Following on from last week’s blog about alternatives to a traditional burial or cremation – Innovative ways of saving the planet after you die

We’re looking at another alternative which is being marketed as a ‘Green Cremation’.

This “gentle, eco-friendly alternative to flame-based cremation” used an alkaline solution made with potassium hydroxide to reduce the body to a skeleton and could be available in the UK soon.

But why do we need to look at alternatives?

In some countries, space for cemeteries is running out. In the UK, it’s estimated that half of cemeteries will be full in the next 20 years.

In parts of London, the council no longer offers a burial service, and the city has started re-using grave space, lowering bodies further into the ground and placing new ones on top.

The use of land for burial – and the constant upkeep of that land – has an environmental impact. Burial also typically calls for natural resources.

As for Cremation, well, it is an incredibly energy-intensive process, and it also releases a significant amount of greenhouse gases and toxins into the environment. In the UK, for example, cremation is responsible for 16 percent of the country’s mercury pollution thanks to all our old dental fillings.

You can check out more about it here on the BBC Website – Dissolving the dead