4.7 Chapter Summary

Key Summary Points

  1. Current conventional methods of dealing with bodies after death are based on ancient practices.
  2. Certain conventional methods associated with dealing with bodies after death are costly, contribute to the lack of space for the dead, and are not environmentally sustainable.
  3. Alternative options for dealing with bodies provide an opportunity to move beyond our conventional understandings of burials and cremation.
  4. There are a variety of “greener” ways to deal with bodies at the end of life. Some are variations on ancient practices and some are recent innovations.

Additional Resources

Additional Viewings

Channel 10. (June 13, 2011). Grave recycling. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfvhUvSYIfg

NBC News. (November 19, 2020). Funerals in the COVID-19 area face immense and emotional hurdles | NBC News NOW. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QoEpDjT21c

Additional Readings

Canada. (n.d.). Funeralshttp://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/ca03069.html

Hariyono, W. (September 14, 2015). Vertical cemetery. Procedia Engineering118, 201-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.419

How long are graves kept.  (n.d.). St. John’s Dixie Cemetery & Crematorium.  https://stjohnsdixie.com/cemetery/how-long-are-graves-kept/

Mayer, A. (May 16, 2018). Back to the land. CBC. https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/death-burial-green-recycling

McGee, A. (May 7, 2021). Donating a body to science for medical research in Canada. Canadian Funerals. https://canadianfunerals.com/donating-a-body-to-science-for-medical-research-in-canada/#.Yj4snpopAkg

Ontario. (n.d.). Arrange a funeral, burial, cremation, alkaline hydrolysis or scatteringhttps://www.ontario.ca/page/arrange-funeral-burial-cremation-alkaline-hydrolysis-or-scattering

Philjacke. (October 28, 2018). Vertical cemetery: Graves in high rise towers. The Tower Info. https://thetowerinfo.com/vertical-cemetery-high-rise/

Understanding funeral costs in Ontario. (n.d.). Passages. https://www.passagescb.ca/understanding-funeral-costs

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

On Death and Dying (Original) Copyright © 2022 by Jacqueline Lewis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book