Welcome to Crowd Source.

Issue ten, The Better Death Issue.

Crowd DNA's monthly digest.

No, come back. It’s not as grim (reaper) as it sounds. ?A reframing of death is emerging in response to longer life and people thinking about how to spend that extra time.

On one side there’s the super rich hoping that death isn’t the end – it's simply?the case of finding the right workaround. Then on the other, there’s people wanting?agency over what happens when?that day comes. ?

In this month's issue of Crowd Source we look at some of the liveliest conversations around death happening in planning (funeral homes; burial sites), our emotional lives and the plots to live forever...

1. Hip Death

Celebrating unique lives.

Is it such a bad thing to put some fun into funerals? Funeral homes like Exit Here in London are hoping to brighten up the business of death. Exit Here owner (and former famed restaurateur) Oliver Peyton wanted to "shake up the sector", and to give the opportunity for people to "celebrate their loved ones in a way that reflected their unique lives."

Read more here.

2. Corpse Costs

How much does the forever life cost?

... six figures. A German start-up is offering a preservation service and of the sign-ups, the average age is 36. When the time comes, a team will immediately arrive and begin the process which involves reducing the body's temperature to -80 celsius and then they will be held indefinitely at a facility in Rafz, Switzerland until the tech catches up.

It's all still a bit sci-fi though, as Tomorrow Bio explains on its website: "Patients are cryopreserved in the expectation that future technology may be able to revive them and treat their underlying cause of death."

Read more here.

3. Death Comms

Making it hurt less.

A Palliative care facility in Queensland has a new campaign that encourages us to talk more openly about death, and their plans for when this time comes.

In the stop motion film, a man at the end of his life invites Death to join him in going out singing his favourite song - Here Comes Your Man by the Pixies.

“We needed to approach the topic with the utmost sensitivity and respect, while challenging people’s reticence to talk about the inevitable,” says Chiquita King, co-founder and MD of Cocogun, the creative agency behind the campaign.

Read more here.

4. Space Saving Burials

New options for burial sites.

China has long been searching for the solution to crowded burial sites - and solutions include sea burials to going vertical and digital for plots to save on space.

Now the UK is also running out of room for new burials - with Reading Borough Council warning that it will have no room by 2030, and is considering using allotments.

Read more here.

5. Choose Death

Get comfortable with mortality.

Basically stop listening to the tech billionaires spending millions on longevity (or as immortality evangelist, Bryan Johnson puts his life goal: "Not dying."). Instead search for some acceptance that everybody - yes, even the one per cent - will die.

To celebrate death as essential part of life, turn to the many philosophers who can provide us with solace in their approach.

Read more here.

Meanwhile, at Crowd DNA, we discussed:

Eternal life, yes or no thanks!

El, Managing Director

"No thanks."

Chloe, Senior Designer

"During my AS level Critical Thinking exam it occurred to me that 100 years from now that no one I know would be alive - and how horrible that would be. So firm no. Scraped a D in that exam… I was too traumatised from existential thoughts to succeed."

Judy, Director

"Personally, eternity whether in physical or digital form is not for me. But then again, grief is for the living..."