How to bury people's remains after death has always been a topic of concern.
Whether it is better to leave only ashes by cremation, or whether it is better to bury the body in the earth, supporters of cremation and burial have been arguing for more than a hundred years, making them the most mainstream form of funeral in the world.
More recently, the UK is promoting a newer method of handling remains – water burial.
It will put people into large vats, boil them at high temperature for 4 hours, and then discharge the boiled liquid into the sewer, and the remaining bones will be ground into powder. Some experts believe that it is more environmentally friendly than water burial and burial in the earth, but netizens are a little difficult to accept.
This is the first time the UK has legislated for a new way of handling remains since legislation introduced to promote cremation in 1902. Water burial will be open to the general public in the UK later this year.
First of all, it should be noted that the water burial mentioned here is not a sea burial, that is, the body is directly sunk to the bottom of the sea (mostly seen in the navy), or the ashes are scattered into the sea (both English are Burial at sea). The English method of water burial is aquamation or water cremation, which can also be translated as flameless cremation, or alkaline hydrolysis.
As the name suggests, this way of dealing with the dead mainly relies on water and alkaline chemicals to quickly decompose the body under electric heat.
The process of water burial, once described as "boiling in the bag," is a hellish joke.
Boil-in-bag is a convenient fast food common in European and American supermarkets, which can be eaten directly after heating the packaging bag containing food. Netizens think that the human body should also be stewed, and the feeling is still very subtle.
The good news, though, is that in real water burials, people don't put them in plastic bags.
Let's explain the specific steps of water burial.
Step 1: The body is wrapped in an eco-friendly bag made of cornstarch;
Step 2: The body is placed in a closed metal jar, the weight of the deceased is weighed, and the solution required for water burial is calculated;
Step 3: Inject water and a certain proportion of potassium hydroxide into the jar, potassium hydroxide is a strong alkali and highly corrosive;
Step 4: With the press of several buttons, the liquid in the jar is electrically heated to 152 ° C and boiled for a minimum of 90 minutes, and it takes up to 4 hours to dissolve all tissues of the human body except bones. Some metals implanted in the human body by medical devices will also remain;
Step 5: About 330 gallons of liquid in the tank will be discharged into another container to cool, after which the liquid will be washed away from the sewer and enter the normal water circulation system in the UK;
Step 6: The staff takes out the boiled bones from the water burial jar, and the human bones are already very fragile at high temperatures, and they only need to be gently knocked to turn into powder. The staff will put these bone powders similar to ashes into boxes and give them to the family of the deceased.
A reporter who visited the water burial ground described that the smell of the human body cooked at high temperature during water burial smelled like "steamed clams", and the mixed liquid of human body + dissolving agent was brown, probably the color of "tea or whiskey".
Isn't it a bit intimidating to discharge such liquids directly into the sewer and into the water recycling system (this water is discharged into the wastewater system, treated in a wastewater treatment center, and then recycled).
The British government's review of this funeral method is actually mainly focused on the environmental protection and safety of drainage, after all, this water may flow to thousands of homes and even into the sea. At their request, the dissolved liquid used for water burial was adjusted for pH so as not to affect the quality of the circulating water.
In 2020, several British water companies tested that the liquid discharged after burial (corpse water + dissolved liquid) met the standards of circulating water. The liquids were considered sterile and contained salts, sugars, amino acids, and peptides, but did not detect any human tissue, DNA, and RNA.
This means that it will be easy for UK funeral companies to apply for a water burial business, they only need to follow the discharge requirements of ordinary "commercial sewage", using the same sewage discharge permit as a laundry.
In terms of funeral expenses, although the specific price was not disclosed, it is reported that the price of water burial and cremation is similar.
Then everyone will ask, since there is no difference in price, why bother to promote water burial? Simply put, for environmental protection.
The Atlantic reports that water burial has a negative environmental impact of one-tenth of cremation. Cremation requires a lot of fuel, and on average, each cremation produces carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to driving a car for 965 kilometers. The burial is too space-consuming, and the materials of some coffins are not degradable and will pollute the soil.
The Durham University professor believes that since cremation can slowly become more popular in the UK than burial from the 20th century, water burial is also expected to become the most popular burial method in the future. He sees promoting water burial in the UK as a compassionate and pragmatic option:
"I'm encouraged that so many people are aware of the significance of reducing carbon emissions, even after they die."
In fact, some people do choose water burial because they feel that being dissolved in water looks "milder" than being burned by fire.
Orsson, a professor of philosophy at Virginia Tech, described it: "Cremation to burn loved ones sounds a bit violent. But changing to a water burial is as easy as giving a loved one a hot bath! ”
Although water burial was only legalized in the UK this year, water burial is not a new thing.
As early as 1888, water burial was patented, but it only began to be promoted in the past 20 years, and the promotion speed was relatively slow. Before the UK, water burials were legal in South Africa, Ireland, 21 states in the United States, 3 Canadian provinces and one state in Mexico. ”
In Minnesota, USA, after Mrs. Olmsted's husband died of illness in 2017, she wanted to be cremated according to his choice, but changed her mind after seeing the pamphlet for the water burial. She thinks water burials are gentler, more environmentally friendly, and in keeping with her husband's status as a fisherman.
Mrs. Olmsted also believes that returning to the water when dying coincides with the baptism of a Christian at birth.
A funeral planner told British reporters that in fact, people's impression of water burial is relatively mild, completely derived from the stereotype of water and fire elements, in fact, water burial is not mild, if the family knows the process of water burial decomposition, they may not think so.
In fact, after the British popularized water burial to the public, many people said that they could not accept this method of disposing of the remains.
Of course, there are also people who feel very happy to contribute to environmental protection after death:
"Glad to hear that! I have supported water burial for a long time. You didn't know about it before, we know so little about it!
I feel like it's a healthier option, especially for those who care about the planet! ”
Others compared the advantages of water burial for burial:
"I think it's a good idea. If you choose burial, as the population increases, where will so many corpses be put in more than 100 years?
Is there any big difference between a water burial and watching a loved one cremated behind a curtain? This method is also much cheaper for those who are underfunded. (A burial process is expensive and many people can't afford it.)
However, most of the people are not optimistic about water burial, and the biggest opinions are various religious groups. In fact, an important reason why cremation was difficult to promote in Europe was that it violated the Christian doctrine that "the body is sacred". And water burial makes most of the "body" rush into the sewer, which is more difficult for believers to accept than cremation.
On yesterday's "Good Morning Britain" news program, a British pastor was so angry that he said on the program: This is not right! This is so disrespectful to the body of the deceased.
Of course, Britain, as a Protestant country, does not have so much red tape, and religion will not be the reason to really dissuade people from water burial. But even if religious traditions are not mentioned, the people are not very happy.
Most people question whether water burials are really more environmentally friendly:
"Potassium hydroxide is a highly dangerous, highly corrosive substance, and washing it down the drain can pollute water resources.
Britain is so short of water, but water burial requires about 330 gallons of water. According to statistics, there are 93,000 funerals each year, which means more than 30 million gallons of polluted water are discharged.
And that's not counting the carbon emissions from manufacturing, transporting and installing water burial machines, or the electricity needed to heat liquids. (Last year's drought in Europe, Britain asked citizens to reduce domestic water)
"In short, water burial is washing human waste and chemicals down the drain, right? None of the articles mention the environmental impact of dumping these alkalis in the sewer system after each water burial. ”
"This sounds disgusting, if you want to be green, I beg you to find a tree and bury it."
"They, cooked, you."
"I guess this water will eventually flow into the ocean, and I don't want to go swimming again."
Of course, the yin and yang strange of the British are indispensable:
"That's awesome! The biggest advantage of water burial is that the corpse water can be flushed into the sewer, and then recycled, everyone uses this water to drink, flush the toilet, and wash dishes! ”
"As someone who is very food-seeking, being overcooked doesn't sound very appealing."
"Our sewers are blocked with even a little rain, how can we withstand 300 gallons per person?"
And Chinese netizens who heard about this said: Ah... Isn't this just a stew? (As a result, the soup was thrown away)
Some people also wonder if water burial is really more environmentally friendly:
Of course, some netizens feel that it doesn't matter what happens after death.
By the way, in 1997 Swedish biologist Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak invented an "ice burial" instead of burial and cremation. Quick-freeze human with liquid nitrogen to -196 °C, and then shake the person into powder. Unfortunately, no one wanted to try, her ice burial company went bankrupt in 2015, and ice burial was never really promoted.
Overall, if water burial really wants to be accepted by the public, there is still a long way to go. I don't know what everyone thinks about water burial?