For Information / Links Specifically About Green Burials, Please Go To Our Page "A Case For Green Burials"
For Information, Written And Spoken, About After-Death Care:
Organizations, Guide Books & Websites:
CROSSINGS One of the first organizations in this country to deal with and support caring for our own at death. Founder & Workshop Leader: Beth Knox at 301-593- 5451 www.Crossings.net (site for training manual: “Crossings: Caring for Our Own at Death” as well as workshop schedule)
MANUAL & GUIDE FOR SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA: “When a Loved One Dies Things You Should Know” by Penny Rhodes & Arian Hungaski Penny can be reached at her email address: pennyrho@aol.com or by phone: 610-756-6253. Penny has also recently made a collage of her father's home funeral and can be found on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4nl-7prp2A
FINAL PASSAGES www.FinalPassages.org "Green and Loving Family-Directed
Home Funerals" Jerrigrace Lyons, California
UNDERTAKEN WITH LOVE: A HOME FUNERAL GUIDE FOR CONGREGATIONS
AND COMMUNITIES comes from the group UNDERTAKEN WITH LOVE:
http://undertakenwithlove.org This comprehensive guide book can be bought through the mail or downloaded for free. It is a collaborative effort by people from all parts of the country and one of the best guide books out there.
For the guide book itself, go to: http://undertakenwithlove.org/?page_id=104
www.LastRights.info Site of LAST RIGHTS OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA:
CREATING A HOME FUNERAL
Even though this site deals with specifics of Central Pennsylvania (and
does it very well), it has a very good page which succinctly lays out
what the most important legal actions are that must be carried out in a
home funeral:
www.LastRights.info/DIY.html This is found under their "Making
"Arrangements tab.
HOME FUNERAL DIRECTORY HomeFuneralDirectory.com Site offering a map showing where, state by state, Home Funeral & Green Burial groups are located in this country. Also offered, a free "eBook: Checklist for Planning a Home Funeral" at :
www.HomeFuneral.info/archives/39
Other sites associated with Donna Belk and Sandy Booth:
NATURAL END- PROVIDER NETWORK www.NaturalEnd.com "Connecting
families with funeral directors, service providers and cemeteries pledged to
offer more natural funeral options in North America"
A SACRED MOMENT www.ASacredMoment.com "A Sacred Moment is a unique
funeral service empowering families and friends to honor the passing of a
loved one through a home funeral vigil, green burial or life celebration
service." Char Barrett Everett, Washington
NATURAL TRANSITIONS www.NaturalTransitions.org "Funeral Guidance - Our
mission is to educate and support families who choose to care for their own
dead, helping them to make choices that are more meaningful, affordable,
and environmentally conscious." Karen van Vuuren Boulder, Coloradoq
Natural Transitions is now offering a magazine called "Natural Transitions
Magazine: Sharing Conscious, Holistic Approaches to Dying, Death and
After Death Care" http://www.naturaltransitionsmagazine.com
NATIONAL HOME FUNERAL ALLIANCE The National Home Funeral Alliance: "We are a group of home funeral advocates all across the United States who are forming an alliance for the purpose of educating the consumer about the intrinsic value of a home funeral." http://www.HomeFuneralAlliance.org
GREEN BURIAL COUNCIL is an "organization working to encourage
environmentally sustainable death care and the use of burial as a new means of protecting natural areas. " http://www.greenburialcouncil.org
Joe Sehee is Executive Director/President/Founder, and our own
Donna Larsen is Communications Director: donna@greenburialcouncil.org
FUNERAL CONSUMERS ALLIANCE "... is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting a consumer's right to choose a meaningful, dignified, affordable funeral." http://www.funerals.org
** " Before I Go, You Should Know" - Funeral Planning Kit " ... an
end-of-life planning kit. ... with state-specific Living Will and other
advance medical directives and a 16-page write-in booklet ..."
can be ordered in the Bookstore of The Funeral Consumers Alliance
website. http://www.funerals.org
This is a very complete planning kit which will tell others exactly
what your wishes are about your after-death care.
SACRED CROSSINGS, 'BRINGING FUNERALS HOME' "... empowers families and
friends to reclaim the lost art and healing ritual of a home
funeral" Olivia Bareham http://www.SacredCrossings.com
Olivia serves the Los angeles area.
FUNERAL ETHICS ORGANIZATION "Ethical dealings respect the feelings and
emotions of the bereaved, provide respect to the deceased's body, and
refrain from taking economic advantage of consumers making funeral or
memorial purchases." http://www.funeralethics.org
Lisa Carlson, Executive Director
An interesting page/link about Lisa and reviews of her book "Caring for
the Dead - Your Final Act of Love" (listed below) is
http://www.upperaccess.com/experts/carlson.html
SACRED CEREMONIES LTD "Providing Spiritual Guidance Throughout Life's
Transitions" includes Home Funeral Guidance Lucy Basler NW Wisconsin
http://www.sacredceremoniesltd.org
THRESHOLD CARE CIRCLE "Integrating after-death care into family and
community life" This group also offers an advanced planning
workbook, "My Final Wishes," which can be ordered on their website.
They are centered in Viroqua, Wisconsin
http://www.thresholdcarecircle.org
MINNESOTA THRESHOLD NETWORK "A Meeting Place For All Who Are
Interested in Topics of Death and Dying" Minneapolis, MN
http://mnthresholdnetwork.wordpress.com/
AFTER DEATH HOME CARE "Helping people care for their loved one at home
in the hours or days after death." This site includes a new 18-minute
video about home funerals made by Merilynne. Merilynne Rush,
Home Funeral Guide, Ann Arbor MI http://www.afterdeathhomecare.com
Magazine, Newspaper & Web Articles:
Huffington Post 25 January 2013:
“Home Funerals Grow as Americans Skip The Mortician for Do-It-
Yourself After-Death Care" By Jaweed Kaleem
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/home-funerals-death-mortician_n_2534934.html
"Death and Dying: How To Plan a Home Funeral" by Leah Zerbe
Interviewing Our Penny Rhodes, on NHNE website ( New Heaven,
New Earth) http://nhne-pulse.org/how-to-plan-a-home-funeral
New York Times Article: "Reviving a Ritual of Tending to the Dead"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/nyregion/13burial.html?_r=2
"Recycle Yourself: Being Green in Life and Death" by Donna Larsen
http://cosozo.com/article/recycle-yourself-being-green-life-and
"Home Funerals Making a Comeback in NJ" NJ.com Article about the workshop
given in Princeton by Laurie Powsner, Executive Director of the Funeral
Consumers Alliance of Princeton, and A Natural Undertaking's Cheryl Clark and
Eleanor Dillard: http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/04/home_funerals_making_a_combac.html
"The Call: A Community Coming Together for Viroqua Teens" in the Winter 2010
Issue of "Lilipoh: The Spirit of Life" A very personal story about a community in
Wisconsin carrying out home funerals for their teenagers who died
suddenly. Written by Charlene Elderkin of Threshold Care Circle, this article can
be found at: http://www.lilipoh.com/articles/2010Issues/Winter10/The_Call.aspx
Business Week Magazine Article "The Greening of Death" Nov 2011:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-greening-of-death-11032011.html%0D
Videos & Movies:
"A Family Undertaking - Home Funerals in America,” a POV PBS Documentary by
Elizabeth Webstrate, Fanlight Productions, 1-800-937-4113, info@fanlight.com
www.PBS.org/POV/POV2004/afamilyundertaking
“Passing Through Our Hands” "a Home Funeral guide video on how to provide after-
death care of the body" www.PassingThroughOurHands.com
“Departures” 2009 Academy Award nominated foreign film directed by Yojiro Takita
depicting a very beautiful ceremony surrounding caring for the dead.
"The Most Excellent Dying of Theodore Jack Heckelman" by Nancy Jewel Poer:
"A heart-warming full-length documentary of the courageous dying of a man
determined to die consciously and who, in so doing, gave manifold blessings to
everyone around him ..."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623170
"A Natural Undertaking" on TV, Radio & YouTube:
Philadelphia CBS Nightly News: Jim Donovon's video "Eye on Your Side" story
on Home Funerals aired in September 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccN5pKaJa3U
Berks Community TV: Circle of Life Coalition Panel Discussion on Home Funerals and Green Burials: "Unveiling the Truth About Home Funerals" 5 November 2009:
www.bctv.org/vmix_03f8b1bc-c19e-54e4-9f66-a78b2d4cc4da.html
Columbia University Radio program by Joe Danielewicz "The Changing Funeral Business" includes interviews with our Penny Rhodes and The Crossings' Beth Knox (both in segment 2) : http://web.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/radio/masters/2011/index.asp
TV & Radio Programs:
KQED TV in California: A homey, well done and informative piece on Green Burial featuring Joe Sehee, President of the Green Burial Council:
http://kqed.org/quest/television/view/114
Backstory Radio, a program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities,
28 May 2010 "Grave Matters: A History of Death and Mourning"
http://backstoryradio.org/2010/05/grave-subjects-a-history-of-death-and-mourning
KSTP TV MInneapolis/St Paul feature news story regarding the home funeral
which Heather Halen held for her husband, as well as a snip from
Heather's testimony before the Minnesota Legislature about the value
of her experience: http://www.KSTP.com/news/stories/S1456501.shtml?CAT=1
Radio Times w/ Marty Moss-Coane on Philadelphia NPR: " ... the Green Burial movement with guests Dr. Billy Campbell, Founder and President of the Memorial Ecosystems and Ramsey Creek Preserve, the first green cemetery in the United States, and Mark Harris, the author of Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial.” :
http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/2011/09/29/green-burial/
Books:
"Grave Matters: A Journey through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural
Way of Burial" by Mark Harris www.gravematters.us
"Caring for the Dead - Your Final Act of Love" by Lisa Carlson Lisa's revised edition
is "Final Rights: Reclaiming The American Way of Death":
"Dealing Creatively With Death - A Manual of Death Education & Simple Burial"
by Ernest Morgan
"Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully: A Journey with Cancer and Beyond"
by Nancy Manahan & Becky Bohan
"The Natural Death Handbook" by Josefine Speyer & Stephanie Wienrich and "The
New Natural Death Handbook" by Nicholas Albery & Stephanie Wienrich
"Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, & Communications of
the Dying " by Maggie Callanan & Patricia Kelley
"Living Into Dying: A Journal of Spiritual and Practical Deathcare for Family
and Community" by Nancy Jewel Poer
“Talking About Death Won’t Kill You” by Virginia Morris
“Sacred Dying - Creating Rituals for Embracing the End of Life” by Megory
Anderson
“Remembering Well: Rituals for Celebrating Life and Mourning Death” by Sarah
York
“Final Passage” by Barbara Harris Whitfield
“Intimate Death” by Marie De Hennezel
“Love Lives On” by Louise Lagrand
“The Final Crossing” by Scott Eberle
“Dying Well” by Ira Byock
“The Four Things That Matter Most” by Ira Byock
A Partial List of Books by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross:
“On Death and Dying”
“On Children and Death”
“On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages
of Loss” (with David Kessler)
“Life Lessons” (with David Kessler & E. Kessler)
“Tunnel of Light: Essential Insights on Living and Dying”
“Remember the Secret”
“The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying” (with Todd Gold)