Summer, 2016
In This Issue
▪ FCA of MN Booth at Twin Cities PRIDE ▪ Upcoming Event: Thinking About Dying ▪ Cremated Remains In My Garden? ▪ "When I die, I'm going to become a tree!" ▪ New: Cremation Arrangement Website ▪ FCA of MN Updates ▪ A New FCA of MN Board Member ▪ Invite an FCA of MN Speaker ▪ We Can't Do It Without You |
FCA of MN Booth at Twin Cities PRIDE | June 25 & 26, Loring Park
We reported in the Spring 2016 Newsletter that for the first time, FCA of MN would have a booth at the Twin Cities Pride Festival June 25 &26.
As we planned for the event, we asked ourselves: what can we do to entice people to stop by our booth, a booth with a big green sign with the word "funeral" on it? FREE DRAWING
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We got creative and came up with the idea to hold a free drawing for a chance to win a cremation urn. But where would we get the urns? We called on four Twin Cities funeral directors, who generously donated five urns, each one a different "make and model."
One of our board members figured that if we got 100 people to stop by our booth and fill out an entry form for one of the urns, we could call it a success. As it turned out, 189 people entered the drawing.
One of our board members figured that if we got 100 people to stop by our booth and fill out an entry form for one of the urns, we could call it a success. As it turned out, 189 people entered the drawing.
FCA of MN congratulates our five cremation urn winners:
Sandra A., Troy B., Carrie N., Julia B., and Evan G.
Sandra A., Troy B., Carrie N., Julia B., and Evan G.
FCA of MN is grateful to the following who donated urns:
Bradshaw Funeral & Cremation
Crescent Tide Funeral & Cremation
Twin Cities Cremation
Willwerscheid Funeral & Cremation
Upcoming Event:
(New Ways of) Thinking About Dying | Oct. 25, 27 & Nov. 2
A three-part series on new ways of thinking about dying, grieving, and burial will take place on the evenings of October 25 & 27 and November 2 at Merriam Park Library in St. Paul.
The programs are FREE, and are sponsored by Friends of St. Paul Public Library and Health Advocates, a public health consulting group.
FCA of MN friend and supporter Anne Murphy will present the October 27 program, Bringing Death Back Home: The Family-Directed Funeral.
Our newest board member, Marilaurice Hemlock, will co-present the November 2 program, Recycling the Body: Green Burial.
The programs are FREE, and are sponsored by Friends of St. Paul Public Library and Health Advocates, a public health consulting group.
FCA of MN friend and supporter Anne Murphy will present the October 27 program, Bringing Death Back Home: The Family-Directed Funeral.
Our newest board member, Marilaurice Hemlock, will co-present the November 2 program, Recycling the Body: Green Burial.
(NEW WAYS OF) THINKING ABOUT DYING
October 25 & 27, and November 2 | 7:00 PM
Merriam Park Library - St. Paul
1831 Marshall Avenue (at Fairview)
See map: Google Maps
Programs will be held in the basement meeting room space, accessible by elevator or stairs.
FREE
Download a flyer HERE
October 25 & 27, and November 2 | 7:00 PM
Merriam Park Library - St. Paul
1831 Marshall Avenue (at Fairview)
See map: Google Maps
Programs will be held in the basement meeting room space, accessible by elevator or stairs.
FREE
Download a flyer HERE
Download a flyer HERE
Are Cremated Remains (Ashes) Good for the Garden?
The short answer is no.
Cremated remains are very alkaline and have a high sodium content. Not only are there no available nutrients for plants in them, when introduced into the soil in concentrated amounts they create an inhospitable environment for growing. Have you buried cremated remains (ashes) in your garden? |
FCA of MN would like to hear from you. Did you bury them in an urn or directly in the ground? Scatter them throughout the garden? Bury them under a paver, rock, or stone?
Go to Contact Us to let us know. We'll follow up in a future issue of the Newsletter.
Go to Contact Us to let us know. We'll follow up in a future issue of the Newsletter.
"When I die, I'm going to become a tree!"
A few people who stopped by our booth at the 2016 Twin Cities Pride Festival proudly told us they'd already decided what would happen to their body after death:
"When I die, I'm going to become a tree." They'd seen some of the extensive press coverage over the past few years about two death care products, one on the market, and the other not ready for prime time. |
On the Market: Bios Urn
Bios Urn, the product of a Spanish design studio, and certified by the Green Burial Council, is a biodegradable urn designed to convert cremated remains into a tree. The urn is a composite of 100% biodegradable materials: coconut shell, compacted peat, and cellulose. The urn has two parts – a top capsule with a soil mix to allow germination of a seed, and a bottom cone where the ashes are placed.
The Bios Urn design allows the seed to germinate separated from the ashes. Once the urn begins to decompose, the tree roots are already strong enough to contact the ashes and grow through them.
Bios Urn can be used with any seed from a tree, shrub or plant. The urn doesn’t have expiration date, so it can be bought at any time. Or, cremated remains in an existing urn can be transferred into the Bios Urn and planted.
The current price is $145 plus S&H.
Where would you bury a Bios Urn? A home garden or other private property is probably the only place to ensure that the plant (tree, shrub) is cared for, especially in the initial stages of growth. It could potentially be buried in a green cemetery, but it's doubtful such a cemetery would allow a tree to grow over a single grave plot. It could be buried on public land (though not legally), but there's no guarantee it would flourish in such a setting.
We haven't heard of anyone who's planted a Bios Urn locally. If you have, or know of someone who has, let us know. Go to our Contact Us page. We'd love to hear about it.
Bios Urn, the product of a Spanish design studio, and certified by the Green Burial Council, is a biodegradable urn designed to convert cremated remains into a tree. The urn is a composite of 100% biodegradable materials: coconut shell, compacted peat, and cellulose. The urn has two parts – a top capsule with a soil mix to allow germination of a seed, and a bottom cone where the ashes are placed.
The Bios Urn design allows the seed to germinate separated from the ashes. Once the urn begins to decompose, the tree roots are already strong enough to contact the ashes and grow through them.
Bios Urn can be used with any seed from a tree, shrub or plant. The urn doesn’t have expiration date, so it can be bought at any time. Or, cremated remains in an existing urn can be transferred into the Bios Urn and planted.
The current price is $145 plus S&H.
Where would you bury a Bios Urn? A home garden or other private property is probably the only place to ensure that the plant (tree, shrub) is cared for, especially in the initial stages of growth. It could potentially be buried in a green cemetery, but it's doubtful such a cemetery would allow a tree to grow over a single grave plot. It could be buried on public land (though not legally), but there's no guarantee it would flourish in such a setting.
We haven't heard of anyone who's planted a Bios Urn locally. If you have, or know of someone who has, let us know. Go to our Contact Us page. We'd love to hear about it.
Not Ready for Prime Time: Capsula Mundi Burial Pod
Capsula Mundi is the invention of two Italian designers inspired by the belief that humans are part of nature's cycle of transformation. They've redesigned the "coffin" using ecological materials and universally understood life symbols - the egg and the tree.
The design concept is to place a body in a fetal position before rigor mortis sets in, or after it again becomes flaccid, enclose it in a biodegradable burial capsule or egg, and then "plant" the capsule in soil with a seed or sapling.
The designers envision cemeteries that will become forests.
Capsula Mundi is still in a start-up phase. The designers ended their crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter last month after raising only a third of their goal. (If you're interested in the details of the project, the Kickstarter page has a ton of information, including videos.)
In the meantime, the Capsula Mundi team is putting into production a biodegradable egg-shaped urn for burial. The Capsula for ashes is a device for the slow dispersal of the ashes in soil. No word yet when it will come on the market. Or what the price will be.
Capsula Mundi is the invention of two Italian designers inspired by the belief that humans are part of nature's cycle of transformation. They've redesigned the "coffin" using ecological materials and universally understood life symbols - the egg and the tree.
The design concept is to place a body in a fetal position before rigor mortis sets in, or after it again becomes flaccid, enclose it in a biodegradable burial capsule or egg, and then "plant" the capsule in soil with a seed or sapling.
The designers envision cemeteries that will become forests.
Capsula Mundi is still in a start-up phase. The designers ended their crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter last month after raising only a third of their goal. (If you're interested in the details of the project, the Kickstarter page has a ton of information, including videos.)
In the meantime, the Capsula Mundi team is putting into production a biodegradable egg-shaped urn for burial. The Capsula for ashes is a device for the slow dispersal of the ashes in soil. No word yet when it will come on the market. Or what the price will be.
Not everyone in the world of green / natural burial is impressed with the Capsula Mundi concept.
Dr. Billy Campbell, who with his wife Kimberley Campbell, founded the first green cemetery in the U.S. - Ramsey Creek preserve in South Carolina - raised the following issues a year or so ago in an online discussion of the Capsula Mundi burial pod:
The pods are really pretty but oh-so impractical. Having done a lot of natural burials, my concerns are:
1) You need a much deeper excavation than when the body is laid out flat... and a technically difficult excavation at that: very narrow.
2) [the pod] concentrates the body's nutrients in this deeper grave. Deeper means (depending on the type of soil) a greater chance that nutrients will be transported downwards not upwards. The body laid out flat in a more shallow configuration is better, particularly in habitats that involve not just trees, but grasses and trees or grasses alone.
3) [the pod] would be much more difficult to transport and lower.... especially with large people. This reads "expensive product" to me.
We'll follow up on the Capsula Mundi biodegradable urn when it becomes commercially available.
Dr. Billy Campbell, who with his wife Kimberley Campbell, founded the first green cemetery in the U.S. - Ramsey Creek preserve in South Carolina - raised the following issues a year or so ago in an online discussion of the Capsula Mundi burial pod:
The pods are really pretty but oh-so impractical. Having done a lot of natural burials, my concerns are:
1) You need a much deeper excavation than when the body is laid out flat... and a technically difficult excavation at that: very narrow.
2) [the pod] concentrates the body's nutrients in this deeper grave. Deeper means (depending on the type of soil) a greater chance that nutrients will be transported downwards not upwards. The body laid out flat in a more shallow configuration is better, particularly in habitats that involve not just trees, but grasses and trees or grasses alone.
3) [the pod] would be much more difficult to transport and lower.... especially with large people. This reads "expensive product" to me.
We'll follow up on the Capsula Mundi biodegradable urn when it becomes commercially available.
New Online Cremation Arrangement Website: ecremationmn.com
Funeral firms are creating a secondary, low cost, online cremation brand and website to capture consumers whose choice is direct cremation.
Locally, Twin Cities Cremation and the Funeral Directors has done just that by launching ecremationmn.com. Here's how ecremation is described on the homepage:
Locally, Twin Cities Cremation and the Funeral Directors has done just that by launching ecremationmn.com. Here's how ecremation is described on the homepage:
ecremationmn.com allows you to participate in a last act of caring for your loved one. With your computer, smart phone, or tablet and in the time it would take you to drive to the funeral home you can save yourself significant costs with our direct cremation services that start at $745. We guarantee to be the lowest cost cremation provider in Minnesota because you help with the process.
The direct cremation charge of $745 includes a "temporary plastic urn." In addition to the charge for direct cremation, one may also
- purchase an urn online, though the selection is limited to eight. You can always buy an urn from another source and transfer the cremated remains (ashes);
- add a 1-hour private family viewing ($520);
- add a graveside service ($345).
For details, see the Services page.
- purchase an urn online, though the selection is limited to eight. You can always buy an urn from another source and transfer the cremated remains (ashes);
- add a 1-hour private family viewing ($520);
- add a graveside service ($345).
For details, see the Services page.
FCA of MN Updates: Green Burial, Urban Death Project
Green Burial
We presented our FCA of MN Green / Natural Burial Price Survey in the Summer 2015 Newsletter. It's summer again, and a perfect time to visit one of the three cemeteries in the Twin Cities metro area where green burial is an option.
▪ Prairie Oaks Memorial Eco Garden in Inver Grove Heights is Minnesota's first and only all-green burial cemetery.
▪ Mound Cemetery in Brooklyn Center is Minnesota's only "hybrid green burial cemetery" certified by the Green Burial Council. (By definition, a hybrid cemetery is a cemetery that allows burial without a vault or other grave liner, and accommodates eco-friendly burial containers, including shrouds.)
▪ Roselawn Cemetery in Roseville allows "natural burial" (another term for "green" burial) under conditions similar to Mound Cemetery.
You may tour the cemeteries during open hours, usually sunrise to sunset. Call ahead if you wish to speak to a cemetery manager.
If you're new to the idea of green / natural burial, the brief videos below provide a visual introduction to typical green burial practices, though there are many variations in the way green burials are carried out.
NOTE: These videos are not of burials in Minnesota. We hope at some point to have video of a burial closer to home.
▪ Prairie Oaks Memorial Eco Garden in Inver Grove Heights is Minnesota's first and only all-green burial cemetery.
▪ Mound Cemetery in Brooklyn Center is Minnesota's only "hybrid green burial cemetery" certified by the Green Burial Council. (By definition, a hybrid cemetery is a cemetery that allows burial without a vault or other grave liner, and accommodates eco-friendly burial containers, including shrouds.)
▪ Roselawn Cemetery in Roseville allows "natural burial" (another term for "green" burial) under conditions similar to Mound Cemetery.
You may tour the cemeteries during open hours, usually sunrise to sunset. Call ahead if you wish to speak to a cemetery manager.
If you're new to the idea of green / natural burial, the brief videos below provide a visual introduction to typical green burial practices, though there are many variations in the way green burials are carried out.
NOTE: These videos are not of burials in Minnesota. We hope at some point to have video of a burial closer to home.
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The Urban Death Project
We featured the Urban Death Project in the Summer 2015 Newsletter. In brief, The Urban Death Project utilizes the process of composting to safely and gently turn our deceased into soil, creating a meaningful, equitable, and ecological urban alternative for the care of the dead.
▪ Check out the Urban Death Project's expanded website HERE.
▪ Can Americans Accept This Environmentally-Friendly Burial Method? is an excellent introduction to the Urban Death Project.
▪ In the recent TEDx Talk "Life After Life" below, Urban Death Project founder Katrina Spade provides an intro to the the pilot project, and an update on the challenges of this revolutionary project.
▪ Check out the Urban Death Project's expanded website HERE.
▪ Can Americans Accept This Environmentally-Friendly Burial Method? is an excellent introduction to the Urban Death Project.
▪ In the recent TEDx Talk "Life After Life" below, Urban Death Project founder Katrina Spade provides an intro to the the pilot project, and an update on the challenges of this revolutionary project.
Because death is momentous, miraculous, and mysterious
Because the cycles of nature help us grieve and heal
Because our bodies are full of life-giving potential
We propose a new option for laying our loved ones to rest.
- Urban Death Project
A New Member of the FCA of MN Board of Directors
We’re happy to announce that Marilaurice Hemlock was elected to the FCA of MN board of directors in August, and will officially join the board at its September 10 meeting. Marilaurice’s talents and skills – as well as her professional work – will add new dimensions and a fresh perspective to our work on behalf of the community.
Marilaurice spent time volunteering at our PRIDE booth in June, and attended our mid-Summer board meeting July 23.
If you’d like to apply to the FCA of MN board, or would like more information about what being a board member entails, please contact us at info@fcaofmn.org.
Marilaurice spent time volunteering at our PRIDE booth in June, and attended our mid-Summer board meeting July 23.
If you’d like to apply to the FCA of MN board, or would like more information about what being a board member entails, please contact us at info@fcaofmn.org.
Invite an FCA of MN Speaker
A speaker from Funeral Consumers Alliance of Minnesota is available to talk to your group about the ever-growing range of after-death choices, including:
▪ Traditional Funeral ▪ Cremation ▪ Green Cremation ▪ Home Funerals - Caring for Our Own Dead ▪ Green/Natural Burial ▪ Body Donation Your speaker will address: ▪ after-death planning before you die ▪ how to reduce after-death costs ▪ the environmental impact of after-death choices FCA of MN will provide a speaker for your group free of charge. However, we'll gladly accept a donation in any amount. NEW: Would your church or other faith community like to explore ways to take a more active role in caring for a member after death? We're available to meet with groups small and large, or individuals, to help you get started. Go to Contact Us to arrange a speaker. |
We Can't Do It Without You
As an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization, Funeral Consumers Alliance of Minnesota operates on a shoe-string budget and relies on donations to keep us going. Will you help us with a contribution of $10, $20, $30 or more? Whatever you send will help us continue this important work. Amazingly, we operate on less than $1,500 a year. Our modest expenses include:
▪ Our dedicated phone line
▪ The FCA of MN website
▪ Printing, copying, and mailing expenses
A little bit goes a long way because of the many hours our volunteers spend:
▪ Our dedicated phone line
▪ The FCA of MN website
▪ Printing, copying, and mailing expenses
A little bit goes a long way because of the many hours our volunteers spend: