Episode 24
Return to Nature Podcast
In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Melissa Meadow, a formerly dual-licensed funeral professional who has spent over two decades witnessing, participating in, and ultimately challenging the traditional funeral industry. Known online as The Modern Mortician, she now dedicates her time to public death care education, end-of-life doula services, and behind-the-scenes support for progressive funeral providers.
Through her social media presence, podcast, and consulting work, Melissa is transforming how people approach death, ensuring that everyone has access to accurate, unbiased information about their end-of-life options.
For those looking to understand, navigate, or challenge the traditional funeral industry, Melissa Meadow isn’t just a resource—she’s a revolution.
DISCLAIMER: This episode contains sensitive and detailed information about the inner workings of the funeral industry and process of death care. Please listen at your own discretion.
MELISSA SHARES
- How she started working in death care and the funeral industry
- The schooling required to be a funeral director or embalmer and what they don’t teach you in school
- The history and evolution of burial and the misconception about Egyptian burials
- How and why death was taken out of the home
- How embalming works
- Selling people on the idea of “the memory picture”
- How flame cremation works
- The lack of studies and information on the environmental impacts of traditional funeral care
- What water cremation is and how it works
- How human composting works
- The trending natural burial ideas that don’t actually work
- How pets can be a great way to teach children and their parents about death care
- The reason why natural burial can seem inaccessible and how it’s possible to do it even at a traditional cemetery
- How to find a green burial cemetery, natural burial cemetery, or conservation burial cemetery near you
- What a conservation burial cemetery is and the benefits of burying a loved one there
- The logistics of burial at sea
- The show Six Feet Under as a close representation of what it’s like to work in the funeral industry
- What it was like to leave the traditional funeral industry and begin advocating for natural burial
- Exposing the profit model of the funeral industry
- How wills factor into choosing a burial type for yourself or your loved one
- Titan casket as a more affordable alternative to funeral home options, including eco-friendly products
- Cemetery maintenance and what constitutes a truly a natural burial
YOU CAN CONNECT WITH MELISSA THROUGH THE MODERN MORTICIAN
“From the minute that your loved one dies the removal person is usually trained to ask, ‘Do we have your permission to embalm or prepare the body?’ A verbal is all it takes to get permission to do that. And then, with that, that guarantees an open casket viewing or an open casket funeral. Even if it ends with cremation, which means a rental casket or buying a casket that you’re going to burn. Embalming is always the first step to the next dollar sign and they’re in business to make money. So, there are more funeral homes and more funeral entities coming online that don’t operate like that, but there’s still a majority of them that do.”
