When it comes to picking the proper disposition of the body the possibilities are few. Most folks consider embalming or cremation, but things are changing. People these days are looking into alternatives – enter Alkaline Hydrolysis. Alkaline Hydrolysis, Resomation or Green/Water Cremation is relatively new to the death care industry and it appeals to those who wish to have a greener funeral and burial than either cremation or embalming. The process uses less energy to breakdown a body than does cremation but the greenness as a process is still debated. In Alkaline Hydrolysis, once the body is broken down, the then brownish water containing amino acids, peptides salts, sugars and no DNA is flushed into the sewer system. This shocks many people, yet they do not consider where the blood ends up in arterial embalming. Embalming is a process of displacement - embalming fluid goes in and blood comes out. What do embalmers do with the blood? The blood goes down a drain and into the sewer system. For years embalming was the standard process of disposition, and yet people are shocked that this Alkaline Hydrolysis process involves the sewer system. I am baffled that people are so against Alkaline Hydrolysis because it uses the sewer system when the use of the sewer system in the death care industry has been used for so long and no one outlawed embalming.
In our death care plans, we need to look at the process we wish our loved ones to use. We must not shy away from the knowledge that our research reveals to us. The truth is the truth and we must never be afraid of the truth.