There’s More to Life Besides Burial or Cremation

Natural Organic Reduction

WritThe highest profile emergent disposition would of course be natural organic reduction (NOR) also called “human composting.” Many of us know that it exists, but what is it exactly? For this, we will refer to curriculum produced by The Cremation Association of North America’s (CANA) newly minted NOR certification program. NOR is defined as the “contained accelerated conversion of human remains to soil.” However, as the CANA manual points out, “soil is a mineral substance, so the term soil-like substance or compost is more appropriate.” The person is placed in a vessel and combined with organic materials. The vessel is sealed, and air is pumped in to make sure the aerobic bacteria have plenty to breathe. Microorganisms create a three-phase process: the mesophilic phase (organisms that grow best at moderate temperature), the thermophilic phase (organisms that grow best in warm temperature, caused by the activity of the mesophiles), and the curing stage. The curing stage is the return of mesophilic activity after the body has been removed from the vessel and mechanically processed. During the curing stage, one particular bacterium called the actinomycetes are particularly active as they are good at breaking down the more complex components of the mix such as cellulose based materials. This process takes up to 10 weeks and yields 1 cubic yard of soil like material (about the size of a pickup truck bed).  

Why is this important?  

Well, because it is making its way to becoming legal in your state or a state near to you. It is currently legal in eight states, awaiting Govenor’s signatures in two others, and has been introduced for legislation in fourteen states throughout the country. Of course, not all of these will pass or the bill itself will have to be rewritten when various committees reject the first round. You can listen to my interview with Brie Smith, COO of Return Home NOR and IL State Representative Kelley Cassidy on the process of getting the bill passed here. Furthermore, Return Home has hosted the first summit on Natural Organic Reduction that brought together NOR professionals from around the world, so it is a hot topic all over.  Keeping this in mind let’s examine some of the things we have learned so far:  

• It does not take the place of another disposition. It has been billed as an alternative to cremation because it is particles as opposed to a full body. HOWEVER, what we must glean for this is that the volume of people cared for does not rival that of cremation. First, in the time it takes for one NOR, a crematory could do one hundred cremations. Second, the market is not nearly large as cremation. Cremation is now the most popular form of disposition in the United States. According to Brie Smith, between her and her competitors, they do less than 1% of dispositions in Washington State.  
• It is not low cost. The average NOR is about $7000, which puts it right at the cost of a traditional funeral.  
• People want it and will send their people to another state to have it done. While this disposition is still unique, it has been gaining popularity due to exposure in the media and on social media. This is an important note, considering you may very well work at a funeral home and get a family who wants this, but it is not legal yet in your state. It will be up to you to decide how to help them rather than talk them out of it simply because of your perception of the cost. These families value this outcome as much as some families value traditional burial.  
• There doesn’t seem to be a set way of doing things. There are parts of the process that must take place, but the organic materials, vessels, and other elements are still variable. This leaves a lot of opportunities for new funeral tech to be introduced. 

Cryonics

Cryonics is the introduction of preservatives into a dead human body for it to be revived later. This isn’t new but part of a new effort of companies such as Alcor Life Extension Foundation and The Cryonics Institute.  This may sound familiar to you as it has been around since the 1970’s. You may have heard it referred to as “cryogenics.” Cryogenics is the freezing of tissue to treat a wound (think wart removal) for example. Also, see the promession process discussed below. It seems like science fiction, as not a single person has ever been revived. However, both places mentioned see this as an “aspirational goal,” and rather their true nature is to study organs for long term storage, and as a supplemental science to space travel and neuro-linking. For more information on Alcor and their plans for funeral home outreach, you can listen to my interview with Alcor CEO James Arrowood here.  

Why is this important?  

• Because cryonics is technically a “donation to science” it is already legal everywhere so it’s not possible to turn a family away if they have prearranged this as their form of disposition.  
• It’s time sensitive. A person who has pre-planned this must have their body injected with the cryopreservative right away to get a true measure of the viability of their cells postmortem. One of the main foci of this procedure is brain cells, the most complicated and fragile cells in our body. In addition, they are surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid. These two factors put them at the top of the list of cells to decompose first. The organizations that do this procedure have assembled teams that can go anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice.  
• It’s expensive. People who prearrange this have purchased an insurance policy that starts at $250,000 or more that contributes to the material and maintenance of their body after death. People don’t spend that kind of money to meet obstacles after they have died.  
• It can make you money. That’s right, there is money to be made by partnering with one of these organizations. They need locations to house their equipment, licensed people to handle the paperwork, and in some cases carry out a cremation. They will of course pay you for all of this.  
• Don’t be judgmental. It may seem like a strange thing to do, but most people who are part of the cryonics community do not really believe that they will be revived. What they are looking to do is contribute to a stair step process wherein maybe sometime in the future a life can be saved by better organ storage or help advance future technology like space travel.  

Promession

 
Okay, this one you probably haven’t even heard of yet. In fact, the spell check in Microsoft Word doesn’t recognize it. Developed in the 1990’s promession is a process like cremation in the sense that the body is reduced to small particles, but in this case, it is done through a freeze-drying process. The idea was created by a Swedish biologist named Susanne Wiigh-Masak who derived the name from the Italian word “promessa” meaning “promise.” The process begins with the person being placed in a cryogenic freezing chamber (see above for the difference between this and cryonics) called a Promator, and sprayed with liquid nitrogen. Once frozen, the chamber is vibrated until the person is reduced to frozen crystals. They are then placed in a vacuum chamber and the water is sublimated (change of matter from solid to gas) out, leaving about 30% of the person’s weight. An interesting note as cremation generally leaves about five pounds regardless of the size of the person, here a promated body weighing 200 lbs. would be reduced to about 60 lbs. The crystals are then processed to remove any artificial body parts. Ideally, the remains are placed in a biodegradable container and buried. The creator of promession advised that the crystals not be scattered as they are still organic matter. You can read an interview with the creator of promession she did with Wired magazine before she died here.  

Why is this important?  

This is an open-ended question. While this post is about “emergent dispositions,” promession is going to need some help if it’s going to take hold in the United States. Let’s look at what we do know about it from a cultural standpoint:  

• The general public is interested in eco-friendly methods of disposition which is what promession bills itself as. This cultural movement propelled cremation to the number one disposition and is driving the popularity of NOR.  
• The definition of “cremation” can be tested depending on the wording of some state laws. Currently, promession is only legal in Sweden, UK, and South Korea but there has already been at least one legal test in the US. In 2019, Promessa representatives tested the legal definition of “cremation” in Kansas, but it was determined that promession did not meet the definition of cremation by its Attorney General at the time. This is, however, the pathway that alkaline hydrolysis took in some states, so we never know when it may surface again.  
• Funeral tech is a hot topic. The two methods I mentioned above were driven by investors with deep pockets. The representative who introduced the idea to Kansas was funded by Promessa, the organization founded by Susanne Wiigh-Masak. That organization dissolved before a facility could be built but used its remaining cash to train ambassadors and representatives throughout the world. All it will take is for one a resurgence in cash flow and some people to listen in the right state, and it will be a topic in the United States again.  

The main takeaway is that new ideas are either here or they are coming. Funeral service is used to being the place where new ideas about funeral service were generated and then introduced to the public, but now the tables have turned so to speak. None of the aforementioned methods of dispositions were created by funeral directors, but they have been adopted by some of them with the idea of being good stewards. Further, as professionals it is our responsibility to give insight to families that come to us with questions without brushing them off, no matter how strange their questions might be. There is more information available to the public about funeral service than ever before, and requestors of where their body goes after death should not be taken lightly.