Going Home Green

If we’re trying to live lightly on the earth, couldn't we plan for a greener death as well?  The Going Home Green group is learning about end-of-life practices that honor environment and community. We're reclaiming time-honored traditions, discovering new ones, and finding local and national resources: follow the links here. 

How would you like to live your last days?
Even if you already have an advance care directive, consider talking with those close to you about how you'd picture your final days, given the choice. Whether it's at home or in a healthcare setting, perhaps with hospice care, what might give you comfort?  Honoring Choices MN has ways to start the conversation, and Compassion and Choices MN has "tools to finish strong," including dementia considerations.

 What about your care immediately after death?
A funeral home can prepare the body, but you may have more choices and legal rights than you're aware of-- for example, the home funeral. Today, more families are choosing to care for the body at home and even welcoming visitors: in Minnesota, it's permitted for up to 3 days after the death. You might consider a local guide such as Anne Murphy of A Thousand Hands, Angela Woosley of Inspired Journeys, or a faith group leader. There are legal and practical needs, too, so plan in advance to meet state regulations. The national Funeral Consumers Alliance website includes a chart showing various states' regulations on after-death care (it may need updating). 

Body disposition: You have options
Some local "hybrid cemeteries" now allow a version of green burial: you can skip embalming and use a shroud or biodegradable vessel instead of a casket and vault. These include Roselawn in Roseville, Mound in Brooklyn Center, Oak Hill in Minneapolis, and Resurrection in Mendota Heights. Families can take a hands-on approach to the burial ceremony: see Interra Green Burial and Prairie Oaks Memorial Eco-Gardens. The Land Conservation Natural Burial Project is planning for an east-metro area where burials are part of the land stewardship program. Another resource is the Green Burial Council. 

If you choose cremation, there’s a water-based process that emits a lot less carbon: in a few hours, alkaline hydrolosis ("water cremation") reduces a body to ashy fragments, similar to a flame cremation. Several metro-area funeral homes now offer it, including Bradshaw. One option for disposition of ashes (of any type) is the Better Place Forest in Scandia, one of several memorial forests nationwide. If you consider body donation through the Mayo Clinic or University of Minnesota, you might ask whether the process currently ends with alkaline hydrolysis or flame cremation.  

Natural organic reduction is a new funerary process that gently and safely reduces the human body to compost in a specialized facility in about 8 weeks. Developed by the Seattle-based company Recompose, NOR makes sense especially for cities where burial lands are scarce. In 2024, Minnesota was the first state in the central US to legalize the process, the eleventh nationwide. Stay tuned to Live On Minnesota for news of what might be Minnesota's first NOR facility.  Meanwhile, some resources:

• "Human composting" should be legal, editorial in Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), March 18, 2024

• If you want to give something back to nature, give your body by Caitlin Doughty, NY Times, Dec. 5, 2022

• Human composting as a new death care alternative: A guide to NOR, US Funerals Online, Jan. 2023

The Going Home Green group will share more resources as we discover them. For info or to join us at our occasional meetings and field trips, get in touch: 

Mindy Keskinen at mindykeskinen@comcast.net 

Joan Shrum at jacshrum@gmail.com