Funeral director among those pushing for cremation alternative that dissolves bodies in water

A cancer diagnosis in 2013 ledJocelyne Monetteto realize how important it isfor herto protect the environment in death as much as she does in life.

The 66-year-old who is now cancer-free is vegan, recycles religiously, and isin the process of downsizing to a 300-square-foot living space.

After her death, however, she does not want to be buried, nor does she want to be cremated.

"I don't want fossil fuel to be part of my journey out of this world," Monette said of the natural gas often used to fuel cremation.

Green burial, which eliminates caskets and headstones, is an option for some,but Monette finds it problematic because of the space that's required.

Instead, the Victoria resident wants her remains handled using a process called aquamation.

The water-based alkaline processdissolves a body in a matter of hours within a purpose-built stainless steel cylinder. It is legalin Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and nearly two dozen American states, but not in B.C.

So far, 578 British Columbianshave signed a petition urging the provincial government to allow thealternative tocremation.

Dissolving the body

Alkaline hydrolysisis the scientific name foraquamation. It usesa combination of water flow, temperature and alkalinity tobreakdown proteins, fats and carbohydrates leaving behind only bones.

"[The bones] are processed and put into an urn, no different than flame cremation," said Chris Benesch, funeral director and owner of Earth's Options Cremation and Burial Servicesin Esquimalt, B.C.

The process also produces aliquid effluent said to be safe for disposal inlocal wastewater streams.

It'snot so different from what happens to a body in a grave, said Benesch,but aquamation accelerates what takes years to accomplish in the ground.

"There's no fire. There's no smoke. There's nothing," said Monette."It's just a stainless steel vessel with water gently flowing over the body."

Question of temperature

Water temperature determines how long it takesto dissolvethe body.

A 2018 study by Public Health Ontarioconcludedhigh temperature alkaline hydrolysis, which takes approximately six hours at 177 C, is unlikely to contain any viable infectious agents in the remaining waste water.

Low temperature alkaline hydrolysis takes approximately 18 hours at 93 Cand, according to the report, more research needs to be doneto confirm its effectiveness in achieving adequate destruction of infectious agents in human tissues.

Only high temperature aquamation is approvedin Ontario.

Ontario'schief of environmental and occupational health, Dr. Ray Copes, says the risks of low temperature aquamationareunclear.

"I wouldn't want to claim that there is a risk butit's also fair to say there hasn't been much scrutiny over thatmethod," Copes said.

High temperature alkaline hydrolysis has been reviewed and is recognized by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control as a wayto dispose of human remains without endangeringpublic health.

Not a burning issue in B.C.

B.C.'s Ministry of Public Safety says it has been reviewing alkaline hydrolysis as an alternative to traditional burial and cremation.

A spokesperson wrote in an email thatlegislative changewould be needed to the Funeral Services Act, requiring consideration ofenvironmental impacts, zoning,safety,training and licensing.

Monette says manypeople take steps to reduce their carbon footprintduring life, butare left with littlechoicewhen it comes tohow their death willimpact the planet.

"We're not asking you to eliminate fire. We're asking you to add water and let us make the decision," said Monette.

According to Statistics Canada, 36,627 people died in B.C. in 2016.Benesch says 20 per cent of them were buried and 80 per cent were cremated.

"We're looking at just a little over 10 millionkilograms of carbon pollution going into the atmosphere every year in British Columbia because of cremation," said Benesch.