Vendor spotlight, Exit Matters, a local organization that plays with ideas that touch everyone – including death, pertanent to sustainability, but not something we generally like to think about. We sent Jen Davis and C.D Good a few questions about the work they do, here are their answers!

1. Tell me about your business/organization.

Exit Matters has a passion for supporting and sparking the difficult conversations around your end of life choices, options and wishes. Because it’s not easy to think much less talk about our death and what matters to us we often avoid it all together. At Exit Matters we see the incredible opportunity and gift that comes from sharing your values and choices with loved ones now and opening up a conversation of real depth and meaning that can actually bring you closer together instead of burdening them or tearing families apart. So we had done the research and learning and gathering for you and have interactive board games, resource menus and a coaching service to help you honour your “exit matters”.

2. How do you work to keep sustainability at the core of your business?

That’s an interesting question in light of the focus of Exit Matter’s business being death! Our core purpose is to help people see death as a natural part of life and to face your death with grace. Death actually feeds life – which is a form of sustainability. But how we die - the choices we make in our dying process and after our death can impact the environment as much as our choices in how we live. For instance – we may want to be buried under a tree – but if we have to disturb the trees root system, and we are filled with chemicals from all of our treatments – does a tree really want us to be buried under it? And part of sustainability is the emotional and financial legacy we are leaving for those left behind. If we don’t talk about our wishes and choices now (knowing that the reality is we could die in any moment) we may be leaving behind a model and emotional message of fear and trauma instead of a loss that that has been honoured up-front and perhaps even a support system to move through our grief. And as a society we all need to consider our choices in end-of-life care that may impact the availability and cost of medical resources that others in the community have access to.

3. Tell me about you/your team. What got you/your team here to a green business/organization? Why?

I would say the team at Exit Matters is growing organically like a tree spreading it’s roots. At the core is Jen Davis the founder and original creator of the 2 games: Exit Matters and the Bucket List. Carolyn Dawn Good (www.about.me/cd_good) has woven her art and business magic throughout the visuals of the board games and the book we have co-created. You will get a chance to experience both of us at the Eco-Market during our dramatic reading called “ A Conversation between Grief and Hope” There are a growing number of facilitators that are also spreading the insightful conversations that comes up while playing the games in the community, with seniors and even high schools. And we are now as a part of small but growing forest of other businesses that support last stages of life awareness of choices and options.

4. What are you up to? Any new events? Products?

Monthly community game sessions in both games are being held at The Causerie https://www.marit.ca/, as well as a workshop on “Beyond Being a Burden” in May.” “Ick and Spark-shops are in the works for June. And a Life and Death Matters Expo, a collective of which Exit Matters is a part of, is coming up for the community on Nov 3rd.