of cremation, the obvious solution is to provide more affordable burial space.</p>
<p>But with scarce land available for this purpose close to our city centres, any solution is contingent on persuading large numbers of people to not only return to burial, but to reconsider the entire cemetery experience. </p>
<h2>A more natural burial</h2>
<p>The Burial Belt proposal relies on a societal shift from traditional burial and cremation to natural burial. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/nov/11/pushing-up-trees-is-natural-burial-the-answer-to-crowded-cemeteries">Natural burial</a> does away with embalming, wooden coffins, concrete shafts and expanses of tarmac.</p>
<p>Bodies are placed in direct contact with the soil and buried within reach of microbes, where they can then truly return to the earth.</p>
<p>Natural burial is also <a href="https://www.gatheredhere.com.au/green-funerals-australia/">much cheaper to implement than traditional burial</a>. </p>
<p>Where would this take place? That’s where the Burial Belt proposal comes in.</p>
<p>Our future burial parkland already exists, just beyond the outermost suburban lots that ring Australian cities. This border land is currently occupied by sheep and cattle pastures but is increasingly being rezoned and amalgamated into an ever-expanding urban footprint.</p>
<p>Converting this territory into burial parkland, rather than housing subdivision, would protect whatever wildlife and vegetation remains in this cleared and denuded landscape, while curtailing urban sprawl.</p>
<h2>Preserved forever</h2>
<p>The key element of this proposed transformation is that, while natural burial land quickly becomes indistinguishable from bushland, current legislation provides for preservation of cemetery spaces in perpetuity.</p>
<p>Incorporating burial within the forest establishes a covenant over the revegetated grazing land that cannot be reversed. No more urban sprawl.</p>
<p>Fields and allotments would be individually acquired by public or private entities and converted into burial forest. Adjoining sections of forest would be gradually amalgamated into a single Burial Belt, a linear green swathe that halts further development and protects agricultural land and remnant habitat on the other side.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294474/original/file-20190926-51434-1co1tt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294474/original/file-20190926-51434-1co1tt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294474/original/file-20190926-51434-1co1tt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294474/original/file-20190926-51434-1co1tt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294474/original/file-20190926-51434-1co1tt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294474/original/file-20190926-51434-1co1tt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294474/original/file-20190926-51434-1co1tt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294474/original/file-20190926-51434-1co1tt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">View of a burial ring at the edge of a clearing in a proposed Burial Belt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Other Architects</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>From an architectural point of view, there are many ways this general idea could be implemented to suit different site conditions and communities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/increasing-tree-cover-may-be-like-a-superfood-for-community-mental-health-119930">Increasing tree cover may be like a 'superfood' for community mental health</a>
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<p>In the current proposal, large clearings are carved out of the immensity of the forest, with smaller hollows containing intimately-scaled burial spaces dispersed around the edges of these clearings. </p>
<p>Access could be provided via boardwalks and other temporary facilities similar to those found in national parks. The proposed forest cemetery requires little upkeep. Rather than returning periodically to sweep away leaves or lay flowers on a loved one’s traditional grave, visitors are free to let nature do its work. </p>
<p>There is no reason why the Burial Belt idea could not be widely implemented by local operators and councils as an effective method of funding habitat regeneration while providing for the community’s long term burial needs.</p>
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<p><em>This article draws on UTS Master of Architecture design studios conducted by David Neustein and Grace Mortlock, and specific research contributions from UTS students Rowan Lear and Sora Graham.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124259/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Burial Belt is a proposal by Open Architects, of which David Neustein is a director.</span></em></p>With space in our cemeteries running out, we could bury the dead in new forest developments that would bring green space to our urban areas.David Neustein, Associate, School of Architecture, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1109192019-02-05T11:24:01Z2019-02-05T11:24:01ZFuneral costs are driving grieving families into poverty – but at last, a fightback has begun<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256630/original/file-20190131-110834-i7n68r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grave injustice. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-shot-colorful-casket-hearse-chapel-721359964?src=0fbFB0idVyS5_t1D2vlzfw-1-12">NTM999</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the depths of winter, more <a href="https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/deaths/winter-mortality">people die</a> than at any other time of year. And the cost of paying for their funeral has been rising sharply – up 6% a year <a href="https://www.sunlife.co.uk/siteassets/documents/cost-of-dying/cost-of-dying-report-2018.pdf">on average</a> since 2004, which is double the rate of inflation. Funerals now cost £4,300 on average, plus an extra £2,000 for optional extras like catering and flowers. </p>
<p>Funeral poverty is a new and increasingly prevalent aspect of UK hardship. For the poorest people, the costs are up to 40% of their annual expenditure – just one of the alarming findings in a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">recent report</a> by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). When the deceased person doesn’t have the funds, close relatives often need to borrow. In 2018, a third of next-of-kin <a href="https://www.sunlife.co.uk/siteassets/documents/cost-of-dying/cost-of-dying-report-2018.pdf">had to</a> contribute – with an average shortfall of £2,559. </p>
<p>Having to find this money is an additional stress at a horrible time. Anecdotally, housing officers in Dundee, Scotland, tell us that funeral debts are the reason rent hasn’t been paid; and there are church ministers whose members of their congregation can’t grieve properly for worrying about such costs. </p>
<p>Grieving families <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">do not act</a> as what economists would call “rational agents”. They are vulnerable and frequently haven’t organised a funeral before. They want to give their loved one the best possible send off, and consider it disrespectful to look for a “good deal” – particularly if the deceased’s wishes were never made clear. They rarely query funeral quotes, and often feel pressure to fund things they cannot afford. On average, poorer households <a href="https://www.royallondon.com/siteassets/site-docs/media-centre/national-funeral-costs-index-2018.pdf">spend</a> similar amounts on discretionary extras as wealthier ones. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256624/original/file-20190131-112314-rf8bhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256624/original/file-20190131-112314-rf8bhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256624/original/file-20190131-112314-rf8bhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256624/original/file-20190131-112314-rf8bhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256624/original/file-20190131-112314-rf8bhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256624/original/file-20190131-112314-rf8bhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256624/original/file-20190131-112314-rf8bhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256624/original/file-20190131-112314-rf8bhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The respect problem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hearse-open-empty-gravediggers-1214661481?src=4vWHcAkFwjR2hmoh9soTkA-1-85">Robypangy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is difficult for people to compare funeral prices since these are rarely published online, and funeral directors often bundle charges into non-divisible packages. This lack of transparent information has been challenged by price aggregators like <a href="https://beyond.life/">Beyond</a> and <a href="https://www.yourfuneralchoice.com">FuneralChoice</a>, though few people <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">are aware</a> of these sites and even fewer use them. </p>
<h2>Big Funerals</h2>
<p>The Competition and Markets Authority, which has been investigating the funerals industry, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">suspects</a> it is not competitive, and is due to announce by March 31 whether it will make a full competition referral. But unlike most sectors where competition is potentially an issue, the funerals business is very fragmented: the two leading providers, <a href="https://www.co-operativefuneralcare.co.uk">Co-op Funeral Care</a> and <a href="https://www.dignityfunerals.co.uk/corporate/">Dignity</a>, have a combined market share of only 27%. The <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">CMA says</a>: “Dignity has consistently been among the most expensive funeral directors and Co-op more expensive than a large proportion of independents.” </p>
<p>Both Dignity and the Co-op <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">saw their</a> average revenue increase significantly ahead of inflation between 2013 and 2017. When a customer challenged Dignity about its prices in 2017, the company <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">responded:</a> “It has been the board’s policy, over the last six years to increase funeral prices by circa 7% per annum.” Dignity also contends, however, that it offers a higher quality product than many rivals, guaranteeing the use of a mortuary, for instance. </p>
<p>According to the company, its “standard funeral” costs around £3,500, whereas the Co-op has two packages in that category with an average cost of £3,097. Both numbers exclude third-party costs like cremation. Across the sector, funeral directors’ fees vary widely. When we assessed prices in Dundee in January 2019 using the <a href="https://beyond.life">Beyond site</a>, for instance, we found that fees range from £700 to £3,265. </p>
<p>Since 2017, both Dignity and the Co-op have cut their prices. They have introduced <a href="https://beyond.life/help-centre/funeral-costs/whats-difference-simple-traditional-funeral/">no frills</a> “simple funerals” – partly, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">says the</a> CMA, because of “heightened media and government interest” in the sector; but <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42751546">also partly</a> to defend market share. A survey by Royal London in 2018 <a href="https://www.royallondon.com/siteassets/site-docs/media-centre/national-funeral-costs-index-2018.pdf">found that</a> Dignity had reduced funeral directors’ fees by 25% in the past year, while the Co-op <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">has been</a> price cutting, too. Amid <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45466918">media talk</a> of a price war, the CMA said it was “difficult to establish whether this level of competition will be maintained over time”. </p>
<p>With three-quarters of funerals involving a cremation nowadays, costs for this service <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5bffb9d5ed915d11965a199d/Funerals_market_study_interim_report_and_consultation.pdf">have also</a> increased significantly, and now <a href="https://beyond.life/blog/coffin-up-crematoriums-forcing-37-price-hikes-on-bereaved-in-monopoly-shake-down/">average</a> around £800. Most crematoria are owned by councils, but private rivals are increasing – now nudging a third of the total. Dignity controls nearly half of this business, including all but one of the 20 highest cost crematoria in the UK, whose prices are around £300 above the national average. </p>
<h2>Fightback</h2>
<p>For people on benefits, the UK government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments">Funeral Expenses Payment</a> helps to cover funeral costs. But the payment has not risen <a href="https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/legislation/2017/12/social-security-scotland-bill-policy-paper-funeral-expense-assistance-fea/documents/00528753-pdf/00528753-pdf/govscot%3Adocument">since 2003</a>, and now falls short by an <a href="https://www.royallondon.com/siteassets/site-docs/funeral-plans/royal-london-national-funeral-cost-index-2017.pdf">average</a> of £2,355 per funeral. The eligibility criteria are also restrictive: the “<a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/press/working-families-still-locked-poverty-time-right-wrong-work-poverty">working poor</a>” don’t qualify, and nor do people with close relatives not receiving income support. </p>
<p>In Scotland, there are signs of improvement. The Scottish government has <a href="https://news.gov.scot/news/appointment-of-scotlands-inspector-of-crematoria">introduced</a> an inspector of crematoria <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Policy/BurialsCremation/InspectorFuneralDirectors">and</a> inspector of funeral directors, along with a <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2016/20/contents">regulatory regime</a> that could see a licensing scheme <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/inspector-funeral-directors-annual-report-2017-18/">in future</a>. The government has <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/draft-statutory-guidance-funeral-costs-consultation/">consulted</a> on things like transparency of pricing, while the Funeral Expenses Payment will be replaced this summer by a <a href="https://consult.gov.scot/social-security/funeral-expense-assistance/">Scottish equivalent</a> that will be partly index-linked and with more generous eligibility criteria. </p>
<p>There are also some notable local interventions, both in Scotland and elsewhere. In Dundee, which <a href="https://www.cas.org.uk/system/files/publications/cost_of_saying_goodbye_2017.pdf">has among</a> the highest funeral costs in Scotland <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/TrendSIMD">but also</a> some of the most deprived wards, a local social enterprise called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/funerallinkdundee">Funeral Link</a> has been set up with Scottish government funding. It offers confidential support to bereaved people such as helping them to save money and signposting additional assistance. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256633/original/file-20190131-108338-merofl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256633/original/file-20190131-108338-merofl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256633/original/file-20190131-108338-merofl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256633/original/file-20190131-108338-merofl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256633/original/file-20190131-108338-merofl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256633/original/file-20190131-108338-merofl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256633/original/file-20190131-108338-merofl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256633/original/file-20190131-108338-merofl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Urning too much.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cremation-people-mourning-concept-woman-flowers-676224058?src=0fbFB0idVyS5_t1D2vlzfw-1-68">Syda Productions</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>East Ayrshire Council introduced the <a href="https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/Resources/PDF/F/Respectful-Funeral-Service.pdf">Respectful Funeral Service</a>, a tailored package of lower cost but respectful offerings from local funeral directors. In its first year – financial 2017-18 – 22% of all funerals in the area used it, and there is little sign of this slowing down. Dundee is <a href="https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/financial-help-to-be-given-to-bereaved-dundonians-who-cant-afford-a-funeral/">now heading</a> in the same direction, while similar packages already exist in places in such as <a href="https://www.regentfuneralservices.co.uk/">Gateshead</a>, <a href="https://cardiffbereavement.co.uk/cardiff-council-funeral-service/">Cardiff</a>, <a href="https://www.salford.gov.uk/births-marriages-and-deaths/cemeteries-and-crematoria/salford-residents-funeral-services/">Salford</a> and <a href="http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/births-deaths-marriages/deaths-and-stillbirths/cemeteries-crematorium-burial-grounds/the-nottingham-funeral/">Nottingham</a>. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen how much these will help reduce funeral poverty. At Dundee University we’re carrying out a project to measure what happens in Dundee. But combined with the CMA investigation and the national-level reforms in Scotland, the signs are encouraging. By shining a brighter light on the industry, bereaved people will hopefully be able to say goodbye to loved ones in future without falling into poverty in the process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110919/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Bickerton receives funding from a Social Innovation Fund Stage 2 grant from the Scottish government and the EU. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carlo Morelli receives funding from the Scottish Government Social Initiatives Fund. </span></em></p>Guess how much the average funeral now costs. Hint: it’s more than most people pay for a second hand car.Ruth Bickerton, Researcher, Social Sciences, University of DundeeCarlo Morelli, Senior Lecturer in Business and Economic History, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/856572017-10-27T10:21:14Z2017-10-27T10:21:14ZLife after death: Americans are embracing new ways to leave their remains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192140/original/file-20171026-13298-1evqmha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Green burials' that use biodegradable coffins or lessen the environmental impact in other ways are on the rise. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Michael Hill</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What do you want to happen to your remains after you die? </p>
<p>For the past century, most Americans have accepted a limited set of options without question. And discussions of death and funeral plans <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/05/what-good-is-thinking-about-death/394151/">have been taboo</a>.</p>
<p>That is changing. As a scholar of funeral and cemetery law, I’ve discovered that Americans are becoming more willing to have a conversation about their own mortality and what comes next and embrace new funeral and burial practices. </p>
<p>Baby boomers are insisting upon more control over their funeral and disposition so that their choices after death match their values in life. And businesses are following suit, offering new ways to memorialize and dispose of the dead.</p>
<p>While some options such as <a href="http://www.talkdeath.com/but-why-cant-i-have-a-tibetan-sky-burial/">Tibetan sky burial</a> – leaving human remains to be picked clean by vultures – and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQJOs8rm6xM">“Viking” burial via flaming boat</a> – familiar to “Game of Thrones” fans – remain off limits in the U.S., laws are changing to allow a growing variety of practices.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/reSR6jTZCc8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The funeral pyre hasn’t yet received approval for use in the U.S.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘The American Way of Death’</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192138/original/file-20171026-13311-dk00tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192138/original/file-20171026-13311-dk00tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192138/original/file-20171026-13311-dk00tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192138/original/file-20171026-13311-dk00tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192138/original/file-20171026-13311-dk00tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192138/original/file-20171026-13311-dk00tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192138/original/file-20171026-13311-dk00tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192138/original/file-20171026-13311-dk00tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author, journalist and civil rights activist Jessica Mitford is shown during an interview at the Boston Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1979.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Liss</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1963, English journalist and activist <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160721-how-jessica-mitford-changed-our-ideas-about-death">Jessica Mitford</a> published “<a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/death/fond-farewells">The American Way of Death</a>,” in which she described the leading method of disposing of human remains in the United States, still in use today. </p>
<p>She wrote that human remains are temporarily preserved by replacing blood with a formaldehyde-based embalming fluid shortly after death, placed in a decorative wood or metal casket, displayed to family and friends at the funeral home and buried within a concrete or steel vault in a grave, perpetually dedicated and marked with a tombstone. </p>
<p>Mitford called this “absolutely weird” and argued that it had been invented by the American funeral industry, which emerged at the turn of the 20th century. As she <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1963/06/the-undertakers-racket/305318/">wrote in The Atlantic</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Foreigners are astonished to learn that almost all Americans are embalmed and publicly displayed after death. The practice is unheard of outside the United States and Canada.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nearly all Americans who died from the 1930s, when embalming became well-established, through the 1990s were disposed of in this manner. </p>
<p>And it’s neither cheap or good for the environment. The <a href="http://www.nfda.org/news/media-center/nfda-news-releases/id/840/nfda-releases-results-of-2015-member-general-price-list-survey">median cost of a funeral and burial</a>, including a vault to enclose the casket, was US$8,508 in 2014. Including the cost of the burial plot, the fee for opening and closing the grave and the tombstone easily brings the total cost to $11,000 or more. </p>
<p>This method also consumes a great deal of natural resources. Each year, <a href="http://www.talkdeath.com/environmental-impact-funerals-infographic/">we bury</a> 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde-based embalming fluid, 115 million tons of steel, 2.3 billion tons of concrete and enough wood to build 4.6 million single-family homes.</p>
<p>Mitford’s book <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/24/arts/jessica-mitford-incisive-critic-american-ways-britishupbringing-dies-78.html">influenced generations of Americans</a>, beginning with the baby boomers, to question this type of funeral and burial. As a result, demand for alternatives such as home funerals and green burials have increased significantly. The most common reasons cited are a desire to connect with and honor their loved ones in a more meaningful way, and interest in lower-cost, less environmentally damaging choices.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192137/original/file-20171026-13331-1oyles2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192137/original/file-20171026-13331-1oyles2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192137/original/file-20171026-13331-1oyles2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192137/original/file-20171026-13331-1oyles2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192137/original/file-20171026-13331-1oyles2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192137/original/file-20171026-13331-1oyles2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192137/original/file-20171026-13331-1oyles2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Traditional funerals are becoming less common as more Americans look for cheaper, greener options.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alzbeta/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The rise of cremation</h2>
<p>The most radical change to how Americans handle their remains has been the rising popularity of cremation by fire. Cremation is less expensive than burial and, although it consumes fossil fuels, is widely perceived to be better for the environment than burial in a casket and vault. </p>
<p>Although cremation became legal in a handful of states in the 1870s and 1880s, its usage in the U.S. remained in single digits for another century. After steadily rising since the 1980s, cremation was the disposition method of choice for <a href="https://www.deathcarestudies.com/2017/09/cremation-rate-update/">nearly half</a> of all deaths in the U.S. in 2015. Cremation is most popular in urban areas, where the cost of burial can be quite high, in states with a lot of people born in other ones and among those who do not identify with a particular religious faith. </p>
<p>Residents of western states like Nevada, Washington and Oregon opt for cremation the most, with rates as high as 76 percent. Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky have the lowest rates, at less than a quarter of all burials. The National Funeral Directors Association <a href="https://www.deathcarestudies.com/2017/09/cremation-rate-update/">projects</a> that by 2030 the nationwide cremation rate will reach 71 percent. </p>
<p>Cremation’s dramatic rise is part of a huge shift in American funerary practices away from burial and the ritual of embalming the dead, which is not required by law in any state but which most funeral homes require in order to have a visitation. In 2017, a survey of the personal preferences of Americans aged 40 and over <a href="http://www.nfda.org/news/media-center/nfda-news-releases/id/2419/nfda-consumer-survey-funeral-planning-not-a-priority-for-americans">found</a> that more than half preferred cremation. <a href="https://www.deathcarestudies.com/2017/10/gleaned-from-the-2017-nfda-consumer-awareness-and-preferences-survey-part-1-funeral-consumers-need-education/">Only 14 percent</a> of those respondents said they would like to have a full funeral service with viewing and visitation prior to cremation, down from 27 percent as recently as 2015. </p>
<p>Part of the reason for that shift is cost. In 2014, the <a href="http://www.nfda.org/news/media-center/nfda-news-releases/id/840/nfda-releases-results-of-2015-member-general-price-list-survey">median cost of a funeral with viewing and cremation</a> was $6,078. In contrast, a “direct cremation,” which does not include embalming or a viewing, <a href="https://funerals.org/?consumers=cremation-explained-answers-frequently-asked-questions">can typically be purchased for $700 to $1,200</a>. </p>
<p>Cremated remains can be buried in a cemetery or stored in an urn on the mantle, but businesses also offer a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/13-ways-to-use-your-ashes-to-become-something-awesome-2016-6?r=UK&IR=T/#-3">bewildering range of options</a> for incorporating ashes into objects like glass paperweights, jewelry and even vinyl records.</p>
<p>And while <a href="https://www.deathcarestudies.com/2017/10/gleaned-from-the-2017-nfda-consumer-awareness-and-preferences-survey-part-1-funeral-consumers-need-education/">40 percent of respondents</a> to the 2017 survey associate a cremation with a memorial service, Americans are increasingly holding those services at religious institutions and nontraditional locations like parks, museums and even at home. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192136/original/file-20171026-13378-6p9ybu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192136/original/file-20171026-13378-6p9ybu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192136/original/file-20171026-13378-6p9ybu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192136/original/file-20171026-13378-6p9ybu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192136/original/file-20171026-13378-6p9ybu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192136/original/file-20171026-13378-6p9ybu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192136/original/file-20171026-13378-6p9ybu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As the number of cremations has soared, so too has the variety of urns. This one sold at a mall in Glendale, California, features a Dodgers baseball theme.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Going green</h2>
<p>Another trend is finding greener alternatives to both the traditional burial and cremation. </p>
<p>The 2017 survey found that 54 percent of respondents were interested in green options. Compare this with a <a href="https://www.aarp.org/money/estate-planning/info-2007/funeral_survey.html">2007 survey of those aged 50 or higher</a> by AARP which found that only 21 percent were interested in a more environmentally friendly burial. </p>
<p>One example of this is a new method of disposing of human remains called <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/business/flameless-cremation.html">alkaline hydrolysis</a>, which involves using water and a salt-based solution to dissolve human remains. Often referred as “water cremation,” it’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbQTACCNgcg">preferred by many as a greener alternative</a> to cremation by fire, which consumes fossil fuels. Most funeral homes that offer both methods of cremation charge the same price.</p>
<p>The alkaline hydrolysis process results in a sterile liquid and bone fragments that are reduced to “ash” and returned to the family. Although most Americans are unfamiliar with the process, funeral directors that have adopted it generally report that families prefer it to cremation by fire. <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/eco-friendly-californians-can-have-dead-bodies-liquefied-burial-method-689055">California recently became the 15th state</a> to legalize it.</p>
<h2>Going home</h2>
<p>A rising number of families are also interested in so-called “<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-surprising-satisfactions-of-a-home-funeral-53172008/">home funerals</a>,” in which the remains are cleaned and prepared for disposition at home by the family, religious community or friends. Home funerals are followed by cremation, or burial in a family cemetery, a traditional cemetery or a green cemetery.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192134/original/file-20171026-13309-ctqjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192134/original/file-20171026-13309-ctqjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/192134/original/file-20171026-13309-ctqjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192134/original/file-20171026-13309-ctqjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192134/original/file-20171026-13309-ctqjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192134/original/file-20171026-13309-ctqjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192134/original/file-20171026-13309-ctqjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/192134/original/file-20171026-13309-ctqjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More Americans are being buried in natural burial grounds, such as this one in Rhinebeck, New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Michael Hill</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Assisted by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/fashion/baby-boomers-are-drawn-to-green-and-eco-friendly-funerals.html?_r=0">funeral directors</a> or educated by <a href="http://homefuneralalliance.org/">home funeral guides</a>, families that choose home funerals are returning to a set of practices that <a href="https://funerals.org/product/final-rights-reclaiming-the-american-way-of-death/">predate the modern funeral industry.</a> </p>
<p>Proponents say that caring for remains at home is a better way of honoring the relationship between the living and the dead. Home funerals are also seen as more environmentally friendly since remains are temporarily preserved through the use of dry ice rather than formaldehyde-based embalming fluid. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://greenburialcouncil.org/">Green Burial Council</a> says rejecting embalming is one way to go green. Another is to choose to have remains interred or cremated in a fabric shroud or biodegradable casket rather than a casket made from nonsustainable hardwoods or metal. The council promotes standards for green funeral products and certifies green funeral homes and burial grounds. More than 300 providers are currently certified in 41 states and six Canadian provinces. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="http://sleepyhollowcemetery.org/burial-options/natural-burial-grounds/">Sleepy Hollow Cemetery,</a> the historic New York cemetery made famous by Washington Irving, is a certified “hybrid” cemetery because it has reserved a portion of its grounds for green burials: no embalming, no vaults and no caskets unless they are biodegradable – the body often goes straight into the ground with just a simple wrapping.</p>
<p>Clearly Americans are pushing the “traditional” boundaries of how to memorialize their loved ones and dispose of their remains. While I wouldn’t hold out hope that Americans will be able to choose Viking- or Tibetan-style burials anytime soon, you never know.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya D. Marsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Although ‘Game of Thrones’ -style funeral pyres are still out of bounds, Americans are increasingly turning to cheaper, greener and more meaningful ways to dispose of their loved ones’ bodies.Tanya D. Marsh, Professor of Law, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/627892016-08-09T11:58:30Z2016-08-09T11:58:30ZBreathing new life into the funeral business<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132804/original/image-20160802-9761-n30hxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Death of the salesmen.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A funeral, the ceremonial disposal of a body, has two key elements – the body and the ceremony. And each of these has its own associated merchants selling goods or services in the important business of dealing with death.</p>
<p>“Hardware merchants” – funeral directors, cemeteries and crematoria – provide goods such as coffins, hearses, graves and cremators. These provide for the body’s storage, viewing, transport and ultimate disposal through burial or fire. “Software merchants” on the other hand provide a service – the ceremony – and comprise ministers and priests of various religions, and a fast increasing number of celebrants representing no faith community.</p>
<p>When a death occurs, the grieving family usually deal initially with a hardware merchant, the funeral director. They then subcontract out the body’s burial or cremation to other hardware merchants, and the ceremony to a software merchant. </p>
<p>This structure, with the funeral director as the family’s first contact, was developed in Britain in the 19th century when it was eminently fit for purpose. The millions of people moving from the countryside to industrial towns needed to find their place in society. They used <a href="http://jsah.ucpress.edu/content/43/1/91.1">housing</a> and <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/title/death-heaven-and-the-victorians/oclc/446525">funerals</a> to demonstrate their social and economic respectability. </p>
<p>The religious service at the time required little thought. Anglicans had the Anglican rite, Methodists the Methodist service, Catholics the Catholic mass, and within each, there was little variation. Instead, the major choices concerned hardware. As the funeral was a display of economic status, the key questions revolved around things like the appearance of the coffin and the number of horses. The undertaker, who advised on these elements and provided much of them himself, was therefore the appropriate person to make the arrangements.</p>
<p>Today, however, this kind of status insecurity and adherence to religion, are in marked decline. Many families know where they fit socially and do not need funerals to demonstrate this. And <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9781137506559">far fewer people are committed to any religion</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, many funerals are now designed to display not the family’s respectability but the deceased’s individuality. They focus not on looking forward to the next life, but on looking back to celebrate the unique life that was lived. For such occasions then, the main choices concern not hardware but software. These families don’t care about fancy coffins and black cars. They care about the ceremony being meaningful and personal.</p>
<p>Yet for most of them, the first task when organising a funeral is still to approach a funeral director, who advises not only on hardware but also on software - on which they may have little expertise. Choices on the service are often made before the family even gets to meet the minister or celebrant.</p>
<p>And of the <a href="http://www.royallondon.com/about/media/news/2015/october/uk-funeral-costs-rise-as-rapidly-as-house-prices-/">average £3,700 cost</a> of a “basic funeral”, only about £200 goes to this celebrant, together with perhaps £400 for hire of the ceremony venue and printing the ceremony programme. Where does the rest go? Predominantly on hardware and its overheads, and care of the body. </p>
<p>So organisationally and economically, the British funeral retains its Victorian material-based structure, even though increasing numbers today value ceremony more.</p>
<h2>It’s your funeral</h2>
<p>Since the 1990s, however, the funeral industry has witnessed significant new products and services. <a href="http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?page=natural-burial-grounds">Natural burial grounds</a>, companies providing <a href="http://www.colourfulcoffins.com/">personalised coffins</a> and <a href="https://funeralcelebrants.org.uk/">freelance celebrants</a> have all succeeded as businesses. But that is mainly because these entrepreneurs have accepted their role as subcontractors to the funeral director, who gains by having more services to offer the family.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133512/original/image-20160809-9267-1xesm67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133512/original/image-20160809-9267-1xesm67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133512/original/image-20160809-9267-1xesm67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133512/original/image-20160809-9267-1xesm67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133512/original/image-20160809-9267-1xesm67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133512/original/image-20160809-9267-1xesm67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133512/original/image-20160809-9267-1xesm67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Life and death.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-391359181/stock-photo-cemetery.html?src=csl_recent_image-1">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The innovations which have struggled are those that challenge the funeral director’s position as contractor-in-chief. More recently, however, some <a href="http://www.arkafunerals.co.uk/">new start-up funeral businesses</a> discuss both ceremony and hardware with their clients from the beginning, aiming to offer a seamless service. Likewise, some established funeral firms now provide their own in-house celebrant, in order to provide a similar all-in-one service.</p>
<p>A celebrant could also arrange for the body to be transferred from the place of death direct to the crematorium. This allows a ceremony in the presence of the coffin, but without the expense of hearses and cars or an intermediate place to store the body. </p>
<p>Another innovation gaining popularity is direct cremation, in which the body is cremated without any ceremony and with no mourners attending. David Bowie’s direct cremation cost a <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/david-bowie-been-secretly-cremated-7174860">reported US$700</a> and in the UK, costs can fall to <a href="http://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/direct-disposal/">around £1,000</a>. With
body disposal separated from ceremony in this way, some families hold a separate memorial service weeks or months later. </p>
<p>Yet, still, for many families the traditional cortege and associated hardware continue to signify respect for the deceased.</p>
<p>This increasingly complex market adds up to a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13576275.2016.1205574">big test</a> for the funeral industry as it evolves to accommodate those wanting a fully personal ceremony and those unable to afford escalating funeral prices. </p>
<p>In time, it could mean the death of the industry’s Victorian structure. If so, what new structure might rise from the ashes is anyone’s guess.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62789/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Walter has received funding from the National Association of Funeral Directors and Civil Ceremonies Limited. </span></em></p>A failure to innovate could mean the death of the traditional industry.Tony Walter, Professor of Death Studies, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/370722015-02-02T19:01:22Z2015-02-02T19:01:22ZLive long, die green and leave a biodegradable corpse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70839/original/image-20150202-25825-ywtnjt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's green – but is it good for the environment?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/biwook/3530775219">Ioan Sameli</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>My mother died recently and at the funeral home I was asked if I had any ideas what kind of coffin she would like. For some reason I said something environmentally friendly. These words came out of my mouth more out of nervousness than anything previously discussed with my mother. Duly the undertaker showed us a catalogue of wicker coffins and we chose one made of banana leaves.</p>
<p>I often think of my carbon footprint – I have not owned a car in more than 15 years, for example – but I had never thought about my “green obligations” in death.</p>
<p>My mother may not have requested an environmentally friendly coffin, but she did state she wished to be cremated. Due to the lack of space in the UK <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/feb/08/families-cutting-funeral-costs">around 80%</a> of people request cremation – and if we think about green space being at a premium this makes ecological sense.</p>
<p>However the energy required to cremate a single person is equal to the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2005/oct/18/ethicalmoney.climatechange">energy they would use in a month</a> if they were alive. In the UK this translates to a yearly energy consumption of a town of 16,000 people. In Asian countries where cremation is very popular there is considerable interest in <a href="http://solarthermalworld.org/content/india-first-solar-crematorium-trial-phase">using solar power</a> to reduce such energy consumption.</p>
<p>Another problem with cremation is air pollution, which obviously depends on the filtering system being employed. Until recent times cremations were one of the major sources of mercury pollution in the UK due to the amalgam fillings in people’s teeth. A group of environmental NGOs recently called on the EU to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/12/us-eu-air-cremation-idUSKBN0KL0YH20150112">curb mercury emissions</a> from human cremation. Furthermore, the clothes worn and use of embalming fluids may also increase air pollution.</p>
<p>Humans have buried their dead for at least <a href="http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/behavior/qafzeh-oldest-intentional-burial">100,000 years</a>. Therefore, not wishing to throw the baby out with the bathwater, I looked into different burial options. A woodland burial initially appealed to me. However, I would only really approve of this if it resulted in the maintenance of a high-quality conservation area and wildlife refuge. And I wonder if it became popular enough if it could result in major reforestation of the UK. But bodies would still be rotting in the ground releasing globally warming methane gas.</p>
<p>Surely, there must be greener options than a standard burial or cremation? Coming from a family of fishermen I thought about burial at sea, as the fish could recycle my body quickly. But there are only three registered places in the UK and only around 50 such burials per year. As a biologist, I find the idea of becoming fish food strangely appealing. This is not a new idea: I remember reading of man who macabrely wished the meat from his body <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20095707,00.html">fed to the residents</a> at Battersea Dogs Home. Not surprisingly this strange offer was declined.</p>
<p>As a conservationist the idea of recycling my body after death appeals: some Asian cultures have what are called <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2376190/Chopped-fed-vultures-glimpse-closely-guarded-tradition-Tibetan-sky-funeral.html">sky burials</a>, where a dead human body is laid out on a mountain top for scavenging animals such as birds of prey to feed on. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70847/original/image-20150202-8997-6f04q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70847/original/image-20150202-8997-6f04q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70847/original/image-20150202-8997-6f04q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70847/original/image-20150202-8997-6f04q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70847/original/image-20150202-8997-6f04q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70847/original/image-20150202-8997-6f04q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70847/original/image-20150202-8997-6f04q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70847/original/image-20150202-8997-6f04q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vultures pay their respects at a sky burial in Sichuan province, China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/liuguo/10277815773">Lycopodium L</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From a biological point of view I cannot see anything wrong with this, providing deceased people do not have contagious diseases. Burials in the ground are more to do with people not wishing the body disturbed by animals than hygiene considerations – hence being buried six feet. Unfortunately, as much as I like to imagine my deceased body on the top of Ben Nevis being recycled by golden eagles, I can never see it being allowed in the UK.</p>
<p>I suppose what really appeals to me is being fully recycled in a short time-frame. The problem is that cremation does not fully recycle the body and burials can take years for the recycling process to occur. Thus, if my body could be fully recycled quickly into the nutrient cycles, thereby allowing the burial plot to be constantly reused then I may have found a biologically acceptable method to dispose of my body when the time comes.</p>
<p>A company in Sweden has tested a concept of eco-burial on dead pigs (pigs are good models for the human body), whereby the animal is frozen in liquid nitrogen at -196°C, which makes the body become brittle and disintegrate. In the case of a human, the disintegrated body would be filtered for metals (such as tooth fillings) and then buried in a shallow grave. </p>
<p>In tests with pigs the remains become rich compost in six to twelve months. Plus this sort of eco-burial does not release greenhouse gases such as methane (from traditional burials) or carbon (from cremations) into the atmosphere. The only problem being it is still in development.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37072/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert John Young does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>My mother died recently and at the funeral home I was asked if I had any ideas what kind of coffin she would like. For some reason I said something environmentally friendly. These words came out of my…Robert John Young, Professor of Wildlife Conservation, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/98572012-10-12T03:23:20Z2012-10-12T03:23:20ZDying green: environmentally friendly burials in China<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16167/original/769949b5-1349319786.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Traditional burials take up space that could be used for forest or farmland.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stuck in Customs/Flick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How we die, as well as how we live, has profound and lasting effects on the environment. Nowhere is this more true than in China, the most populous nation on Earth.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="http://www.stats.gov.cn/was40/gjtjj_detail.jsp?searchword=%CB%C0%CD%F6%C8%CB%CA%FD&channelid=6697&record=2">National Bureau of Statistics</a>, 9.6 million people died in mainland China during 2011. Considering that between 2000 and 2009 the <a href="http://www.zhb.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/bgth/201103/t20110311_201756.htm">average rate of cremation</a> was 50%, nearly 5 million corpses were cremated in 2011.</p>
<p>Every cremation creates about 160 kg of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>), so in China at least 760,934 tons of CO<sub>2</sub> were discharged into the atmosphere in that year - not including that generated by burning the belongings of and sacrificial offerings for the dead.</p>
<p>In the coming years, more and more CO<sub>2</sub> will be discharged from crematoria as China enters the so-called ageing society. More people die, and there is great promotion of cremation by the Chinese government. For example, it is estimated that about 5.65 million corpses <a href="http://www.zhb.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/bgth/201103/t20110311_201756.htm">will be cremated in 2015</a>. That is 890,000 more than the number in 2011, discharging an additional 143,066 tons of CO<sub>2</sub>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16165/original/jnpkgh6d-1349318747.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16165/original/jnpkgh6d-1349318747.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16165/original/jnpkgh6d-1349318747.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16165/original/jnpkgh6d-1349318747.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16165/original/jnpkgh6d-1349318747.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16165/original/jnpkgh6d-1349318747.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16165/original/jnpkgh6d-1349318747.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cremation releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the air, mostly from burning the wood coffin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SFTHQ/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Apart from releasing CO<sub>2</sub>, every cremation uses electricity and fossil oil, and emits <a href="http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/xstd_files/Air/Other/cremation.pdf">other pollutants into the atmosphere</a>, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, monoxide, hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, mercury, and persistent organic pollutants.</p>
<p>The original idea of promoting cremation in 1950s by the government was to save farmland from traditional burials under the ground. However, although comparatively less, cremation also <a href="http://www.snzg.com.cn/ReadNews.asp?NewsID=2703">uses huge amounts of land</a>. It is estimated that at least 13,333 hectares of land have been used for crematoria, funeral parlours, cemeteries for placing the cremated ash, and more and more cremation funeral and internment facilities and services are being built.</p>
<h2>Greener options</h2>
<p>It was not always this way. During the Xi Zhou dynasty (1066 - 771 B.C.), in order to encourage people to plant trees, it was ruled that the person would not be allowed to use a wood coffin after death if they had not planted any <a href="http://www.hudong.com/wiki/%E6%A4%8D%E6%A0%91">trees in their life</a>.</p>
<p>Ceasing cremation of the dead can bring about a significant energy saving and pollution reduction. Instead of cremation, natural earth burials should be promoted, which here means to bury the corpse in a simple and biodegradable bag or container under a tree, without building stone tombs or erecting tombstones, and therefore without occupying land, especially farmland.</p>
<p>As the annual death numbers approach 10 million, by practising natural earth burials, China can save some 10 million square metres of land every year that are used for tombs and cemeteries for placing the ash. It can reduce 904,000 tons of CO<sub>2</sub> that are emitted to the atmosphere and will see planting of at least an additional 10 million trees every year. </p>
<p>Natural earth burials do not require cremation and management of the tombs, and can therefore greatly reduce the human and material management leading to further energy saving and emission reduction. In addition, the planted trees can absorb CO<sub>2</sub> and release oxygen.</p>
<p>In China, most people live in concrete apartment homes their whole life. It is silly that our remains are placed in a concrete compartment under the ground after death in the form of cremated ash. This cuts off the natural circle of human body in the environment.</p>
<p>As a human, from birth to death, our body has been constantly taking from the environment for survival - inhaling O<sub>2</sub>, exhaling CO<sub>2</sub>, eating cereals, vegetables and meats. But how can we have the heart to damage the environment even further by getting our body burned after death, rather than paying the environment back? The sensible answer is to have our body buried under the ground in an environmentally friendly way.</p>
<h2>A natural cycle</h2>
<p>When our body is decomposed it becomes the fertiliser and part of the soil. It is part of a virtuous circle linking humans to the environment. Traditionally, Chinese people believe Ru Tu Wei An, which means the soul of the dead can only be at peace if the dead body is buried in the soil. But the traditional burial under the ground is not good practice because it uses a great amount of high quality wood for the coffin and occupies a lot of land for the tomb.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16164/original/nhb4js35-1349317198.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16164/original/nhb4js35-1349317198.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16164/original/nhb4js35-1349317198.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16164/original/nhb4js35-1349317198.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16164/original/nhb4js35-1349317198.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16164/original/nhb4js35-1349317198.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16164/original/nhb4js35-1349317198.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A natural burial means planting a tree instead of a tombstone where your body lies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Niels Mickers/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The great news is that natural earth burials not only meet this traditional belief, but also make a lot of sense ecologically. Natural earth burial is a better way of continuing our life after death. What could be better than becoming a tree after death? </p>
<p>Traditionally, it is believed in China that the natural world is composed of five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, of which wood is the sole element that has life. Wood represents the living tree. The essence of the tree is to penetrate deep into the soil and draw life from the depths, to build the strength and solidarity of a trunk and to display its fullness against the sky through its branches and foliage which benefit the kingdom of animals including humans by absorbing CO<sub>2</sub> and releasing O<sub>2</sub>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/9857/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How we die, as well as how we live, has profound and lasting effects on the environment. Nowhere is this more true than in China, the most populous nation on Earth. According to the National Bureau of…Yuan Gao, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneRoger Short, Professor, Faculty of Medicine, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.