Author Archives: Serena Holley

An Eco-friendly Afterlife

Posted on March 29, 2018 | 1 comment

With growing concern for the environment and humans’ impact on the environment, some have recently become dissatisfied with current options for the internment of themselves and their loved ones. Cremation, on average, utilizes the same amount of electricity as one person would use in an entire month. It also releases greenhouse gases into the environment, something many have been attempting to lower for decades. Traditional burial isn’t as eco-friendly as some would like either. Most coffins are made from wood, which is a concern because of growing deforestation. Additionally, heavy machinery is usually required, again emitting gases into the atmosphere. There is also growing worry that embalming fluids, over time, could leak into the ground and contaminate water sources.

 

For those who are deeply concerned about improving the environment, this has left them in a conundrum of what to do when they pass away. Some have considered the option of a biodegradable coffin, which eliminates the concern for trees, but again, burials typically require heavy machinery, which some eco-conscious individuals wish to avoid. This is the situation Katrina Spade found herself in. She had no religious or cultural ties that she felt she would need to honor after death. While searching for a solution to her dilemma, she happened across a technique used by farmers for large animals who died. Some farmers compost large animals and use the compost on the farm.

 

This sparked an idea for Spade and she decided to develop the Urban Death Project, now known as Recompose. Recompose is dedicated to finding a way to compost the deceased to truly give back to the environment. Spade describes the process as combining corpses with wood chips and aerating them in a reusable module, as the recomposing process occurs, the bodies sink down into a composting bay. As one body sinks down, others are added on top, though Spade only plans to have two services a day to limit time constraints on families. After around 30 days, the material is sifted and the compost is removed to be used in public parks, though friends and family are encouraged to take some compost for their own gardens.

 

While this eco-friendly option isn’t currently available, Spade hopes to soon make it a reality. Currently headquartered in Seattle, Recompose has registered as a Public Benefit Corporation and has stated that they are attempting to emulate nature, because nature is really good a death. Recompose has also stated that they are dedicated to making this as accessible to everyone as they can, and that they aren’t concerned with profit. This option may not be for everyone, and that is understandable, however, for those concerned with their lasting carbon footprint, Recompose may be the answer to their queries.  

 

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150219-i-will-be-composted-when-i-die

https://www.recompose.life/

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Dying in the Age of Social Media

Posted on March 1, 2018 | 2 comments

Death is typically a private affair, with those in the US even making a private industry regarding the process of dying. People who are experiencing long and drawn out deaths are often hospitalized or placed into hospice care or into a nursing home. Death is distant for those who are alive, with the dying being handled by professionals. This is the way things have been in modern history in Western society. However, this may be changing. Recently, social media has become more popular than ever, with millions using sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Youtube. This has created public connections in areas that have always been respected as private, such as death and dying.

The surge of social media usage has not escaped those who find themselves in the process of dying. In fact, some of these people have capitalized on this market and have shared their stories and experiences in a non clinical setting. This has allowed a community to develop within the internet of those who can understand and empathize one another’s experiences. Having someone to talk to who is going through the same thing is perhaps easing the way for individuals who find themselves dying.

This phenomenon has also provided a surge in autopathography, or ill people who are writing their autobiographies, including their documentation of illnesses. The openness of these people who are dying is providing physicians and therapists with valuable information regarding their thoughts and feelings during their last days. While people may be reluctant to share their deepest thoughts with medical professionals, they often find it much easier to share with strangers who know what they’re going through. This can assist these professionals in treating the dying in all aspects of their lives, not just the purely physical symptoms.

The use of social media in death is also allowing families and friends more time and ways to grieve. As their loved ones are immortalized with profiles, blogs, pictures, and videos, they can revisit these things at their leisure and take comfort in knowing that they’re always there. Similarly, it provides distance, because while mementos kept in a home are constant visible reminders of what they’ve lost, having the ability to look at social media kept by loved ones after they’ve past requires the effort and the conscious decision to look at it.

However, this publicization of death has come with a drawback in that the dying are focusing more on publishing their experiences. This has raised concerns that they are possibly withdrawing from friends and family, in favor of virtual friends and robbing the family of the chance to say goodbye. While this is certainly a possibility, after all, death is about the living, not the dead, I think it is selfish to deprive people from access to those who understand the intimate details of their illness. If death is about those left behind, then the least we can do is make dying about those who are actually dying.

http://theconversation.com/how-the-digital-age-has-changed-our-approach-to-death-and-grief-38207

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Posted in grief and mourning, the process of death