Funeral expenses in the United States average more than $10,000. And every year conventional funerals bury millions of tons of wood, concrete, and metals, as well as millions of gallons of carcinogenic embalming fluid. There is a better way, and Elizabeth Fournier, affectionately dubbed the "Green Reaper," walks you through it, step-by-step. She provides comprehensive and compassionate guidance, covering everything from green burial planning and home funeral basics to legal guidelines and outside-the-box options, such as burials at sea. Fournier points the way to green burial practices that consider both the environmental well-being of the planet and the economic well-being of loved ones. Authoritative how-to's from a pioneering champion of home funerals and natural burials Elizabeth Fournier is the owner and operator of Cornerstone Funeral Services in Boring, Oregon, the first green funeral home in the Portland metropolitan area. She is a member of the international board of directors for North America Natural Burial and the advisory board for the Green Burial Council, the environmental certification organization setting the standards for green burial in North America. SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION Preface What Is Green Burial A Brief History The Eco-Statistics But is Green Burial Legal? SECTION TWO: GETTING STARTED Why I Wrote This Book How to Use This Book Talking the Talk The Fundamentals Greenwashing SECTION THREE: WHAT DOES A GREEN BURIAL LOOKS LIKE? A Green Burial Glimpse My First Green Burial Basic Green Burial Terms But What about Cremation? Isn't It Green? SECTION FOUR: PUTTING THE PLAN ON PAPER How Much Does a Green Burial Cost? What is a Home Funeral? What is Your Vision? Funeral Wish List SECTION FIVE: LEGALITIES Do I Need a Funeral Director? Appointing an Individual to Handle Arrangements Order of the Next of Kin How to Appoint an Agent Durable Power of Attorney Document Legal Paperwork Vital Statistics Form How to Obtain a Home Funeral Packet SECTION SIX: D-I-Y BURIAL It Takes a Village Death Cafe What is a Death Midwife? What is a Death Care Consultant? SECTION SEVEN: HOW TO HANDLE THE BODY A Few Words of Precaution Washing Green Embalming Dressing Refrigeration Dry Ice Transportation SECTION EIGHT: NATURAL BURIAL CASKET How to Make a Green Burial Wood Casket Shelves for Life SECTION NINE: GREEN BURIAL CONTAINERS Green Burial Shrouds Shrouding Board? Cardboard Casket Infinity Burial Suit Infinity Burial Shroud Kinkaraco Shrouds SECTION TEN: GREEN BURIAL GROUNDS What Qualifies as a Green Burial Ground? Three Kinds of Green Burial Cemeteries List of Green Burial Grounds by State and Province SECTION ELEVEN: BACKYARD BURIAL Considerations Legalities Zoning In Surveying and Measuring Tools Needed for Digging Deep Going Underground Lowering the Body Troubleshooting Unseen Issues SECTION TWELVE: GREEN BURIALS OF THE FAMOUS Joey Feek Lynn Redgrave Andy Griffith Cesar Chavez A Will for the Woods Movie SECTION THIRTEEN: OTHER GREEN DISPOSITION OPTIONS Burial at Sea Body Farm Religion and Green Burial Scene of a Native American Burial SECTION FOURTEEN: GREEN BURIAL IN OTHER CULTURES Upright (Vertical) Burial Human Composting ? Promessa Capsula Mundi Hanging Coffins Tibetan Sky Burials Turning of the Bones SECTION FIFTEEN: GREENING YOUR CREMAINS Crestone End-of-Life Project Alkaline Hydrolysis Dryer Lint Urns Eternal Reefs Bio Urn Let Your Love Grow Rest in Pieces Sustainable Art SECTION SIXTEEN: GREENING YOUR LAST HURRAH Sustainable Mourning Meals Hold the Flowers Send a Tree Seed Cards Memory Cards Carpooling SECTION SEVENTEEN: CONCLUSION Resources Index Photo Credits "Elizabeth Fournier is doing her part to change the way Americans bury their dead."
