The Ecological Impact of the Funeral Industry with Sandy Gibson
03/11/22 • 35 min
On this podcast we talk a lot about sustainability and reframing the conversation around topics that seem sort of “certain.”
It is said that the only things certain in life are death and taxes.
Death, by definition, is not sustainable - or is it?
In America, the funeral industry is costly and environmentally destructive.
This is not the most comfortable conversation for many of us. We don’t want to think about death. But, as my guest today, Sandy Gibson, founder of Better Place Forests, shares with us, death is a sacred part of life and when we reframe the conversation about the ritual of funerals in the context of creating a sacred space for remembering, we can explore healthier and more sustainable options for all the phases of life.
Sandy Gibson is a man on a mission - a person with a clear Chief Aim and the passion and directive to fulfill it. I have to say that, while I was curious about having a conversation about the funeral industry and exploring more sustainable ways of honoring our loved ones, I was deeply impacted by Sandy’s personal journey with death - and life.
Obviously, the journey of processing a loss and turning it into some kind of greater purpose takes time. What Sandy so beautifully shared with his story is that tragedy, as painful as it can be in the moment - and the moments following - can also bring the seeds of purpose.
Viktor Frankl, the Holocaust survivor and author of the book, Man’s Search for Meaning, stated that “In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.”
Sandy Gibson has done just that. He has turned the narrative around grief into a conversation about the sacredness of loss and turned the business of dying into an act of honoring in a sustainable and sacred way.
Perhaps the journey we take with death might seem less tragic if we fully embrace - with intent and purpose - the experience of Life.
Sandy Gibson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Better Place Forests, a sustainable alternative to cemeteries for families who choose cremation.
When Sandy was a young boy, he lost his father to a stroke and his mother to cancer. After years of visiting their graves in a dreary Toronto cemetery, Sandy began to imagine what a better place to remember his parents might look like. In 2015, he founded Better Place Forests with his two best friends to give every family the chance to visit and remember the people they love in nature.
Based in San Francisco, Better Place Forests launched America’s first conservation memorial forests in 2017. Better Place Forests has been featured in the New York Times, on the Today Show, and by the World Economic Forum. Known for its strong culture, Comparably recognized Better Place Forests with national awards for Best Company Leadership, Best CEOs for Women, Best Company Culture, Best CEOs, and Best Companies for Women in 2019 and 2020.
Sandy graduated from Princeton University in 2006 with an A.B. in History. A lifelong entrepreneur, he headed several companies and worked in finance and software before founding Better Place Forests. He previously served on the Board of Governors of Royal St. George’s College.
Website: https://www.betterplaceforests.com/
Follow Better Place Forests on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterplaceforests/
Instagram: @betterplaceforests, https://www.instagram.com/betterplaceforests/
Please be sure to subscribe to the Quantum Revolution podcast on your favorite platform or on our website at www.quantumrevolutionpodcast.com so you don’t miss any of the amazing shows we have in store for you. Next episode, we will be talking with Dr. Gerald Pollack about the structure of water.
Produced by Number Three Productions,
On this podcast we talk a lot about sustainability and reframing the conversation around topics that seem sort of “certain.”
It is said that the only things certain in life are death and taxes.
Death, by definition, is not sustainable - or is it?
In America, the funeral industry is costly and environmentally destructive.
This is not the most comfortable conversation for many of us. We don’t want to think about death. But, as my guest today, Sandy Gibson, founder of Better Place Forests, shares with us, death is a sacred part of life and when we reframe the conversation about the ritual of funerals in the context of creating a sacred space for remembering, we can explore healthier and more sustainable options for all the phases of life.
Sandy Gibson is a man on a mission - a person with a clear Chief Aim and the passion and directive to fulfill it. I have to say that, while I was curious about having a conversation about the funeral industry and exploring more sustainable ways of honoring our loved ones, I was deeply impacted by Sandy’s personal journey with death - and life.
Obviously, the journey of processing a loss and turning it into some kind of greater purpose takes time. What Sandy so beautifully shared with his story is that tragedy, as painful as it can be in the moment - and the moments following - can also bring the seeds of purpose.
Viktor Frankl, the Holocaust survivor and author of the book, Man’s Search for Meaning, stated that “In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.”
Sandy Gibson has done just that. He has turned the narrative around grief into a conversation about the sacredness of loss and turned the business of dying into an act of honoring in a sustainable and sacred way.
Perhaps the journey we take with death might seem less tragic if we fully embrace - with intent and purpose - the experience of Life.
Sandy Gibson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Better Place Forests, a sustainable alternative to cemeteries for families who choose cremation.
When Sandy was a young boy, he lost his father to a stroke and his mother to cancer. After years of visiting their graves in a dreary Toronto cemetery, Sandy began to imagine what a better place to remember his parents might look like. In 2015, he founded Better Place Forests with his two best friends to give every family the chance to visit and remember the people they love in nature.
Based in San Francisco, Better Place Forests launched America’s first conservation memorial forests in 2017. Better Place Forests has been featured in the New York Times, on the Today Show, and by the World Economic Forum. Known for its strong culture, Comparably recognized Better Place Forests with national awards for Best Company Leadership, Best CEOs for Women, Best Company Culture, Best CEOs, and Best Companies for Women in 2019 and 2020.
Sandy graduated from Princeton University in 2006 with an A.B. in History. A lifelong entrepreneur, he headed several companies and worked in finance and software before founding Better Place Forests. He previously served on the Board of Governors of Royal St. George’s College.
Website: https://www.betterplaceforests.com/
Follow Better Place Forests on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterplaceforests/
Instagram: @betterplaceforests, https://www.instagram.com/betterplaceforests/
Please be sure to subscribe to the Quantum Revolution podcast on your favorite platform or on our website at www.quantumrevolutionpodcast.com so you don’t miss any of the amazing shows we have in store for you. Next episode, we will be talking with Dr. Gerald Pollack about the structure of water.
Produced by Number Three Productions,
Previous Episode
The Creative Cure with Jacob Nordby
What if the most important thing we need to do TO SURVIVE is to be imaginative? Activate our full creative potential?
Your relationship with your creativity is a reflection of your relationship with yourself. What you believe about creativity reflects what you believe about yourself.
But, somewhere along the way, we traded our natural, immersive creativity for logic, predictability, correctness, and responsibility.
Perhaps someone told you “you’re not that creative” or “your art is no good,” and you believed them. You may also have experienced something traumatic, which understandably shut down your creative self, as you had to prioritize survival over imagination.
The single biggest thing we need to heal as we face an era of uncertainty and as we stand on the brink of a creative revolution that promises to hold the solutions to the challenges facing humanity today, is to believe in our own creative capacity.
Our guest today, Jacob Nordby, author of the book The Creative Cure, believes that EVERY HUMAN IS CREATIVE. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN UNCREATIVE HUMAN .
Join us we discuss why we need to cure creativity and how creativity is often the cure for our lives.
Jacob Nordby is the author of The Divine Arsonist - A Tale of Awakening, Blessed Are the Weird - A Manifesto for Creatives, and The Creative Cure: How Finding and Freeing Your Inner Artist Can Heal Your Life. He is also the co-founder of The Institute for Creative Living. To learn more about his other books, speaking, online courses, and creative guidance sessions, visit www.jacobnordby.com
To receive the Creative Spark Multimedia Program (free download) www.instituteforcreativeliving.org/#gift
Read excerpts from Jacob’s latest book The Creative Cure at www.creativecurebook.com
You can purchase the book The Creative Cure: How Finding and Freeing Your Inner Artist Can Heal Your Life on Amazon by clicking here (https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Cure-Finding-Freeing-Artist/dp/195025304X)
To find out more visit:
www.instituteforcreativeliving.org
Follow Jacob on Social Media:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/author.jacobnordby
Instagram: @jacobnordby
Please be sure to subscribe to the Quantum Revolution podcast on your favorite platform or on our website at www.quantumrevolutionpodcast.com so you don’t miss any of the amazing shows we have in store for you. Next episode up we will be talking to Sandy Gibson, CEO of Better Place Forests.
If you’d like to explore the unique and vital role that you play in weaving the tapestry of life, I invite you to visit www.quantumalignmentsystem.com and discover who you are and the unique, vital, and irreplaceable role that only you can play in the cosmic plan. Produced by Number Three Productions, www.numberthreeproductions.com
Next Episode
Listening to Challenges of Our Truth with Richard Jacobs
What is knowledge?
Who decides what is knowledge?
Or, on a more frightening note, what is truth?
We see this game being played out on many fronts on the planet at this very moment. During this season of Quantum Revolution, we heard stories from leading-edge scientists who are caught up in the reality of having to work around the system to share their research with the world.
In the next few episodes, you’re going to hear information and conversations that might challenge you on many levels.
Today’s guest challenged me to really hear someone else’s truth even though some of it is in direct conflict with mine.
There is a separate set of questions we also have to ask ourselves - especially during this time on the planet. If truth is malleable, who is right? What are the absolute truths and values that you choose to live by?
What if, together, we can find the solutions to the challenges facing humanity today - even if, individually, we are quite different?
Richard Jacobs is the co-author of the Finding Genius book series and the creator of the Finding Genius Podcast. Richard Jacobs indulged his fascination with technology by starting the Finding Genius Podcast (https://www.findinggeniuspodcast.com/). He didn’t know that it would end up taking him into hundreds of specialties in science, technology, and medicine. His book,
Finding Genius: Understanding Viruses: 30 Questions, 25 Geniuses, 100 Amazing Insights (https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Genius-Understanding-Questions-Geniuses-ebook/dp/B08WBW7JNT) is the result of 30+ interviews of genius-level science professionals.
Rich’s thousands of conversations with gifted scientists shows how much promising work is going on right now that risks being starved of the funding, visibility, and other support it needs to thrive, often due to politics and conflicts of interest. However, there is only so much one person can achieve on his own. That is why Rich set up the Finding Genius Foundation (https://www.findinggeniusfoundation.org/ ) as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit – to support this breakthrough work in a way that is sustainable.
Please be sure to subscribe to the Quantum Revolution podcast on your favorite platform or on our website at www.quantumrevolutionpodcast.com so you don’t miss any of the amazing shows we have in store for you.
Produced by Number Three Productions, www.numberthreeproductions.com
Disclaimer
We cannot guarantee anyone’s success when using the topics presented in this show. There is only one person who can guarantee your success, and that is you.
The content provided on this show is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment or to treat, cure, or prevent any disease or illness. Always seek the advice of your mental health professional or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.
If you are in crisis or you think you may have an emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. If you're having suicidal thoughts, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ to talk to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area at any time (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline). If you are located outside the United States, call your local emergency line immediately.
The views of our guests do not necessarily reflect the views of Karen Curry Parker or her affiliates.
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