"green" cremation
 

Here's a little somethin' sumpthin' to gab about during a conversation lull...nothin' like steering the subject towards death in a dull moment haha.

People have gone to using biodegradable urns and so forth, but the new process involves freeze-drying the cadaver in liquid nitrogen and then having the remains ground into fine powder.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3473103.stm

Swedes offer freeze-dry burials

 

Ms Wiigh-Maesak says after death she would like to become a white rhododendron

The environmentally-conscientious could soon ensure they don't end up polluting the earth after they die, thanks to a company in Sweden.
Concerns about the environmental impact of embalming fluids or cremation have led Promessa Organic to come up with a chilling alternative.
Their method involves freeze-drying the corpse in liquid nitrogen.
Sound vibrations then shatter the brittle remains into a powder that can be "returned to the ecological cycle".
Biologist and head of Promessa Organic Susanne Wiigh-Maesak said she hoped to promote environmental and existential awareness.
"Our ecological burial reduces environmental impact on some of our most important resources; our water, air and soil," she explains on her company website.
"At the same time it provides us with deeper insights regarding the ecological cycle, and greater understanding of and respect for life on earth."
Compost
After the freezing process, the odourless powdery remains are laid in a coffin made of corn starch and buried in a shallow grave.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak says the soil "turns the coffin and its contents into compost in about six months" which means relatives can then plant a bush or tree on the spot.

 

 

The method is based upon preserving the body in a biological form after death, while avoiding harmful embalming fluid

 

Susanne Wiigh-Maesak,
Promessa Organic

"The compost formed can then be taken up by the plant... The plant stands as a symbol of the person, and we understand where the body went," she said.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak says she would very much like to become a white rhododendron.
The company has applied for a patent on her method in 35 countries.
Ms Wiigh-Maesak said the authorities in Joenkoeping, 328 km (204 miles) south-west of Stockholm, were ready to start operating its first freeze-drying facility in the next couple of years. The head of cemetery administration in Joenkoeping said younger people were keen on the idea as "green burials" are becoming popular in Sweden.

Apparently, corpses of cancer patients have very toxic chemicals due to the chemotherapy treatment they undergo in the years before they die. This could solve the problem.

It's also way cooler than Alcor's cryonic suspension.

I'd like my ashes to be put into a 1 cm capsule, and shot into space.

Yeah, it's just far less energy expended overall; there's no fires, no smoke, no charcoals and no residue. It's kind of crazy, but it does the job of cremation well.

We've all seen demonstrations of experiments with liquid nitrogen.

The presenter dips a rose in the tube, removes the rose, then breaks the rose, for example.

It just kind of makes me wonder who in the hell thought to themselves first, "hey, if I substitute a dead body instead, it could then be pulverized which would be a cleaner form of burial."

This is gonna piss off the maggots.

funny thread.

My friend's gay uncle's partner has a cremation company (is that the right word?). They do pet cremations, but they do them individually. Apparently most pet cremation places dump all the pets in and do it at once, and the owners get the remains of a mix of animals. I found it sad.