Home Funerals/Green Burials: An Alternative to Conventional

Funerals

Pamela Ortner, RN, MS, CHPN MAOHN

September 28, 2012

Michigan Association Occupational Health Nurses

Annual ConferenceGrand Rapids, MI

SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION: To receive contact hours, participants must attend the entire program and complete an evaluation. Please return your completed evaluation forms to a MAOHN Associate at the end of the presentation.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST:All activity planners for this educational activity have reported norelevant financial relationships with commercial interests.

Presenters for this educational activity have reported no relevantconflict of interest.

COMMERCIAL SUPPORT:No Commercial Support was received for this presentation.

NON-ENDORSEMENT OF PRODUCTS:The presence of commercial exhibits during the presentation does notimply endorsement by MAOHN or any other parties.

Objectives: By the end of the presentation you should be able to:

Self-identify personal values/wishes for after-life care

Describe one difference between conventional & greener funeral/ritual and burial process in the U.S.

List one Michigan-specific legal requirement for burial.

List two themes that emerged from survey of participants in home funerals

Who We Are •Nurse for 35 years•Hospice Nurse Educator/Quality Outcomes Specialist•MS Community/ Occupational Health from U of M•CHPN•UM VPP COHSE; explored alternatives to conventional funerals and burials•Public/environmental health for 24 years

PAM

What is considered a conventional viewing, funeral and burial?

Chemical embalming/cosmetic restoration

Casket Outer burial container or vault Cremation Urn

What would you like to happen?

What would you like your room or space to look like in your final days,

hours, moments…

What type of ritual, celebration, or ceremony would you like to take

place after you pass on…?

Death is a natural processUntil the modern era, our

formaldehyde-free bodies were kept in the home for viewing for several

days, then laid in the ground, returning to the earth

History of Embalming US

•Embalming surgeons in Civil War•President Lincoln•Funeral homes and embalmers began to flourish beginning of 20th century

Turn of the century embalmer’s kit

Reasons to Embalm It slows body decay by fixing

cellular proteins Restores “life-like” appearance Provides a “memory picture” Family/loved ones must view the

body in order to process death “Setting the features” No evidence that it is necessary to

protect human health

The process of embalming Massaging and manipulation of extremities to

“break rigor mortis” “Stay cream” and eyecaps on eyes to shut

them or super glue Closing jaw with thread or wire Absorbent material or mastic in cheeks and

gums “Seal cream” for the lips Internal organs are punctured and removed Area flooded with formaldehyde and phenol Arteries injected with formaldehyde and phenol Cavities packed with absorbent material or

cotton

What’s wrong with a conventional burial?

Absolutely nothing!• CHOICE is key!

Did you know…• A body does not have to embalmed?• A body does not need to be buried in

a casket or a vault?• You do not have to purchase a casket

or coffin from the funeral home?• Funeral homes are required by law to

show you their price list

Did you know? Home funerals are legal in most states? Embalming is not required in Michigan

(except for a few limited situations)? That you may keep a loved one’s body at

home for several days after death? Cleansing of the body as well as viewing

and ceremony can take place in the home with as little assistance from the funeral home as one desires, as is done in just about every nation in the world -- with the exception of the US, Canada and a half-dozen others?

A casket is not required by law, but most cemeteries require it along with a vault

Michigan Specific Requirements

Death certificate: signed by Physician, Medical Examiner and Funeral Director

Estates Code (700.3206): Supervision of body disposition of body:

funeral director Cremation: death certificate filed to

obtain cremation authorization by Medical Examiner

Transportation of body: burial transit permit from funeral director/county clerk who certified death certificate

Who has the right to make funeral decisions? Spouse Children Parents Siblings Nieces/nephews Grandparents Aunts/Uncles Cousins Personal representative in will Guardian or appointed

representative

Why would someone choose to have a home funeral/green burial?

Personal reasons: To care for one’s own loved ones. More intimate alternative.

Lower cost: no embalming, high cost caskets, or concrete vaults. If the family supplies their own shroud or coffin, the cost can be further reduced (Gonzalez & Hereira, 2008)

Environmental Impacts: Annually over 30 million board feet of hardwood and 90,000 tons of steel in caskets, 17,000 tons of steel and copper in vaults, and 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete in vaults

Economic Impacts: Funeral Cost/Rate of Inflation/ Cremation %

Economic Impacts Non-declinable basic services fee ~

$1,817. Removal/transfer to funeral home ~

250. Embalming ~

628. Other prep ~ 200. Use of facilities for viewing ~

395. Funeral ceremony ~

450. Use of hearse ~

275. Use of service car/van

125. Printing

125. Metal casket ~

2,295. Vault ~

1,195.

$7755.

Arsenic

Occupational impacts of embalming Arsenic discontinued in early 1900s Formaldehyde use first recorded in 1962 Approximately 3.5 gallons embalming

fluid used for each bodyLong term exposure: Probable human carcinogen (EPA,

1987) Known human carcinogen (IARC,

National Toxicology Program, 2011) Possible sites: brain, nasal cavities,

lung, pancreas and lymph nodes Possible neurotoxin

Environmental impacts of cemetery burial Additional binders, glues, stains,

varnishes, and fabrics to produce and finish caskets 

Many of these materials have an adverse impact on the environment, leaching dangerous chemicals into watersheds 

Sourcing of exotic hardwoods for caskets depletes rain forests

Carbon footprint for cement, caskets, urns that come from a distance

Environmental impacts of cremation > 1,000,000 crematoriums in U.S. Uses less resources than burial Fossil fuel consumption Lack of pollution prevention devices,

especially older facilities Particulate matter emissions Vaporized mercury is emitted from dental

amalgam fillings; extraction of teeth pre-cremation desirable

Dioxin contamination when body is burned(IARC, known human carcinogen, 1997)

“Greener caskets”

Final Footprint

The Funeral Rule (1984) FTCYou have the right: to choose the funeral goods and services you want (with

some exceptions). to ask for and receive a General Price List that states

your right to choose what you want in writing. receive a disclosure from the funeral provider if state or

local law requires you to buy any particular good or service, describing the funeral goods and services you have selected and with a reference to the specific law.

to bring to the funeral home a casket or urn you bought elsewhere (funeral provider cannot refuse to handle or charge you a fee to do that).

ask and receive an alternative container from a funeral provider who offers cremations

to refuse to pay for embalming or cremation that your family didn’t authorize, unless it’s required by state law.

What is a “green burial”?Green burial — caring for the dead

without the use of toxins and materials that are not biodegradable

Green Burial Council: Nonprofit organization

First standards and eco-certification program Burial Grounds Funeral Homes Products Cremation Disposition Programs

.

Types of “green” burial grounds Hybrid Burial Grounds

Low-Impact Burial Grounds Natural Burial Grounds Conservation Burial Grounds

Hybrid Burial Grounds Conventional cemeteries offering the

option of burial without vaults or embalming, and that allow for the use of eco-friendly burial containers.

Low impact burial groundsGreen Burial Council certification:

a) Prohibits use of burial vaults, b) Prohibits burial of bodies embalmed with toxic chemicals, c) Burial containers made from toxic/nonhazardous materials, d) Reduced pesticide use.

Natural burial grounds Low-Impact Burial Ground

practices/protocols Naturalistic appearance, Use of native plants and

materials Landscaping patterns

compatible with regional ecosystems

Conservation burial grounds Natural Burial Ground

practices/protocols Legitimate land conservation Protect in perpetuity an area of land

designated only for conservation Established conservation

organization holds conservation easement or deed restriction guaranteeing long-term stewardship

In Michigan Ridgeview Memorial Gardens - Hybrid

Burial Ground0-5151 8th Ave SWGrandville MI 49418 616-249-8439 www.ridgeviewmemorialgardens.com

Themes that emerged from survey of participants in home funerals

Washing and preparing the body Keeping the body at home Continuing relationship Caring for deceased as they had in

life Positive community event Spontaneity of ceremony/ritual (Wilson, 2009)

Home-based celebrations bring death out of the shadows

and into the light of life.

To care for a loved one in this manner can be a choice, a gift to the survivorsthat may create a more meaningful,

lighter ecological, occupational and economic footprint for those who want to honor

the final transition in this way.

Case Studies

Beth Knox

Ann and Dwight

Alternatives

Eye/organ donation Michigan Eye Bank:

www.michiganeyeback.org(800) 247-7250

Organ & Tissue Donation:Gift of Life: www.giftoflifemichigan.org(734) 922-1357

Whole Body Donation:MedCure: www.medcure.org(877) 253-0733

Resources Gonzalez, F. and Hereira, M. (2008).

Home-Based Viewing (El Velorio) After Death: A Cost-Effective Alternative for Some Families. American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine. 2008 Oct-Nov; 25(5), 419-20.

National Funeral Director’s Association. Accessed April 10, 2012 at: www.nfda.org

Wilson, M.T. (2009). The Home Funeral as the Final Act of Caring: A Qualitative Study. Unpublished master’s degree in nursing dissertation. Madonna University. Livonia, Michigan.