No coffins or urns: now, after death, there is terramation

Ultimately, you have to think about it. We must think, that is, a what to do with us once we dieand what accommodation to give to what remains of our body.

It is a very personal reflection, but with collective consequences: why every year the cremations of American citizens alone produce 250,000 tons of CO2 in the atmosphere and by 2040, according to the National Funeral Director Association, the cremation rate in the United States should rise further to 78.7%, against that of burial, which is still at 15.7%.

And if, on the one hand, cremation reduces soil consumption and pollution linked to buried non-biodegradable materials (in 2035 the over 65s will be the majority of Americans), the related emissions will accelerate climate change and deprive future generations of natural resources . In short, our heirs could also die of too many deaths. And this is where the ecological alternative to the usual burials comes into play: terramation.

Recently authorized in 5 American states (Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Vermont plus California, where it will be possible from 2027) what is also called “natural organic reduction” consists in making one’s corpse a natural fertilizer and thus transform a temporally limited existence into something truly evergreen.

In reality, from an environmental point of view, some innovations regarding the organic reduction of the human body have already been seen: for example, the process chosen by the former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is the so-called “aquatic cremation”, which consists in dissolution of the body through alkaline hydrolysis. In practice, a corpse is placed in a potassium hydroxide solution at a temperature of 90-140 degrees Celsius. After 3-4 hours only the bones remain, which are reduced to powder and delivered to the relatives inside an urn, while the liquid resulting from the dissolution of the tissues is disposed of in the more eco-friendly sewage duct compared to cremation because it requires less energy, the procedure has the further advantage of recovering pacemakers or old amalgam fillings which, when burned, release toxic substances into the air.

In Sweden, where they understand cold, in 2005 a process of freezing of corpses which allows the remains to be dispersed in nature. The body is first cryogenically frozen with liquid nitrogen at -196°C, then subjected to strong vibrations which break it into pieces; later it is subjected to the removal of metals from the remains and finally the whole ends up freeze-dried making it a kind of mulch. But in 2015 the company that promoted this system, called “Promession” after the company name, Promessa Organic AB, went bankrupt before demonstrating how strong the Swedes’ preference for putting grandfather in the freezer was. On the other hand for now Sweden is the only country in Europe where it is legal
terramation.

Then there are other methods of transformation of the corpses, with biodegradable urns for ashes like the Italian one Capsule Mundi which can end up buried as the bases of a tree. In addition, “natural burials” are legal in all US states, which allow burials in biodegradable coffins, provided they take place in specific areas.

However, perhaps because she is the lastborn in terms of death, terramation seems to be the most promising solution to the ecological problem represented by the encumbrance of the deceased of a world population that recently reached 8 billion. In fact, the result of the transformation can be planted in the private garden of a relative, rather than requiring the provision of public land designed for this purpose.

How does it work

The biodegradation process of terramation begins by placing the deceased in a container with organic materials including alfalfa, straw and sawdust, equal to three times the body weight of the deceased. These natural elements serve to feed the microbes that consume nitrogen and gradually decompose human tissue. Hot air is pumped into the container and, after about three weeks, it is rotated to redistribute the humidity inside, where the temperature gradually rises, reaching around 70 degrees. There are no unpleasant odors because the container is sealed. After about four weeks, the workers check the body and remove any inorganic waste, such as hip prostheses, screws, pacemakers, which can be recycled. After another 30 days the corpse turned into about 10 – 15 burlap bags of soil, which are delivered to the family. The amount of soil varies according to the weight of the deceased. An adult of normal weight produces an average of 240 kilos of earth which the family can also leave deposited at the funeral home.

What is the price of the terramation process?

On the site of Restoreone of the American companies – with Return Home And Recomposed – who provide this service, the pre-purchase fee is $4,950 (but Recompose doesn’t go below 7000). The price includes the terramation service, the assistance of the assistance team, the deposit of the necessary permits and certificates, the refrigerated storage of the body, if necessary, and the transfer of any excess “product” to the local fields. By comparison, the average cost of burial in the US averages close to $8,000. Sure, doing the math can appear irreverent when it comes to saying goodbye to a deceased. Yet the possible savings for the benefit of relatives demonstrates a truth that can appear alternately either very sad or very encouraging: the fact that, even after a serious loss, life (of others) continues. And sometimes, from the more “familiar” terrain, something new can even blossom. The composting process called “terramation” consists in the organic reduction of the body in the soil. The funeral service company Return Homehow Terramation And Recomposed, takes care of preparing the body in an airtight coffin (in perishable material) with a mix of alfalfa and sawdust, so that the organic compounds retain the heat necessary to guarantee the microbial activity to favor decomposition. The process, which is completed within a month, thus avoids the use of ovens – with the consequent dispersion of fumes and human ashes – also cutting the energy consumption that cremation entails.