Aquamation Leads You to a Watery Grave
As green and sustainable alternatives are popping up for pretty much everything you could imagine, here’s a new one: laying the dead to rest.
Think about it. Done the traditional way, burying one corpse will have the following impact on the environment: leave behind a (most likely) non-biodegradable chipboard coffin, take up a sizeable plot of earth in a steadily shrinking amount of free space on the planet, and leak carcinogenic formaldehyde, or embalming fluid, into the groundwater. While cremation may seem like a greener choice, the process can still create up to 350 pounds of greenhouse gases per body.
Enter Aquamation, an eco-friendly alternative using “the chemical process of alkaline hydrolysis – the natural way in which a body decomposes if buried without a coffin in the soil, or placed in a flowing stream of water.” With the touch of a button, the body automatically undergoes the decomposition process contained within a stainless steel vessel.
In just four hours, the potassium-hydroxide-and water solution breaks down soft tissue, leaving behind bones which are pulverized, similar to the cremation process. While avoiding the contaminants and space used by a traditional burial, Aquamation uses only 5-10% of the energy used during cremation.
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After the process is completed, the leftover matter can be used as fertilizer, or distributed throughout your loved one’s favorite body of water.
In just a few weeks Aquamation Industries will be releasing dozens of the tanks for sale throughout NSW and Queensland. “The public response is absolutely phenomenal,” CEO John Humphries told an Australian news source. “Once they’re going there’s no question they’ll be very popular.”
An added perk to Aquamation is the cheaper price tag with services starting at just $1,000.
