Ireland is to become the first country in Europe to offer citizens water cremation, a new form of burial also known as resomation. It’s an alternative to fire cremation and considered to be more environmentally friendly.
It’s become a popular choice of funeral in the US and Canada where folks are becoming increasingly concerned at the impact their funeral might have on the environment and the climate crisis.
According to RTÉ:
Sustainability is a major selling point for water cremation, as those preparing for their death weigh up the environmental impacts of their burial.
Traditional burial, despite relying on natural decomposition to break down remains, can lead to embalming fluid seeping into the soil.
Elizabeth Oakes is the founder of Pure Reflections, which will open its resomation facility in Navan, Co Meath, next January.
It will be the first of its kind in Europe, and Ms Oakes said 20 people have already indicated their intention to use this type of burial method.
Ms Oakes came across the technology while studying mortuary science in California, during a tour to the UCLA body donation programme.
“I just thought it was amazing. It’s such a clean, sterile environment when you compare it to, I suppose, traditional flame cremation,” she said.
Every gas-powered fire cremation releases approximately 245kg of CO2 into the atmosphere, according to the CDS Group, a UK consultancy specialising in cemetery and crematorium development, open space design and environmental solutions.
As well as this, vaporised mercury and toxic emissions can be released which are harmful to the environment.
In contrast, figures from Resomation Ltd, the founding body for water cremation, state that one water cremation releases just 28kg of CO2 into the atmosphere. There is also no mercury released into the atmosphere during the process.
Ms Oakes has spent three and-a-half years trying to bring the technology to Ireland.
During a water cremation the deceased’s remains are wrapped in a woollen shroud and placed into a large steel vessel. The chamber is then filled with 95% water and 5% alkaline solution, which is heated gently.
Over the course of three hours, the water flows over the remains and breaks them down into their chemical components – amino acids, peptides, sugars and salt.
What remains is a liquid that is then treated in another tank until sterile and free of DNA – and the bones, as with fire cremation, are placed into a reducer and turned into what we call “ash”.
Boil in the bag cremations to save the planet.
Vaudeville.
