Hiss, Crackle, Gone, Flush


Photo from the LA Times

"We have come together today to say goodbye to an old friend, and beloved relative to so many gathered here. We will all miss him, and remember him fondly. Now let us begin the dissolving of his body...." :

Since they first walked the planet, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest -- dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain.

The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in this country 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.

Entrepreneurs are racking their brains to think up a way to make this an acceptable part of the modern American green-friendly funeral. Claiming that dissolving your loved one in lye and then tipping the syrup down the drain is far more eco-friendly than carbon-belching crematoriums is part of that initial green push for acceptance, and approval.

Not surprisingly, many people find this process an appalling way to deal with the dead.

It's going to be a tough sell.