Originally published at: Mortician uses a dummy to show every step a body goes through at a funeral home | Boing Boing
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Interesting. This just solidifies my preference to be cremated. Well…really I’d rather be dragged out to the woods and let nature do its thing, but that’s frowned on.
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Also…
Green funerals are a thing and legal in most places. It’s also not legally required to be embalmed… I think if you dig into Ask a Mortician’s channel, she has videos on both topics. After all, Jews and Muslims do not embalm the bodies of the dead (unless there is a compelling reason to do so). They have green funerals as part of their funerary traditions… Sadly, Sky Burials are still illegal in the US… 
But if I still live here when I pass on, there is a green funeral near me that I want to be buried at… it’s on a small mountain that’s near both a state park and a monastery.
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Hmm. Apparently there are only three green cemeteries in all of New Jersey. Seems a little ironic for the “Garden” state.
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Yeah, green cemeteries still aren’t very popular in the US, which is a shame.
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This is fantastic and beautifully produced. Thank you.
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Kind of weird that it’s become such a common practice, really. I get the impression that it’s one of those upsell services that most people could do without even for open-casket services (which obviously aren’t legally required either).
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Yeah, that’s the case… I know Caitlin Doughty did a video on it, but it was years ago and I think it was one where she was addressing multiple issues…
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Ayup.
My dad just passed, and had fortunately prepaid for the funeral. I went through the line items with the funeral director and ditched the embalming for minimal prep. The body would have been suitable for open viewing (we chose closed because dad would have had pride about such things).
Saved several hundred dollars, part of which went to engraving dates on the stone and the remainder pocketed.
Funny ancestor story, a great-someone was a carpenter and built his own casket. He decided that it was too nice to be buried in, set it up as a display in his shop, and made a plain box.
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As noted, Jews don’t do open casket funerals. Muslims don’t use caskets. The infrastructure for “green funerals” is already there.
Its just a matter of developing a culture for it for people with a Christian upbringing.
Good call.
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