People want environmentally friendly end of life options, and the the UK now offers water cremation.
Before our desire to include sustainability in all of our decisions, there were only two end of life options: cremation and conventional burials. While these options still exist, there has been evidence suggesting that they are not the most sustainable. Cremation requires burning fossil fuels and emits carbon dioxide. The chemicals used in the embalming process of traditional cremation can leak out and pollute the surrounding soil and waterways. Conventional burials can contaminate soils, use valuable land, and contribute to climate change’s effects through resource-intensive manufacturing and transportation of caskets.
Several environmentally friendly end of life options have become available, with more likely as the demand for sustainable options continues to rise. Some of the sustainable alternatives include human composting, which is a green burial option that expedites the process of returning human remains to the earth. Water cremation, which uses water to bring the body back to the skeletal remains, is another sustainable option.
How water cremation works:
With water cremation, the body is placed in a specially designed vessel, typically made of stainless steel. The vessel is filled with water and alkali, such as potassium hydroxide, which is then heated to around 160-180 degrees Celsius. The combination of water, heat and alkali accelerates the natural process of decomposition that would occur in in the ground over many years. The alkali breaks down the organic matter in the body, including proteins, fats, and soft tissues, leaving behind only bones and any non-organic materials (such as metal implants). This is in contrast to traditional cremation, where the metal implants and dental fillings are all burned within the initial process, which emits carbon monoxide and mercury.
After several hours, only a sterile liquid and bones will remain. The bones will be dried and processed into a fine powder and will be placed in an urn and returned to the family.
Water cremation is considered to be a more sustainable option compared to traditional cremation or burial because it produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants. This process also uses 80 percent less energy than flame cremation, which requires temperatures to reach 760 to 982 degrees Celsius for the process to work.
The history of water cremation
While we are only starting to use water cremation as an environmentally friendly end of life option for humans, water cremation has been around since the late 1800s when it was used to turn animal carcasses into fertilizers.
In 1993, Albany Medical College pioneered the first commercial water cremation machine, which has been used in labs, schools, and animal facilities ever since. We finally saw the legalization of the process for human remains in 2011 in Minnesota, US, followed by Saskatchewan, Canada.
Where is water cremation currently being done?
The UK recently started offering the service in 2023. Ireland will open their first water cremation facility in 2024. The service is also offered in states across the United States and a few provinces in Canada and South Africa.
We’re slowly working towards incorporating sustainable options not only for the living but after we’ve passed as well. However, these environmentally friendly end of life options are still relatively unknown. Countries, states, and provinces need to promote these greener options so we can move toward environmentally friendly end of life options instead of traditional cremation.
Water cremation and human composting are only a few environmentally friendly end of life options, but I’m certain as science evolves, we will see more sustainable options, which will eventually replace traditional cremation and burials and will become the most popular end of life options.
