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It's not an acid bath. It's an alkaline bath:
When it comes to putting loved ones in their final resting places, our choice has long been whether to bury a body or cremate it. But a third option has been gaining attention recently: Alkaline hydrolysis, which involves dissolving a body in a liquid solution. The process leaves behind bones that can be ground into ash using much less energy than cremation. Though it sounds a bit gruesome, the approach offers many benefits. "This by far is the most environmentally friendly choice" Dean Fisher, director of the Donated Body Program at UCLA told Wired.
[...] Having a body cremated may seem like a sustainable burial, but in most cases it's not great for the environment. In cremation, everything is burned into ash, including bone and medical implants. That can lead to the release of harmful pollutants. In the UK, for instance, cremation contributes to 16% of all mercury pollution. And as The Atlantic has reported, cremation takes about two SUV-tanks worth of gas to cremate a single body. Alkaline hydrolysis, on the other hand, requires only an eighth of that energy, Gizmodo reports.
Also at Here & Now (4:45 audio).
California: AB-967 Human remains disposal: alkaline hydrolysis: licensure and regulation.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gaaark on Sunday August 27 2017, @12:30AM (4 children)
I've been looking into the 'alternative' departure management methods, but hadn't come across this.
I've been trending towards the 'green burial': they wrap you in a shroud and bury you in the ground without embalming or anything. They place a gps marker there and you can even pick your spot: under a tree, with a view of wild flowers, etc. (Of course, they had no option for a view of the university girls locker room, lol).
The closest spot to where i live for a green burial is about 100 km away, but i may have to look into it.
Feck this $10,000-20,000 'burial/memorial/pull the money out my ass funeral. I'd rather that money go to my wife and kids.
My wife doesn't like the idea of an Irish wake, but i do.
Give everyone who comes a drink of certain choices and let them laugh and have fun while they cry: rather have them celebrate my life than have them act like i've seen at 'regular' funerals.
Feck, go out with memories and joy than crying and "I'm sorry for your loss" shit.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Sunday August 27 2017, @04:55AM (3 children)
You want the most economic option? Donate your dead carcass to science. Seems that so few people choose that option, are apparently so disgusted by the supposed degrading, potentially embarrassing and privacy busting inhumanity of it, that they get very few offers. They'll take the body without charging you any money. Won't cost your estate or next of kin anything at all. I'm sure that wouldn't be the case if more people went that route.
(Score: 2) by sgleysti on Sunday August 27 2017, @05:10AM (1 child)
I definitely want my body to end up on the table in an anatomy class or the various parts in different experiments. Thanks for the reminder; I need to set up a will, register with a donation service, and put that info in the will.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 27 2017, @09:53AM
Is this like blood "donations", where you "donate" yourself to a "bank" that then sells the product (you) to hospitals/researcher (not for a profit, of course-- all proceeds go to "expenses"), while lobbying to make it illegal for the hospital/institute to take/receive the donations (you) directly?
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday August 27 2017, @11:42AM
I looked into that as well, but: from https://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/DeathInvestigations/WholeBodyDonation/DI_body_donation.html [gov.on.ca]
" It is important to remember that a School of Anatomy may refuse to accept a donation under certain circumstances. For instance, a donation may not be accepted if:
An autopsy was conducted.
Embalming occurred.
Amputation occurred.
The deceased had certain infectious diseases or was emaciated.
The school is not in need of donations.
NOTE: There may be additional exceptions. Please contact a school of your choice for further details."
They list 10 facilities: if one rejects my body, should they try another? And another?
They don't have to take the body if they don't want to, which complicates things.(If they HAD to take it even if they didn't want it, my choice might be easier.) I want simple for my family: lowest stress possible, KISS.
I'd just rather nourish a tree instead of contaminating the environment and stressing my family more.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---