Green Burials

Becoming Ancestors is at the forefront of the green burial movement and we make it our priority to educate people on the most innovative and sustainable options for you to consider.

Aquamation

In July of 2020, The bill AB967 goes into effect making California the 26th state in the US to approve the process of Aquamation, aka alkaline hydrolysis or flameless cremation, as an alternative method to cremation by fire, by using water instead. Not only is Aquamation better for the planet, it breaks down the body leaving clean bones behind which are then dried and turned to ashes.

Benefits of Aquamation

- Produces 20%-30% more ashes than flame cremation. The ashes are also cleaner because of the lack of carbon and are ivory white in color.

- It does not use fossil fuels or release carbon emissions into the environment.

- It does not require the use of toxic embalming fluids like formaldehyde.

- It also does not require the removal of electronic devices or implants from the body prior to the process unlike traditional cremation.

“When discussing water cremation against traditional flame cremation, studies show more than 4 in 5 people would chose water.” Qico CEO Jack Ingraham

“It has a carbon footprint that is only one-tenth of what fire-based cremation produces.”

Jerry Shevik, owner of Peaceful Pets Aquamation in California.

According to Staudt’s book titled Our Changing Journey to the End: Reshaping Death, Dying, and Grief, aquamation "requires about 90 kwh of electricity, resulting in one quarter the carbon emissions of cremation, consuming one-eighth the energy, while costing the consumer roughly the same amount as cremation.” In addition, the book shares these statistics for ground burial in cemeteries that are extremely unsustainable:

- Cemeteries in the US bury approximately 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid risking groundwater and soil leaching each year.

- Nearly 2 million caskets are purchased in the US annually.

- Buried caskets consume over 90,000 tons of steel, 2,700 tons of copper and bronze and over 30 million board feet of hardwoods annually.

- Burial vaults and vacuum sealed industrial casket bunkers are comprised of an additional 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete and 14,000 tons of steel annually.

Current Option

Becoming Ancestors is partnered with a Mortuary in Portland, Oregon who can arrange to pick up the decedent at the airport for aquamation, and will ship the remains back to California. Please contact me for details.

Sea Burial

Doorway Into the Light- Maui, HI

http://www.doorwayintolight.org

Serenity At Sea - San Diego, CA

http://www.serenityatsea.com/Burial-at-Sea.html

Eternal Reefs - Turning ashes into a living reef

https://www.eternalreefs.com

Rip Tide Charters- Scattering ashes at sea

https://www.ashesscattering.com

Earth Burial

Coeio - Infinity burial suits made from mycelium

http://coeio.com