Susanne Wiigh-Masak has invented a way of turning human
remains into organic waste. Armed with her physics degree and engineering
experience, she has created a device that deep-freezes corpses, shatters the
body into small bits using vibrations, and then vacuums water out of the pieces.
The dry powder that remains can be placed in a biodegradable coffin and buried
just below ground. When moisture penetrates the coffin, the nutrients of the
powder support plant and insect life. The device has been only tested on pigs
so far, but people in 10 countries are interested in purchasing it to use for
humans.

 

This is the future of the death-care industry. Underground
burials are becoming a thing of the past, due to the heavy environmental
impacts of metal caskets, toxic embalming fluid and mercury tooth fillings. Crematorium
manufacturers have been working to reduce C02 emissions over the past decade:
now forward-thinking funeral homes are upgrading their facilities with new
technologies that use sodium hydroxide to dissolve the body, leaving brittle
material that turns to dust with a shake. Cardboard coffins, 100% recycled or
biodegradable urns, plant-based embalming fluids, and cemeteries that double as
parks are also some of the new options helping to move eco-burials into the
mainstream.

 

Source: Canadian Business Online