Well, Deb has hit on another post topic that I have on my list, cremation. Only this time it's a newer type of cremation, water cremation.
The following is an article from interesting engineering.com. The link is the article but with a bunch of links.
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There are multiple alternatives to what's going to happen to your remains after you're dead. Everyone's familiar with burials and cremation, but have you ever heard of aquamation?
Cremation is the method of disposition of a dead body through burning it. Cremation is often considered an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burial practices. But burning dead bodies to ash requires immense energy to fuel the fire and pumps out millions of tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Another method called aquamation uses alkaline hydrolysis to dispose of human or animal remains instead of fire. The process is also known as biocremation, resomation, flameless cremation, and water cremation. Hailed as an eco-friendly alternative to cremation, this method uses a heated alkaline solution to break down the body, leaving behind only the skeleton.
During the process, the body is placed inside a pressurized vessel filled with a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide and heated to around 200 - 300°F (90 - 150°C). As the pressure in the container increases, the solution gently breaks organic matter over several hours instead of boiling. The process liquifies everything except for the bones, which are then dried in an oven and reduced to white dust, placed in an urn, and then given to relatives. Aquamation also leaves behind 32 percent more remains of the body compared to cremation.
According to Bio-Response Solutions, a U.S. company that specializes in aquamation, the process uses “90 percent less energy than flame cremation and does not emit any harmful greenhouse gases."
The liquid left behind after the process is a sterile mix of organic compounds including salts and amino acids that can be used as a fertilizer or neutralized and safely released into waterways.
South African Anglican cleric Desmond Mpilo Tutu, who received the Nobel Prize for Peace for his role in the opposition to apartheid in South Africa in 1984, had chosen the aquamation method for his funeral according to Archbishop Tutu IP Trust and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, after his death on December 26, 2021.
Tutu IP Trust and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation announced, “The Archbishop was very clear on his wishes for his funeral. “He wanted no ostentatiousness or lavish spending. He asked that the coffin be the cheapest available and that a bouquet of carnations from his family be the only flowers in the cathedral,” according to News24.
You can choose to be buried, cremated, or liquified once you die, but you can also be recomposed. Did you know that a U.S. company called Recompose turns you into soil after you die? Or if you would prefer something fancier, you can choose to be a diamond, with the Swiss company Algordanza’s 'diamond burial’.
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I've been seeing ads for water cremation on Facebook for the St. Louis area. I think you can pick where the liquid goes but I'm not sure about that.
12 comments:
Interesting. I want an eco burial. I would happily feed a tree. Or several trees.
Sue - Make it a redwood so it will be around a while.
4 bags of Purina Coyote Chow, the big 50 pounders. Bring me out to the desert and place 2 on the ground, lay me down, and the other 2 on top of me.
Interesting. I like the idea of an ecologically sound sendoff.
You have educated me today, that's for sure!
I heard about this on NPR a while back.
FLR - I'll pass on that one. That's just like a sky burial with the vultures.
Bill - There are many options these days.
Deb - Many things to analyze.
Kathy - Belfountaine is advertising it.
Is self-immolation allowed in your country? Not here in Germany
I like this post, it’s very interesting. I had never heard of this before reading about it here. Thank you for sharing this. All the Best to you, dear friend. Have a blessed Week!
So it's not just ashes to ashes and dust to dust but also water to water?
I haven't heard of this method. I think I'll still leave my body to the medical university though for learning purposes, or maybe I'll get tossed out on the forensics body farm.
Stu - Well, the higher cause with this method is nature.
DG - If you go to the article there are links to other articles.
Kirk - We're going to have to see if we can get that added to the official text.
River - I think you should go hang out at a forensics body farm now and scare the shit out of researchers.
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