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People are increasingly concerned with the environmental impact they make on a daily basis. Hybrid and electric cars are more prevalent, and backyard gardens for vegetables are commonplace. According to a recent study, 78 percent of U.S. consumers say that a sustainable lifestyle is important to them.
As carbon footprints become more of a focus, many are also considering the environmental impact they will have after their death.
Burial and cremation are standard methods of handling a loved one’s body after death. Personal preference, cost, location, religious beliefs, and family tradition all come into consideration when choosing between burial and cremation. As with any type of breakdown process, both burials and cremations impact the environment in various ways.
To that end, two additional options have become more prevalent in recent years: human composting and resomation/Alkaline Hydrolysis. Human composting is the practice of breaking down human remains into fertile soil; resomation is the process of returning the body to cremated remains using water and an alkali-based solution.
While these are still emerging methods, and much research must still be done to understand their impact, it can be helpful for funeral directors to have a base knowledge of these alternatives when speaking with families.
The Process
Both composting and resomation have the same “end result” of a powder-like substance, similar to cremation, and each is thought to potentially lessen the impact on the environment.
Human composting can be accomplished in a number of ways, but it is commonly achieved by placing the body in a specialized container along with wood chips and other carbon-rich items. Most containers will shift to encourage the compostable materials and ingredients to stir as oxygen levels change and the temperature inside the container drops. Once the process is complete, the compost inside the container, which is a mixture of the materials placed in the container and the body, can be used to fertilize plants. Many people opt to be planted along with a tree to nourish the tree as part of their gift back to the earth.
Resomation is a form of cremation, but instead of using heat to cremate the body, resomation relies upon alkali and water. Resomation, or water cremation, speeds up the natural decomposition process of a body by hours instead of months or years. The body is placed in a biodegradable coffin or shroud and then placed in a water cremator. Families receive cremated remains that are similar to those from a heat-based cremation, but the resomation may potentially use less energy than standard cremation.
Informed Choices
It is important to note that neither composting nor resomation is currently legal in most states, but as alternative choices eventually become the norm rather than the exception, this may change. Funeral directors and others in the deathcare industry can get ahead of these new innovations by becoming more informed of how they work, what the process is for each option, and what the rules and regulations are in the state(s) in which they operate.