The Good: A environmentally friendly way to dispose of corpses may soon be made available to the public. Alkaline hydrolysis, also known as treating a body with lye, takes a corpse and places it into a large stainless-steel cylinder. The corpse is then coated in lye and treated to 300 degrees of heat and 60 pounds of pressure. This treatment leaves families with the same products as do cremations. The difference is the by-products of typical cremation—name carbon dioxide and mercury— cannot be released during alkaline hydrolysis. These substances, along with many others, are neutralized by the lye and can be safely rinsed down the drain.

Currently the process is mainly used on animal carcasses and medical cadavers, but could be used by funeral homes if they were to invest in the equipment and permits. The main argument against alkaline hydrolysis is that it is a process unbefitting of a human being. My opinion? This is one a great process that I think should be implemented by funeral homes nationwide. The process of normal embalmment and internment creates remains that will stay in the ground for much longer periods of time. Why litter the ground with elaborate caskets or litter the air with the fumes of cremation? My method of burial? Well I’m going to go back to basics, give me a wood and canvas stretcher, a white sheet and a quick burial. No embalming, no unnecessary pollutants for me.

The Bad: Speaking of burials, three teenagers confessed to giving a body a very odd resting place. One of the three teens was being questioned about an unrelated crime when he admitted to some disturbing activities in a local grave yard. Officials soon called in the two other teens he named as his accomplices to get the full story. Their story goes that the three entered a grave yard and dug up the corpse of an 11-year-old boy who died in 1921. The boys then decapitated the corpse and used the skill as a bong. Police went to the grave yard to check the condition of the corpse, but found the grave to be filled with water from recent rains. The three teens are being held on charges of abuse of a corpse.

So dear readers, what do you think? How do you want your body to be treated after you die? Is it a cardboard coffin for you, a rocket into the sky, or what?

 

Alkaline hydrolysis stainless-steel cylinder