- There're a lot of decisions made
about you and your body after you die.
The weird part is you have absolutely no say in it
'cause you're dead.
(whimsical music)
So how many times a day do you think about death?
Is it when you're in your car?
When you're leaving your house?
I started thinking about death a lot more the other day
when I was talking to a friend of mine,
and she told me that she'd already started writing her will.
My first reaction was,
"Why are you writing a will at the age of 23?"
But then it got me thinking.
Who would I put on my will,
and why have I never actually thought about this?
So let's look at the facts.
Every year, the funeral industry makes
about 17 billion dollars off of death.
We're at a point where the world is running
out of places to put people who aren't even alive anymore.
Is that really the way that I wanna go?
There's so many different burial options
that we never talk about,
and I really wanna explore them.
So I'm gonna explore three burial options
at three different price points.
(laughing)
No, this is not worth the funeral, sorry.
But I am going to be looking
at three different burial options
just to see which one kinda fits what I want.
Yeah, this is really weird.
So one of the things that's important
to me is having a green burial.
I don't see the point in taking space on the earth
when it can be used by the living to do something better.
So I looked up this company Bios Urn
which found a way to convert cremated ashes to trees.
So I sat down with Bios Urn CEO and founder
to hear a few more details.
- So I could be any kind of tree in the world?
- I don't think I've ever heard of anything like this.
I'm very used to just cemeteries
'cause that's always been the way that we've one things.
- So what happens if your family member is horrible
at taking care of plants and they end up killing you again?
- Oh my god.
I don't know why I'm so afraid of it.
I feel like there's already ashes inside of it.
- On your website, I saw a Bios Incube,
a really technical version of the urn.
- Why do you think that Bios Urn, getting made into a tree,
is the best option?
- So the next place I visited was
the California Science Center Body Worlds exhibit.
Bodies in an exhibit and you can actually see their muscles.
Body Worlds has a donation process
in which you can donate your body to science.
Definitely a different route that I'm willing to try.
(high-pitched signing)
- [Man] Welcome to the Body Worlds pulse.
- This is a very special exhibition,
in part because it's a display of real human specimens.
- What technology is involved in creating this
and keeping these bodies intact?
- We apply the process of plastination.
Plastination is a vacuum process that allows us to
- I'm considering the donation process
of plastination which is kind of scary to me.
Why do you think this is better than a lot
of other options for what to do with your body?
- Through the ethics committee and our work,
we ascertain that the people who donate their bodies
to Body Worlds knew just what
they were donating their bodies for.
And they were very interested in making sure
that after they die, that their bodies were preserved
and used for educational purposes.
The president of the Science Centers
donated his body for plastination.
- Oh my gosh.
- It's somewhat a joke around here now.
They say they'll never get rid of me.
(laughing)
What really convinced me personally was just watching
how much it made a difference to people.
We found 90% of the people said
they learned new things in the exhibit.
This person has a normal weight.
These are all the internal organs.
This person is obese.
Here's that same abdominal wall.
Here, the fat has invaded everything
and compressed all the organs.
Over 1/3 of the people a year later,
said that they had changed some aspect of their behavior
because of seeing the exhibit
whether it was smoking, diet, exercise.
And that's phenomenal numbers.
- I wanted to look at something that was more of a way
to help my family members move on after my death.
So the last place I looked at
puts an artistic spin on the burial option.
- [Cathi] Welcome to the Glass Studio.
- [Main Girl] Thank you.
- [Cathi] You wanna learn about fabricating art glass?
- Yes, what does that mean?
- That is glass that's either fine art,
functional art, plates, bowls, tiles, jewelry,
but I also do memorial glass.
That is a cool new aspect to my business
within the Glass Studio.
- [Selom] I mean looking around the things
that you make, they're like actual art.
- And they look like they have a little universe inside.
I take my mom to shows when I'm promoting this.
I'm like, "My mom's in here."
You know?
And she gets to go with me places.
- Would we be able to see your mom?
- This is Desiree.
- Uh-huh, Desiree.
(Cathi laughs)
- This part here is her.
So that's the dichroic glass.
Isn't that beautiful?
The ashes end up as an outline.
- How exactly do you make these things?
- The process to make these begins with grabbing a pole
and sticking in the crucible kiln and getting a gather.
Gonna get two small gathers.
Add color.
Then we add dichroic glass for sparkle.
Shape it, twist it, add the ash.
And then a clear cover, the final shaping.
And then breaking it off and putting it in the kiln.
- And I'm gonna be helping you.
This is gonna be fun.
Have you ever burned yourself?
- Actually yes. (laughs)
- For you, I have my friend, Poet.
He's a friend of mine, Liza, this was her dog.
He really wanted me to do something nice with his ashes.
- [Cathi] So I'm gonna put a little bit out
on the table here, so we can roll it up.
This is the glory hole.
This is where we reheat the glass.
This is set at 2,150 degrees.
- [Selom] How exactly did you go
from making just glass things and sculptures
to making memorial glass?
- I had a woman contact me about doing a paper weight
with her husband, and I didn't even hesitate.
I've since made her, I'd have to say, at least a dozen.
She gives them to friends and family as gifts.
The average, medium-size, round paper weight's
about $175 to $200.
So if somebody's got 20 bucks,
and they want their little dog in a bead,
I can do a $20 bead.
Yeah?
Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry.
It's gonna be beautiful.
- There we go!
- I'm gonna just shape this a little bit.
Before I go over to pick up the ashes.
It's really rewarding.
The reactions I get from the people
when they come to get their goodies are magical.
People are hurting.
They just lost somebody that means a lot to them.
In the case of a pet, it's usually like their best friend.
I feel good about what I'm doing.
Come with me, follow me.
Well done!
- I don't know if I should high five you with these.
(laughing)
We did it!
This is such a cool and different way
of remembering someone.
Maybe now I can be your glass apprentice.
- You qualify.
- I qualify? Okay!
Okay, what option to pick?
- But what if I don't?
That's the thing!
- The funny thing is I could do all of these burial options.
I could donate part of my body to science.
The rest of my body I could cremate and make into a tree.
And also make into art.
Your death doesn't have to be an ending.
You can use your body and use what you got
to enhance other people's lives.
When the decision has to be made,
you're not around to make it.
The bottom line is death doesn't have
to be a taboo thing to talk about.
So talk about it.
(lighthearted music)