Smith, Jeremy,
Death & the Salesmen. Jeremy Smith. - Ecologist, 2003. - SIRS Enduring Issues 2005. Article 65, Family, 1522-3213; .
Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2005. Originally Published: Death & the Salesmen, Dec. 2003/Jan. 2004; pp. 42-46.
"Our attitude to death was not always like this. In the past, before the Victorians came over all squeamish, families took care of their own. A woman would learn from her mother how to lay out a body once it had died, and how then to care for it. A father would teach his son how to build a coffin and dig a grave. And all of this was watched and understood by the children, themselves learning from a young age not to fear the bodies of the dead, but simply to see death as an inevitable part of life. Most importantly, all of this took place in the home. Everything was done cheaply, quickly, and locally." (ECOLOGIST) The author evaluates the evolution of the "expensive, polluting, unnatural and booming" funeral industry, considers what our attitudes about death say about our culture and presents some natural funeral alternatives.
1522-3213;
Biodegradation
Burial
Cremation
Death
Environmental degradation
Funeral rites and ceremonies--Environmental aspects
Undertakers and undertaking
AC1.S5
050
Death & the Salesmen. Jeremy Smith. - Ecologist, 2003. - SIRS Enduring Issues 2005. Article 65, Family, 1522-3213; .
Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2005. Originally Published: Death & the Salesmen, Dec. 2003/Jan. 2004; pp. 42-46.
"Our attitude to death was not always like this. In the past, before the Victorians came over all squeamish, families took care of their own. A woman would learn from her mother how to lay out a body once it had died, and how then to care for it. A father would teach his son how to build a coffin and dig a grave. And all of this was watched and understood by the children, themselves learning from a young age not to fear the bodies of the dead, but simply to see death as an inevitable part of life. Most importantly, all of this took place in the home. Everything was done cheaply, quickly, and locally." (ECOLOGIST) The author evaluates the evolution of the "expensive, polluting, unnatural and booming" funeral industry, considers what our attitudes about death say about our culture and presents some natural funeral alternatives.
1522-3213;
Biodegradation
Burial
Cremation
Death
Environmental degradation
Funeral rites and ceremonies--Environmental aspects
Undertakers and undertaking
AC1.S5
050