What is the Greenest way to go?
(There are a few candidates, so we thought we'd explore different burial and disposal methods, for the spooky season....)
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Sky burial
Sky burial (Tibetan: བྱ་གཏོར་, Wylie: bya gtor, lit. "bird-scattered"[1]) is a funeral practice in which a human corpse is placed on a mountaintop to decompose while exposed to the elements or to be eaten by scavenging animals, especially carrion birds. It is a specific type of the general practice of excarnation. It is practiced in the Chinese provinces and autonomous regions of Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan and Inner Mongolia, as well as in Mongolia, Bhutan and parts of India such as Sikkim and Zanskar.[2] The locations of preparation and sky burial are understood in the Vajrayana Buddhist traditions as charnel grounds. Comparable practices are part of Zoroastrian burial practices where deceased are exposed to the elements and birds of prey on stone structures called Dakhma.[3] Few such places remain operational today due to religious marginalisation, urbanisation and the decimation of vulture populations.[4][5]
The majority of Tibetan people and many Mongols adhere to Vajrayana Buddhism, which teaches the transmigration of spirits. There is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it or nature may cause it to decompose. The function of the sky burial is simply to dispose of the remains in as generous a way as possible (the origin of the practice's Tibetan name). In much of Tibet and Qinghai, the ground is too hard and rocky to dig a grave, and due to the scarcity of fuel and timber, sky burials were typically more practical than the traditional Buddhist practice of cremation. In the past, cremation was limited to high lamas and some other dignitaries,[6] but modern technology and difficulties with sky burial have led to an increased use of cremation by commoners
en.m.wikipedia.org/...
ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS: GREEN CREMATION
"Like cremation, alkaline hydrolysis -- also known as green cremation -- is a method of preparing a dead human body for its final disposition. And like cremation, it's a process that reduces human remains to bone fragments. But instead of flame, alkaline hydrolysis uses water and an alkali solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) commonly found in household products, which when heated, dissolves the body, leaving behind bone fragments and a sterile liquid. Alkaline hydrolysis is the natural process a body undergoes after burial, which can take up to 25 years. Green cremation essentially accelerates this natural process to 2-3 hours in a very quiet, controlled environment.
The process
The dead human body is placed in a pressurized stainless steel chamber where water (95%) and alkali (5%) are added and the temperature raised to 350 degrees. Water, alkali, heat and pressure circulate over the body to cause a reaction that hastens the decomposition of soft tissues. (Translation: it completely dissolves everything -- flesh, organs -- except bone fragments.) The resulting sterile solution is drained from the pressurized chamber, leaving behind soft bone fragments. The sterile solution is recycled through the waste water treatment system. The process typically takes 2-3 hours, similar to cremation.
A green alternative to cremation
Green cremation is a much more eco-friendly process. Compared to cremation, alkaline hydrolysis offers:
- More than 75% reduction of carbon footprint
- Uses 1/8 the amount of energy of flame-based cremation
- Pacemakers and some other medical devices do not need to be removed prior to the process as with flame-based cremation
- Mercury from dental amalgam is contained and recycled, not vaporized
- Preserves 20+% more bone fragments than flame cremation
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Is it more expensive?
Bradshaw's basic green cremation (no on-site ceremony) is $2,295, three times the lowest direct cremation price in the Twin Cities Metro area but less expensive than some funeral homes charge for flame cremation. LaCanne in Windom charges $3,425 for basic Aqua-Green Cremation -- that's cremation without any additional services.
Some observers predict the price will come down as other funeral homes offer alkaline hydrolysis. However, the high cost of the resomator, the stainless steel pressurized chamber used for alkaline hydrolysis, means it's unlikely many funeral homes will be adding this option to their General Price Lists.
* Mayo Clinic in Rochester uses alkaline hydrolysis - they call it bio cremation - for final disposition after completing studies on a donated body.)
What are the casket and clothing options?
Since the alkaline hydrolysis process can only dissolve protein based material, unlike cremation, it cannot accommodate either a wood casket or an alternative container. Only silk, leather or wool can be used to clothe or wrap the body. Bradshaw Funeral and Cremation Services uses a bio-plastic sheet to cover the body before placing it in the chamber.
What are the ashes like?
The result is bone ash, but the ash is whiter than flame cremation, and of a finer consistency, almost like flour. Green cremation preserves 20+% more bone fragments than flame cremation. In choosing green cremation, you'll need to make sure the container (urn or otherwise) you use is large enough to hold the additional amount of ash.
The process sounds kind of yucky, doesn't it?
Yucky? Think about the process of old-fashioned cremation. A dead human body is subjected to intense heat and fire at a temperature of between 1600-1800 degrees F., incinerating everything -- skin, flesh, organs -- except bone fragments. Cremation is just another word for incineration.
Yucky? Think about the embalming process. Yes, invasive things happen to your body when you undergo major surgery, or complicated treatments for diseases. But if the doctor hasn't explained it all beforehand, you can ask, and he/she will tell you, or draw you a picture. Literally. A funeral planning session during which you've chosen embalming for your dead relative usually doesn't involve a description of all that's about to occur in the funeral home embalming and preparation room. They will definitely not draw you a picture.
The option with the lowest yuck factor, hands down, is green -- natural -- burial. Of course there's that whole, "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the ants play Pinochle on your snout" thing. At least with green burial, the decomposition process happens naturally. Not so an embalmed body encased in a casket which is then enclosed in a grave liner or vault. Most people don't like to think what that might look like after a few years underground. "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust?" Ask yourself how long it will take for a metal casket and the concrete burial vault its encased in to decompose down to the earth-ashes-dust stage".fcaofmn.org/...
Is cremation harmful to the environment?
Although cremation is more eco-friendly than burial, cremations burn much natural gas (a temperature of to 750 to 800 degrees must be maintained for 45 to 90 minutes) releasing greenhouse gases and vaporising other chemicals that may be present in the body such as mercury (dental fillings) and dioxins and furans.Jan 15, 2018
The Irish Times › news › science
The other method is dissolving the body which is supposed to be more eco-friendly. OccupyStephanie
How to Be Eco-Friendly When You're Dead
Standard burial and cremation take tons of energy and resources. So what's the most environmentally sound way to deal with a dead person?www.theatlantic.com/...
And the winner is:
Coconut Crabs Eat Everything from
Maybe, Amelia Earhart?
"Besides eating their own exoskeletons, the crabs have been known to feast on chickens, kittens and and fellow coconut crabs. Finding these delicacies requires a bit of sniffing around. Wired explains:
The coconut crab finds food with its extremely well-developed sense of smell. Like an insect, it uses antennae to zero in on its vittles, but takes this to an extreme by devoting considerable brainpower to the sense.
Some believe this excellent sense of smell, in fact, led the coconut crabs to a dead or dying Amelia Earhart. According to one theory, Earhart did not drown in the Pacific but instead crash landed on Nikumaroro, a remote atoll in the Pacific. Environmental Graffiti:
In 1940, researchers discovered a fraction of a skeleton on the island that matched the description of Amelia Earhart. Now, even more interesting clues are arising that seem to substantiate the idea that this is where she met her demise. The most compelling hypothesis currently under consideration is that coconut crabs overwhelmed her where she lay.
Researchers carried out an experiment to validate whether the coconut crabs had a part in her demise.
Back in 2007, they used a small pig carcass to assess what the coconut crabs might have done. The bones were removed very quickly and scattered, according to Patricia Thrasher, TIGHAR’s president."
(This could be you-
Happy Trails......!)
Nom NomNom Nom NomNom.........
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cremation environmental impact
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(Happy Halloween from Regenerative,
Environmentalists!)