SHAWNEE, Okla. (KOKH) — How we deal with the useless has been so vital to cultures round the globe all through human historical past. Whether by way of burial or hearth, each household has their very own choice on how to say goodbye to a cherished one.
For hundreds of years, that final step has concerned burning the useless; or as we name it right this moment, cremation. The course of has been round for a very long time, and is gaining reputation in in Oklahoma.
In Oklahoma, we’re at present 53.8% statewide with cremation,” said Tyler Stiles, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Funeral Board. “During Covid occasions everybody was scared to have providers so everybody needed cremation course of, be completed with it, then go into the grieving course of later.
But at the McElyea and Owens Funeral Home in Shawnee, there’s one thing new. They’ve introduced in the first machine in the state to hold out the technique of alkaline hydrolysis, or liquid cremation.
“We think it’s the wave of the future. We do,” says co-owner Robert Owens.
The course of is already occurring in round 20 U.S. states, in line with Stiles, and was authorised by the Oklahoma State Legislature in 2021.
So why change the manner cremations have seemingly all the time been carried out? Owens says the greatest motive is the impression this course of may have on the setting.
It’s way more eco-friendly. My companion and I, that is a giant deal to us to take that method and lead from the entrance,” says Owens.
In fire cremations, Owens says the process uses intense heat, up to 1800. That means feeding a lot of fuel, in most cases natural gas according to Owens, into that fire.
When that happens, we have to vent out into the atmosphere, we end up pumping out about 540 lbs of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
The liquid cremation process uses low heat and chemicals (at McElyea and Owens they’ll use potassium hydroxide) to break down the tissues and organs of the body. It takes quite a bit longer than a fire retort, around 15 hours, but Owens says the process is gentler and has no impact on the environment.
“The technique of hydrolysis happens, and it simply mainly melts away the tissues and the organs,” he says. “And once we’re completed, what now we have left are skeletal stays.”
While the process is long, it’s pretty much all automated. Once it starts, the machine takes care of the rest, and they can check on the system in the office, at home, or even on their phones.
What’s left is two things. First are the skeletal remains. Owens says they’re then dried and pulverized into the ashes a family would normally see with a fire cremation, with some differences.
With a flame retort, the color of those is just a little on the gray side. Ours is pure white, and we get about 20% more ash than with a flame retort,” mentioned Owens.
The different remnant is the thick liquid of dissolved organs and tissue, which Owens says is nearly sterile.
“The fluid that is left is basically disease free,” says Owens. “It has no DNA in it. No RNA in it. It’s been broken down into its essential elements.”
In reality, Owens and McElyea say that liquid left behind is one thing that may assist farmers.
We will share that liquid with these concerned with agriculture as a result of it makes an ideal fertilizer. And now we have the information and statistics to again all that up,” he says. “There are individuals already doing this throughout the nation, so we’re not breaking any new floor there.
Of course, this course of can include some hesitation. And Owens famous that he expects they will see some individuals who do not need to take this route. But to date, Owens tells us they’ve heard the precise reverse.
“People are more enticed by it when they hear about how much gentler a process it is. There is no flame. There is no intense heat. And I can’t tell you how many people over my career have said I just don’t want to be burned,” says Owens.
As for worth, Owens says the startup to get all the gear in the door and arrange is dear. But after you have it, you could have it. Where as he says with hearth cremation, furnaces should be stopped and re-bricked each decade or so.
And the price for households will probably be even decrease.
In reality, we’re providing this water cremation at lower than the worth we have been charging for flame cremation,” says Owens.
McElyea and Owens tell us they got approval from the State Funeral Board in December and are up and running.
You can learn more about the process on the funeral home’s web site.
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