There had to be a greener way. Something less impactful on the environment than cremation. Here I talk (or rather, link) you to interesting (well I think so) information about water cremation .
The industry has been looking at options. In fact I talked about more holistic approaches to funerals, and the idea of ‘resomation’ or, ‘alkaline hydrolysis’ or, more simply, water cremation, in a blog almost exactly two years ago (click on this link to read it).
“Our attitude towards the environment as we live our lives and as we plan our funerals really matter. That is why around the world, a growing number of people are looking for environmentally sustainable alternatives such as water cremation, also known as Resomation and aquamation, and human composting over traditional flame cremation and burial for themselves and their loved ones.” – from www.resomation.com
This week Coffin Club sent out an update, announcing that after several years of availability in the US, water cremation is now coming to the UK. Apparently there’s been a lot about it in the news. But there is so much news, fake news, click bait etc out there these days , its often hard to sift out the BS and hear the new and exciting stuff.
But here you go, the whole what it is, where it came from , how it works. All your questions (well a lot of them anyway) answered in one handy guide. Thank you BBC.
Dissolving the dead – alkaline hydrolysis a new alternative to burial and cremation – BBC News
Alkaline hydrolysis is the natural process your body goes through if you’re buried. Here we’ve created ideal conditions for it to happen much, much faster.
Resomation Ltd, is a British Company and it makes the machine. There are plans to install one in Sandwell, near Birmingham, at the end of this year.
This is a quote from their site:
“Water cremation is the gentle process of returning the body to ashes using water and a small amount of alkali-based solution to speed up the natural process the body goes through at the end of life.
The body is first placed in a coffin or shroud made from biodegradable materials before being carefully placed in the water cremator, where over a short amount of time the body returns to its basic organic elements.
Once the process is complete, families receive the ashes to treasure as they wish, in the same way they would with a traditional flame cremation.
Independently proven to have the lowest overall impact on the environment of all mainstream end of life options.”
