Hw - 51 Second Third of COTD Book

Mark Harris, Grave Matters: A Journey Through The Modern Funeral Industry to A Natural Way of Burial, 2007, Scribner, New York, NY.

Precis: Brian Benson's decision to cremate his mother puts him at odds with an unbroken traditional of burial on both sides of his family, but like other families-and entire cultures-we have been using this method since the stone age. The trade off between having a loved one cremated other than burial, its less expensive and is considered more "green." For Janet King her brother Leonard always loved the water and after he had died of heart failure and was cremated, she knew she'd have to cast his ashes over the ocean. committing to this type of burial is more complicated that what it might seem, there are state requirements needed to perform this type of burial. One of them being acquiring a scattering permit. The EPA requires that you scatter ashes at sea at least three miles from the nearest shoreline

Quotes:
"My mother thought having people see her dead body laid out in a funeral home wasn't going to her or anyone else any good. Burial she found equally objectionable, in large part because it needlessly took up so much real estate and at such high cost. Cremation, by contrast, just seemed simpler, cheaper and a whole lot more conserving."(51)

"No federal or state law prohibits you from performing either type of sea burial yourself, as long as you obey the pertinent laws...All this said, there are no "ashes police" who are actively enforcing existing scattering laws, and it's highly unlikely that you'll be cited for illegal sea scattering."(85)

Analysis:
Mark Harris provides a sequence of other burials that presumably are less expensive and potentially are "more green" depending on the company you decide to have cremate deceased loved member(s). In the second third of the book, the main focuses are alternatives to the widely traditional burials like embalming cultures usually attend to, but in this part of the book, Harris shines light on other methods people can use to perform a still significant and meaningful burial, but all at a lower cost. Cremation and burial at sea are two types of methods people tend to choose depending on whether or not the loved felt emotionally connected to be cremated and or float at see and financially not cost as much.