Natural burial, water cremation, and organic reduction The most energy-efficient disposition method of water cremation uses water instead of flames and smoke to dispose of human remains. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA, n.d.a.) lists aquamation, biocremation, flameless cremation, and resomation as other terms for water cremation, yet none more scientifically specify a better name than “alkaline hydrolysis” for this disposition method’s utilization of water, lye, and an alkaline solution, usually potassium hydroxide, which rapidly dissolves the human remains into water. Alkaline hydrolysis then increases heat and temperature, accelerating tissue breakdown to produce a sterile liquid summarized as hydrolysate . After that sequence, bones get processed down to a fine powder, much like after cremation with flames. According to Earth (2023), Minnesota was the first state to legalize alkaline hydrolysis, with legislation now spreading rapidly across the country as this green funeral option gains popularity among both funeral professionals and consumers. Health care journalist Lesley McClurg (2017) got a detailed sequence of the alkaline hydrolysis process from Dean Fisher, then the head of UCLA’s Donated Body Program, before it became commercially available to the public later that year. It uses: “potassium hydroxide, a base, [as] the chemical of choice for liquefying bodies, because it catalyzes the hydrogen in water to more rapidly attack the chemical bonds between molecules in the body.” The alkaline hydrolysis process uses potassium hydroxide, which Fisher emphasizes is "not an acid at all" despite misconceptions. This naturally occurring chemical, found in the Earth's crust and household products, breaks down organic matter. As Fisher explains, "if you were to bury a body in soil, all we're doing is speeding that up" by "adding heat." The process takes place in a stainless-steel chamber resembling a submarine with a circular hatch. Inside, bodies are heated to 302 degrees Fahrenheit and immersed in 270 gallons of liquid for 3-4 hours—approximately twice the duration of flame cremation. While costs vary geographically, water cremation typically costs $150-$500 more than traditional cremation. After completion, only sterile white bones and medical hardware remain. Fisher demonstrates this by showing "a pacemaker... a couple of prosthetics... a hip replacement, and... a knee replacement" in one processed body. The metal components can be recycled, while all organic material—including bacteria and DNA—is completely eliminated. The remaining bones are pulverized into a powder suitable for urns, similar to conventional cremation ashes. Fisher highlights the environmental advantage by displaying "a tooth with a mercury filling," noting that during flame cremation, toxic mercury vaporizes into the atmosphere. This exemplifies why green funeral options are gaining popularity—they reduce harmful emissions released during cremation or embalming chemicals leached into soil during burial. Alkaline hydrolysis, though recently offered as a commercially available alternative to flame cremation and traditional burial, has its own history. The Cremation Association of North America (CANA, n.d.a) states: “Alkaline hydrolysis was developed and patented in 1888 by Amos Herbert Hanson, a farmer who was looking for a way to make fertilizer from animal carcasses. In 1993, the first commercial system was
installed at Albany Medical College to dispose of human cadavers. The process continued to be adopted by universities and hospitals with donated body programs over the next ten years. The process was first used in the funeral profession in 2011 by two different funeral homes—one in Ohio and one in Florida. While states and provinces have been slow to legalize the process for human use, pet crematories are under different rules and have adopted the process widely. The pace of approval for human use is beginning to pick up and there are now more than half of the states and several provinces where alkaline hydrolysis is legal, and several more have legislation pending. In those states and provinces where it is legal, there are approximately thirty practitioners.” Alkaline hydrolysis involves special equipment, yet none so special that the machines and chemicals needed to do it prohibit effective, or profitable, commercial availability. Another green funeral type received development in early 21st-century Sweden was called promession, yet its commercial availability stalled, and many support seeing it to fruition. Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak, developer of promession, elaborated upon her motivation to innovate an environmentally friendly yet rapid way to convert human remains into usable compost via methods of freeze-drying the deceased using nitrogen, then breaking the body apart and filtering for agricultural usability. According to the website, Promessa (n.d.), Wiigh-Mäsak explains her vision for this alternative disposition method: “My idea is to combine biological knowledge with a dignified and ethically correct way of being remembered by ones next of kin. The primary principles are preservation after death in organic form and shallow burial in living soil that quickly converts us to mulch. I am aware of the fact that this way of thinking is contrary to many customs. Yet we should try to adopt a more natural approach to our life and our death. Today’s burial traditions conceal reality from people and do not allow them to feel secure in the fact that death is essential to new life. Deeper insights in the ecological cycle provide greater understanding of and respect for life on earth. With the knowledge of what happens to the body after death, it is my hope that people will find greater security in their physical fate. This, in turn, can give our minds greater freedom to ponder the spiritual issues that we all carry within ourselves.” Lee et al. (2022) provide a detailed examination of promession (also called "cryomation"), describing how Swedish biologist Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak developed this innovative disposition method. The process involves freezing human remains in liquid nitrogen at approximately -200°C, then using vibration to reduce them to powder. This method effectively filters out heavy metals like mercury, allowing the resulting material to be buried in biodegradable containers. The researchers note that these organic remains fully integrate with soil within a year, significantly reducing carbon emissions compared to traditional methods. The report also discusses Cryomation, a UK-based company developing similar technology that first dries and sterilizes remains in a vacuum before freezing them to -196°C with liquid nitrogen. This process creates a brittle material that can be reduced to powder and freed from metals, making it suitable for burial in biodegradable containers or use as compost.
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