Heartwood Preserve in Tampa Bay, Florida is a 41-acre conservation cemetery serving as a model for eco-friendly death care. Source ..read more

Careers in Death Care: Cemeteries can also be so much more than burial and commemoration. Learn more about this exciting career path. Source ..read more

Take a moment to consider that the world’s history is at our fingertips instantaneously. Whether you want to learn about ancient Egyptian burial practices or find the birthplace of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the answers are a few clicks away. However, history is not confined to ancient empires and famous poets and philosophers. In 2019, The US Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration launched the Veterans Legacy Memorial Platform (VLM) with the goal of ensuring that no Veterans story is ever forgotten. VLM is an online memorial platform that gives families and friends of US V ..read more

Losing a pet is as difficult as losing any other member of the family. The emotional connection between humans and pets means that finding meaningful ways of memorializing them is paramount. Many veterinarian offices offer pet cremation and euthanasia (allowing you to bury the body wherever you legally can). But what if you want to keep your pet closer than that? What if you could preserve them and keep their body in a way that slows down the process of decomposition, allowing you to memorialize them in your own home? Pet preservation is a way to commemorate your pet without […] Source ..read more

Human Composting, also known as natural organic reduction, soil transformation, and Terramation, is the process of turning the deceased into usable, natural soil. The exact process depends on the facility, but typically a body is composted in a contained environment with materials such as hay and soil. It is currently legal in seven US states (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Vermont, and New York), and is being advocated for legalization in many other states and countries. Return Home is a funeral home in Auburn, Washington that specializes in Terramation – their word for hum ..read more

Welcome to our second instalment of TalkDeath Quarterly News, where we update you on death related news from green burial to archaeological finds. Source ..read more

I’ve always felt that there was a connection between queerness and the process of dying. If you’re in queer community, especially trans and especially Black and Indigenous trans communities, you know that death is something you have to learn to be comfortable with. Like queerness, death and dying does not operate within a binary. There is no one way to die, like there is no one way to love or even exist in your body. I recently spoke with the folks at PDX Queer Death Collective, a group of radical, abolitionist queers who seek to build a movement to end […] Source ..read more

Content Warning: graphic descriptions of burning bodies Special Thanks to Cremation Technician, Michelle Quattrocchi, for sharing information and fact checking (also featured in our Careers in Death Care series) Cremation is on the rise in many countries, including the US and Canada. The process is relatively straightforward– maybe you already have an idea of how it works. The body goes into a big oven and comes out as ashes, right? There’s actually a lot more steps involved before you are handed an urn of finely ground remains to take home. Many people choose cremation for themselves and thei ..read more

Death is a reality of life. Though it may be difficult to talk or even think about at times, it is what awaits us all. The inevitability of death counsels us to prepare for the time to come, for the day our physical bodies leave, or are left by, our loved ones. This means planning not only for how you will be remembered, but where you want to rest. The idea of being buried at home or in a family graveyard can provide enormous peace both to the one preparing their final arrangement and for the family members who will […] Source ..read more

In this instalment of our ongoing series, Careers in Death Care: A Day in the Life, Michelle Quattrocchi tells us what the day in the life of a cremation technician is really like. Source ..read more