In Western societies, disposing of a dead body has come down to two choices — there's burial, and there's cremation. Occasionally, a corpse is donated to science, but even those remains usually make their way to the crematorium in the end.
But since climate change has piqued the world's environmental awareness, it has become clear that death, despite being the most natural of processes, is bad for the environment. Coffins, most of which are made from non-biodegradable chipboard, take up valuable land space. Even when coffins are biodegradable, embalming liquid, which often contains carcinogenic formaldehyde, can leak into the soil. Cremation, during which remains are burned at 850 degrees Celsius (1,562 F), comes with its own problems. According to the research of Professor Roger Short from the University of Melbourne, the process can create up to 160 kilograms (353 lbs.) of greenhouse gases per corpse, including the remains of the coffin.
In Australia, one company has recently started to sell a greener alternative. Aquamation Industries claims to be the first in the world to offer its unique answer to a cheaper, more carbon-neutral method of body disposal. Aquamation employs a process called alkaline hydrolysis, in which a body is placed in a stainless steel vat containing a 93-degree Centigrade, potassium hydroxide and water solution for four hours until all that remains is the skeleton. The bones, which are soft at that point, are then crushed, and presented to family. The residual liquid contains no DNA and the procedure only uses between 5% and 10% of the energy that cremation uses, says John Humphries, a former funeral-home director who is now the chief executive of Aquamation Industries, which launched its services in August. According to Humphries, Aquamation accelerates the processes that occur in nature. Even the residual liquid can be recycled: Humphries measures the pH after the procedure is completed. If it's deemed too high in alkalinity he adds vinegar or citric acid to it afterwards. By that time, he says it's safe enough to pour on the rose bushes.
David Brynn Hibbert, a professor of analytical chemistry at the University of New South Wales, had a different interpretation of the process. "Potassium hydroxide is similar to the stuff you use to clean the oven. It has that soapy feel that strips your fingerprints if you accidentally get it on your hands. If you can imagine the way that it dissolves leftover cooking fats, well, the solution does the same thing with a human body." Hibbert added that the remaining liquid would have to be neutralized to be poured over living plants. "It might be too high in alkalinity initially, but the right amount of vinegar or citric acid would correct that."
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