 |
Resomation: Your New High-Tech Option For Eco-Friendly Burial |
7 Comments |
| By Michael d'Estries in Green Living, Water | August 19, 2007 | ||
I have a fascination with eco-friendly burial here on Groovy. Mainly because I’ve learned too much about the ‘traditional, modern’ methods and I’ve been scared shitless about what might be done to my body after I’ve passed. Seriously, if you take a look at some of our articles on the topic, you’ll agree that worms are a pleasant alternative to embalming.
One of the alternatives that’s championed and has grown in use here in the States is the use of cremation. Interestingly, of all the methods beyond conventional burial, this one is the least earth-friendly. First off, cremation uses an immense amount of energy to reduce your body to ash. Additionally, a great deal of mercury is released into the air from the process, mainly because of tooth fillings. In the UK alone, it is estimated that crematories contribute almost 16% of annual mercury emissions.
So, what to do if you still want to speed the decay process along and become ashes to ashes before your friends at the local cemetery (who, will actually become soup)? A new technology called Resomation aims to produce the same result — but with water instead of flame. From the site,
“Resomation is an environmentally responsible, non-burn, water based process which sympathetically returns the body to its constituent elements. It utilises and advances a naturally occuring alkaline hydrolysis reaction to rapidly breakdown the body leaving behind a pure white bio-ash which can be returned to loved ones.”
In other words, within the first 30 minutes, the building blocks of life –amino acids, small peptides, sugars and salts — are removed (the site mentions that these have no DNA value and as a result no connection to the original owner) and bone ’shadows’ are left behind. “The bone shadows are pure calcium phosphate and although they maintain the structure of the bone they are very soft and easily crushed into powder or ‘Bio-ash’. This Bio-ash can be returned to relatives as in cremation.”
Interesting, right? I’m not sure I want to be “resomated” as much as buried naturally — but the increase in choices (especially for those who can’t bear to think about their body being burned) — is nice to see. About 1,000 people in the United States have opted for Resomation. Current costs are about $600 — compared to the thousands spent on traditional burial. For more information on Resomation, please visit the official site.
via SciFi Tech
Loading ...
Johnny K – What do you plan to do with your remains? said,
[...] we be buried, cremated, or resomated? Burial sucks, your family spends a fortune on a wooden coffin, put you into the ground and then [...]
Matt said,
This is a really cool idea. I disagree with the author about embalming. I think it’s important to have a public viewing to afford people the option of saying goodbye. That being said, I read that Resomation renders embalming fluids harmless. It looks like (for those of us not opposed to embalming, but not excited about what formalin does to the environment) a great win-win solution!
teresa m helms said,
I was introduced to Resomation via a film shown to us by a college professor while I was in school studying Funeral Services. I was amazed at the process and knew it would be only a matter of time before it would be accepted in the United States. I am truly interested in helping to make this process know throughout the states. Everyone I have spoken to about the process, are glad there is an alternative to cremation. I myself have decided to have this done as my final disposition. I choose to give back to nature what she has abuntdly given to me. The more I research the topic the more I am interested in persuing a career in this direction.
Ed Gazvoda said,
The actual process is a water & alkali disposition. Resomation(R) is simply a trademark held by Resomation LTD, a UK based copmpany. They manufacture a high-pressure alkaline hydrolysis system. It is reported to cost around $400k.
A U.S. manufacturer, CycledLife, http://www.CycledLife.com, has introduced low-temperature water & alkali systems. These systems will make this new technology affordable, $128,000 for a water and alkali system. This is a fraction of the cost of the high-pressure systems. Plus, it is safer and less costly to maintain than high-pressure systems.
For consumers, the lower capital cost for a water & alkali system, will mean water & alkali dispositions will be less costly than cremation. This will hasten the acceptance of this new technology – great news for the living, as the old ways, burial and cremation, continue to be detrimental to public health.
Debbie said,
I am curious as to what does happen to the mercury. It may not be released into the air during the process, but it has to go somewhere.
Is it part of the ‘brown syrup’ that is disposed of in the sewage system? Or is it part of the solid, non-bone debris left behind such as artificial joints which can then be ‘recovered and recycled’. (This information is from a pamphlet from Eco-Green Cremation Systems.)
I am all for a greener alternative to the traditional methods, and think this method holds a lot of promise. I never have wanted to be buried; to me it is a waste of land and other resources. Up until now traditional cremation has been the only real alternative. I just don’t want to overlook what happens to any toxic substances left behind, and the thought of ‘recycling’ artifical joints or other body parts seems just a bit ghoulish, and maybe something that will need to be regulated.
Pour Mama down the Drain said,
[...] concerns? The worship of nature now trumps the care of our own dead. (The website Groovy Green calls it an “option for eco-friendly burial.”) Under the process, known as resomation, [...]
shirley helland said,
I’m interested in an outlet in the U.S. for resomation.