Bury Me In A Basket

Bury me in a basket
Curled around
A spiral coil
Of gratitude
In the ground

 

Let me go like compost
Turning to earth
Morph into topsoil
till my worth

 Let Earth rejoice
when you lay me to rest
Make me food for the ones
Who gave me their best

CCR McF

"GIVING LIFE BACK TO THE EARTH - natural burial is a new idea - the idea that in choosing how and where we are buried each one of us can conserve, sustain and protect the earth... the earth from which we came and to which we shall return.."

from The Center for Natural Burial website http://www.naturalburial.coop/

And check out recent article posted there "IT'S NOT EASY DYING GREEN": formaldehyde compounds used in embalming, to hardwoods used for caskets, to steel vaults and concrete; being laid in our final resting place has unwittingly become one of our least ecological acts.. http://www.naturalburial.coop/2008/03/31/its-not-easy-dying-green/

It's Not Easy Dying Green is by By Michael McKinney, Fiona Brady and Hilary Dixson http://earthlymatters.hellbenderpress.com/
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GREEN BURIAL COUNCIL
Since 2005, the Green Burial Council has been working to make burial sustainable for the planet, meaningful for the families, and economically viable for the provider. And in that short period of time, we've emerged as the "gold standard" among consumers, land trusts, park service agencies as well the cemetery/funeral profession.

How are we doing it?

• By developing a certification program that is bringing about a new ethic in deathcare rooted in transparency, accountability and ecological responsibility;
• By building out an international network of "approved providers" who are committed to reducing toxins, waste, and carbon emissions that have been associated with conventional end-of-life rituals; and
• By bringing conservation organizations together with cemetery operators, funeral establishments, and cremation companies to create burial programs that facilitate the restoration, acquisition and stewardship of natural areas.

http://www.greenburialcouncil.org/
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"Memorial Ecosystems is a company that hopes to unite ecology and community, help individuals create a living legacy, and carry their love and respect for nature to the grave."
http://www.memorialecosystems.com/
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And then there is "home funerals" or "natural death care". A vanguard in this life-honoring movement (reclaiming birth, reclaim death, reclaim everything in between...) is
FINAL PASSAGES in Sebastopol, California, now long-established in helping familiy and friends minister to dying loved ones all the way through after-death care, to green burial or cremation. From their website:

"Taking charge of a home funeral completely changed my attitude about life and death. It seems to help people create a personal in-home honoring ritual related to the customary way a person has lived. Through touch, story telling, emotional release, art therapy (decorating a casket), and ceremony, you are transported through a person's life and brought to the present. This facilitates closure and supports the grieving process." Karla Logue

"It will change your life. It slowed down the process, gave us the freedom to change our minds and helped us feel like we were in charge. You can listen to music, take a bubble bath, talk to your friends on the phone, share food, and make difficult arrangements all in the comfort of your own home. It makes the experience part of your life. I could take a nap beside my husband or sit in a chair in the room with his body, or come and go as much as I needed to. It helped me let go a little at a time. All my fears about death melted." Laurie Krausse

"The generation that broke the code on surgical child birth is carrying the same convention-defying spirit to the other end of life's brief spectrum."  The Navigator

"Final Passages went beyond being helpful and caring. They guided me through each phrase of after-death care for my husband without the heavy expense." Carol Greenfield

http://www.finalpassages.org/
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THEN THERE'S THIS TRAILBLAZING AUTHOR, LISA CARLSON:

"Most people don't know that in all but five states (Connecticut, Indiana*, Louisiana*, Nebraska, and New York) you do not have to call a funeral home—a family could handle all arrangements themselves. Those who have done so have found it therapeutic and caring—not to mention all the money they saved. My book Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love tells what permits are required, where to get them, and where and when to file them, for every state. A pediatric oncology nurse in California says that there is a dramatic improvement in the healing for those parents who handle all funeral arrangements themselves. This isn't a new idea. At least some of your listeners may remember when Grandma was laid out in the front parlor. We've forgotten the common lore of what to do at a time of death, simply because we have turned those arrangements over to the funeral home for so many years."

LISA CARLSON books:
In the late '90s, her landmark book Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love was published. While continuing to inform those who wish to avoid the funeral industry entirely, her new book also covers rights and options for dealing with death-care providers, thoroughly explaining funeral law in language understandable by lay persons. It is the major source of information for anybody wishing to understand and take charge of funeral arrangements for a friend or relative without being taken advantage of by people aggressively selling funeral goods and services.

In 2001, she published a very different kind of book, I Died Laughing: Funeral Education with a Light Touch. This is a collection of hilarious and cartoons on the subject of death, serving as an icebreaker for small doses of serious information that everybody should have. The publisher constantly gets letters and e-mail from people who say they read the book just for the humor but ended up learning important information in spite of the laughs.
http://www.upperaccess.com/experts/carlson.html

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CROSSINGS ~ Caring For Our Own At Death
"Renewing simplicity and sanctity at the transition time of death"

Take me back oh hills I love, Lift me from this lonely bed, Light my way with stars above, Curl soft winds about my head, Wash my feet in crystal streams, Cradle my arms in boughs of oak, Breathe the scent of pine for dreams, Wrap me tight in earthen cloak. ~Appalachian Round

CROSSINGS is a home funeral and green burial resource center. We exist to foster the integration of dying and after-death care back into our family and community life. We strive to increase awareness of alternatives to conventional funeral and burial care. We believe that home funeral and green burial care are more meaningful, affordable and environmentally responsible. We are a home funeral and green burial resource center – particularly educating the family to act as funeral director – which is legal in almost all 50 States.

We do this through:

• Education—letting families know that they are THE decision-makers in after-death care and can exercise choices that will bring about greater healing.

• Information—making information available on the exact choices available to you in creating a better experience in after-death care whether working with or without a funeral director.

• Inspiration—disseminating stories of people who have transformed their experiences around death by creating unique, memorable and beautiful after-death care.

http://www.crossings.net/

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FOR COFFINS/CASKETS CHECK OUT :
www.colorfulcoffins.com - biodegradable coffins that becomes works of art (hand paint), or biodegradable wicker (basket-casket), plus exquisite handpainted gourds and kiln fired urns for cremation ashes.

ECOPOD CASKETS (awesome - you have to look(!) thought they are imported from England; where's all the USA craftspeople??!!)) http://natural-burial.typepad.com/photos/natural_casket_gallery/ecopodred30k.html

You could just get buried in a shroud, you just have to locate a cemetery that has allocated a 'green burial' section and permits shroud-onlu burials... and purchase yourself 'the whole 9 yards" of unbleached hemp or the like..

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Legacy of Jessica Mitford - THE MITFORD INSTITUTE:
"In The American Way of Death, our online continuing education course series will address end of life issues. These classes will aim to fill in some of the gaps in gerontology courses by offering more pragmatic and culturally diverse subjects, such as the consumer and legal issues of death and dying and the cultural challenges in health care and social welfare institutions. "
http://www.mitfordinstitute.com/aboutN.html