September 15, 2022 Shari Wolf | Natural Funerals

Wherein I learn that a burial plot alone can cost $20-$40,000 in Los Angeles. "I thought I couldn't afford to live, but now I can't afford to die either!"

These are the things you want to know BEFORE $h*t hits the fan. Is it more fun to talk about sports/fashion/music etc? Sure. But knowing your options before shit hits the fan makes a MAJOR difference.

We used “natural” or “green” funeral services when Alice died, and though I’d give anything to have her here, if she had to go, I will be forever grateful for Shari Wolf from Natural Grace Funerals.

Some reasons to consider natural funeral options (From Business Insider):

*Traditional burials use “Formaldehyde -a potential human carcinogen, and can be lethal if a person is exposed to high concentrations. Its fumes can also irritate the eyes, nose, and throat. Phenol, similarly, can irritate or burn the flesh, and is toxic if ingested. Methyl alcohol and glycerin can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, and throat.
According to an article published in the Berkeley Planning Journal, more than 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde are put into the ground along with dead bodies every year in the US. That's enough to fill one and a quarter Olympic-sized swimming pools each year.”

* According to the Berkeley Planning Journal, conventional burials in the US every year use 30 million board feet of hardwoods, 2,700 tons of copper and bronze, 104,272 tons of steel, and 1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete.
The amount of casket wood alone is equivalent to about 4 million acres of forest and could build about 4.5 million homes.”

*Cemeteries “generally have sprawling, pristine lawns that require a ton of water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides to keep them a vibrant green. These chemicals can seep into water supplies or harm wildlife, such as bees.
They also use up a ton of land. If you added up the entire square footage of all the cemeteries in the US, according to Dobscha, it would measure 1 million acres of land.”

* The cost of an average funeral runs around $10,000 vs natural burials which can be just a few hundred dollars and generally less than $3000.

I know many of our loved ones didn’t know what to think when we used natural funeral services for Alice. But because she was not embalmed, we were able to have a beautiful and intimate home funeral that was meaningful for our family, who were all amazed by what was possible . She looked perfect. No death or formaldehyde smell.

I will never judge another family’s funeral choices, but I do know that many people don’t know that these other options exist or that they are readily available. And like I said, the more you know before the $h*t goes down, the better you can handle the $h*t.

To learn more about Shari's incredible work -- and her 501(c)3 which pays for funerals for young children-- go to https://www.naturalgracefunerals.com/index.html