Grave Dispositions: Implementing Alternative Methods of Burial in the United States of America

This undergraduate thesis will explore how the adoption of alternative methods of disposition, specifically, alkaline hydrolysis and natural organic reduction, interact with the Green Burial Movement, state policy, and contemporary death culture. Currently, there is scant literature that explores the aforementioned relationships, and what analysis does exist is often solely in the realm of theory. Analyzing industry perceptions of alternative methods of death care will inform an understanding of the factors impeding the implementation of these methods.Through interviews conducted with death-care professionals and members of green death organizations, this thesis will examine how ideological tensions, public misconceptions, and policy creation interact to either support, or prevent, successful adoption of alternative methods of disposition.