If you’ve been watching BBC’s Years and Years– a near-future view of our world – you may have seen the funeral in episode 3 where the chat goes (to paraphrase) ‘this isn’t a normal crematorium you know, it’s an aquatorium’. Fire or water? Turns out, given the option, 80% of people asked would choose water cremation […]
Scottish Government is carrying out a consultation on cremation in Scotland. The deadline for responses is Friday 9 June. Here are the consultation details… The Cremation (Scotland) Regulations 2017
Did you know, there’s a hierarchy relating to who calls the shots, organising a funeral – unless you’ve set out other preferences in an “arrangements on death declaration”?
This came to my attention when friend of Final Fling, Hilary Peppiette, shared a summary of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 – the most recent legislation affecting burial and cremation in Scotland.
Jevon Truesdale, Founder at Qico in California has been in touch to let us know Fire to Water™ their new cremation system has taken a leap forward thanks to an award of $1.6 million in tax credits – a government Business & Economic Development support. The system generates ashes for scattering. It’s cleaner, safer and more energy efficient than cremation, and, Qico would argue, the ecologically beneficial way to go.
At Bristol Museum’s Death Fair at the weekend I was asked “You know you can become a tree when you die… how do I do that?” Well, here is one route to eternal life. I invited my friends at Capsula Mundi to explain…
Can we compost dead bodies? If you want to get straight to the point with more unusual death questions, Caitlin Doughty’s yer woman!
In this short film, Caitlin – in her irreverent and always intelligent, informed and spirited way – Caitlin shares her knowledge and experience… in this blog about the question of whether or not it’s possible to compost dead bodies.
In 2014, the Bonomy Commission reported on the treatment of baby ashes and recommended new laws and guidelines to protect bereaved families.
If you need help to organise a funeral or you’re thinking ahead about your own wishes, we’ve lots of ways to help from first steps when someone dies to winding up an Estate.
Mahogany and brass no longer dominate the world of coffins + caskets. Cardboard, wicker, chipboard, banana leaf, cocostick, jute, wool, bamboo, wild pineapple; earth sleepers and ecopods; hand painted, designer and artist created; in your team colours, featuring a favourite photograph, printed with sunflowers, wicker caskets with wildflowers woven through, or scribbled with good wishes […]
The finality of scattering ashes can offer closure after a death. And if it’s honouring someone’s wishes, then that very fact may bring solace to friends and family and offer a special place to visit and revisit in the days, months and years ahead. See Evelyn’s blog entry on the Good Funeral Guide’s website about the scattering […]
Farmers, local authorities, wildlife charities and landowners are developing natural burial grounds.
Graveyards, cemeteries and burials grounds – these are resting places for those who opt for burial or interment. Burials are carried out by placing a coffin in a grave, often tiered in a lair of 3, one on top of the other. (Ashes can also be buried or interred.) When you buy the ‘title’ […]
As with every other aspect of dying, there are options on how to dress. This is usually a favourite outfit, a smart suit, a robe or shroud. It can be your trademark jeans and t-shirt, your prom dress, your old comfies. You may prefer to leave this world as you came, with nothing and wearing […]
If you opt for burial or want ashes buried, you can usually erect a memorial headstone or gravestone.
Gravestones or headstones are used as ‘memento mori’, memorials of death. Throughout history and across cultures, there are many symbols that represent death, some of them used universally.
