Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

LIVING THE GREEN LIFE — AND DEATH

The government's inaction on the matter has caused environmental activists to create their own organization to promote more environmentally friendly ways of disposing of the dead, said Joe Sehee, executive director of the nonprofit Green Burial Council.

The council has enlisted the help of 300 funeral homes across the nation to begin offering green burials that do not use embalming or other traditional but wasteful materials, such as metal caskets and granite and marble headstones.

"It's really the energy that goes into all this that is most worrisome," Sehee said.

The council has created criteria for evaluating whether a cemetery is green and how green it is.

Lawrence is home to Kansas' only green cemetery. It's actually a smaller, wooded section of the city-operated Oak Hill Cemetery in East Lawrence near 15th and Elmwood streets. At Oak Hill, regular burials and green burials cost the same. Each plot costs $700 in addition to a $640 to $1,100 fee for digging and covering the grave. Embalmed bodies and caskets that use metal or glues can't be buried in the green section.

"We think green burial is a traditional burial," Sehee said. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust is a concept that's been with us a lot longer."

Despite the amount of national press coverage, green burials in Lawrence haven't been that popular. Only three individuals have chosen to have a green burial here since it became an option in January 2009. In 2009, 225 bodies were buried in Lawrence's three cemeteries.

Environmentalists also want to change the types of embalming fluids used.

Some formaldehyde-free embalming fluids have been introduced into the market, but they're not widely used. Even crematoria, the ovens used to burn the human body into a gravel-like consistency of bones and ashes known as cremains, are being eyed for more energy-efficient upgrades.

Some critics decry the release of greenhouse gases and mercury from dental work that pours out of the ovens, which burn at temperatures close to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Some have suggested that morticians start removing metal dental work from the deceased before cremation.

Though the release of carbon dioxide from crematoria isn't easy on the environment, experts say less overall energy is expended in cremation than in traditional burial. Nonetheless, the Green Burial Council is working to promote more energy-efficient crematoria and is looking at ways to install filters on existing crematoria.

THE MEMORY PICTURE

The ancient Egyptians believed the dead were capable of taking their bodies and possessions with them into the afterlife, making preservation of the earthly body a necessity. Thousands of years later, that idea is all but extinct in mainstream society. But funeral directors have still found a way to sell the value of embalming.

They maintain that viewing the restored, preserved body helps mourners cope with the loss.

"I wonder why it's not popular in other places like it is here," said Patty Dardis, a veteran funeral director at Rumey-Yost.

Dardis said she found that when she lost loved ones, viewing the body provided closure for her, just as it does for other survivors.

"Seeing is believing," she said.

That's not to say that embalming is required to view the body.

Most states do not require embalming except in special circumstances. In some states, including Kansas, embalming is required for interstate shipping of the body. Some funeral homes may require embalming for open-casket funerals or public viewings. But most will still allow the family a private viewing of the body even if it's not embalmed.

Popularized in industry trade publications, the concept of the "memory picture" is how morticians continue to sell the art of temporary preservation. The embalmer is not only looking to preserve the body, but is also trying to create a positive last image for loved ones.

Through restorative art, as it's called within the industry, nearly all physical imperfections of the live human body can be erased.

No longer does Grandma look frail from months of illness. The woman who was mutilated in an automobile accident suddenly looks as if she avoided any injury at all. Even a decapitated cadaver can be altered to look whole again.

This restoration, funeral directors argue, provides a positive psychological effect for grievers that can't be realized in immediate burial, direct cremation or green burial.

This "memory picture" concept benefits the funeral industry financially. Not only do undertakers charge a fee — in Lawrence it ranges between $550 and $675 just for the embalming — but they make even more money on the accompanying casket and service.

"Number one, once they pretty up the body, they can probably sell you a more expensive casket. So you've got to follow the dollar here," said Lisa Carlson, an outspoken critic of the funeral industry and author of the books "Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love" and "I Died Laughing: Funeral Education with a Light Touch."

FUNERAL FLAK

Carlson, the former executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit that educates families of the deceased about their rights, is a leader in the recent movement toward caring for the dead at home. In all but a handful of states, it's legal to care for the dead, hold a home funeral and even perform a burial within the privacy of your own home. In Kansas, home burial is legal, but it is subject to county regulations.

Carlson argues that the funeral industry has long taken advantage of customers, who are vulnerable because of their grief. Morticians can essentially charge whatever they like for their services, creating "a system that invites abuse," she said.

But consumers are partially to blame. Americans shy away from planning for death, which cripples their decision-making when death and grief arrive.

"People don't want to talk about it, and they don't want to think about it," said Tracey LaPierre, assistant professor of sociology and assistant research scientist in the Gerontology Center.

The loss of her father and two grandfathers back in Canada while she was a graduate student here in the U.S. sparked LaPierre's initial interest in the funeral industry. Her interest quickly turned into a passionate research topic. She's now one of the few KU professors knowledgeable in thanatology, the study of the social and psychological implications of death. She teaches the course "Sociology of Death and Dying."

Her father's death in a car accident was the first death of a close family member she experienced. The tragedy left her with a list of decisions she was unprepared to make.

Would he have preferred cremation or burial?

Did he want a religious ceremony?

What songs would he want played at the funeral?

In her class, LaPierre preaches the importance of making one's wishes known through wills, advanced directives and dialogue with family, which can help avoid these lingering questions. Open discussion and understanding of death is perhaps one of the best ways to prepare for and cope with loss. Yet, she, like many people, still hasn't made her own final wishes known on paper.

"I'm just as susceptible as everyone else," she said. "You always think there will be more time tomorrow."

The whole experience of her father's death is a blur, but she remembers one thing.

"Honestly, price wasn't an issue," she said. "We didn't even care."

In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea to dish out thousands of dollars for a fancy casket. But at the moment, the pressure to act quickly and demonstrate her love for her father trumped reason and practicality, she said.

The experience of planning a funeral, coupled with her in-depth study, has left her a much more enlightened consumer. She suggests planning ahead and never being afraid to shop around or to leave a funeral home that doesn't treat you well.

The Funeral Consumers Alliance maintains that an abundance of funeral homes and undertakers in many states has caused an oversaturated market and higher costs for consumers. In Kansas, the Alliance estimates a need for only 99 funeral homes, but 326 funeral homes are currently in operation.

"They're fighting over dead bodies in many areas," Carlson said.

Lawrence is home to three funeral homes, two of which are equipped to perform cremations. About 500 people die each year in Douglas County.

Even critics aren't predicting the death of the death care industry. Neither Carlson nor Sehee foresee the extinction of the traditional American funeral anytime soon.

"Home schooling never put the schools out of business. Home births never put the OB/GYNs out of business. Home funerals aren't going to put the funeral directors out of business," Carlson said. "But they may have to start selling homeowners insurance on the side or refinish antiques or something."

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3