PORTFOLIO

This is an unpublished cover story for Groove Korea magazine written in Spring 2021.

Thinking about what you want to happen to your body after you die is something that many don’t want to do, whether it’s a general fear of death or the idea that the young (or younger) don’t have to think about it right now. But having a death plan is a necessity because - unfortunately - death is one of the few absolutes in life. At least for now.

You have to decide what to do with your body. Or leave it up to your family and/or loved ones, if that’s what you want. And living in the time of COVID-19, which has killed over 3.3 million people worldwide since December 2019 according to Worldometer, it’s definitely something to think about now more than ever.

You can’t research burial options from the grave, now can you?

Not many people realize there are other options out there besides conventional burial or cremation. And even less realize just how harmful to the environment those options can be. Yes, even cremation, which many think is the more eco-friendly option. Or that you don’t have to pay thousands of dollars for a funeral and burial. In fact, a green burial is not only good for the environment, but can often be a far cheaper option.

Just a few numbers. 

According to the Green Burial Council, in the U.S., traditional burials with embalming use each year about 4.3 million gallons of embalming fluid, 827,060 of which is formaldehyde, methanol and benzene. They also use about 20 million board feet of hardwoods - including rainforest woods; 1.6 million tons of concrete; 17,000 tons of copper and bronze; 64,500 tons of steel, with caskets and vaults leaching iron, copper, lead, zinc and cobalt into the ground.

To put that into more understandable terms, according to the YouTube video “Eco-Death Takeover” by Caitlin Doughty, a mortician, activist and author who runs the channel “Ask a Mortician,” in a year about 4 million acres of forest are used to make caskets, which is roughly the size of New Jersey.

Additionally, formaldehyde, which is an ingredient in embalming fluid, is one of the top 10 percent most hazardous chemicals according to the Environmental Protection Agency and a known carcinogen. 

For Canada, according to the Ecology Action Center and Green Burial Nova Scotia, traditional burials there in a year use about 4,500 liters of formaldehyde-based embalming fluid, 97 tons of steel, 2,000 tons of concrete, and 56,000 board feet of tropical hardwood in every acre of space.

The average traditional burial in the U.S. costs from $7,000 to $10,000 in 2021, including embalming, body preparation, casket, vault, burial plot, and other fees such as funeral home services.

The Funeral Consumer Alliance website offers a general breakdown of prices, though does say that they vary from region to region. On average a plot for a full-casket burial can cost at least $2,500, though rural cemeteries start around $500, while urban ones charge anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 for a plot alone. Grave liners or vaults can run from around $700 to $1,500 while caskets on average start around $2,000.

The other popular form of burial is cremation, which many believe is a more eco-friendly, less expensive option and compared to a traditional burial, it is. A direct cremation - meaning no embalming - in the U.S. can cost about $1,000 to $2,200, and does cut down on resources used as they are often done in simple wooden caskets or even cardboard boxes. However, even cremation has a toll on the environment.

Cremations use fossil fuels to reach and maintain 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit for two or more hours, according to the Green Burial Council’s website. It also releases mercury and water into the air and produces 1.74 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually in the U.S. The amount of energy used in cremations in a year would be enough for a car that gets about 30 miles per gallon to make 1,300 round trips to the moon.

While not nearly as large as the U.S. and Canada, South Korea has quickly become a country of cremation with land for burial becoming scarce and more expensive for interment. According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, in 2019 about 88.4 percent of the 295,107 people who died were cremated. This is compared to 79.2 percent choosing cremation in 2014, then 80 percent in 2015, 82.7 percent in 2016 and 86.8 percent in 2018.

In addition, there are the costs. According to a study conducted by the Korean Consumer Agency in 2017, the average cost of a hospital funeral room and services is about $8,300 with another $1,700 to $4,400 for burial or cremation services.

But there is good news. More countries around the world are offering more green burial options, though it might take a bit of digging to find the right funeral homes and cemeteries that will cater to your needs. Here are just a few options to consider.

Eco-Friendly Burial Trends

Alkaline Hydrolysis aka Water Cremation

Alkaline Hydrolysis is a newer option in deathcare that is significantly more eco-friendly than conventional cremation. The body is put into a pressurized steel container - no casket necessary - which is then filled with a mixture that is roughly 95 percent water and 5 percent potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide. It is then heated to about 300-365 degrees Fahrenheit and the solution circulates and essentially mimics the process the body naturally goes through in decomposition. The main difference is that it only takes a few hours to reduce a body to bone rather than years.

The bones are then pulverized in the same machine that is used after a flame cremation on remaining bone fragments and returned to the family to do with as they wish. The leftover liquid can be disposed of in different ways. It is basically a mixture of salts and sugars, as well as amino acids and peptides - neutralized and containing no DNA. It can be reused as fertilizer or even safely flushed into the sewage system.

According to the Funeral Consumers Alliance, compared to flame cremation, alkaline hydrolysis uses 1/8 of the energy and has less than 1/4 of the carbon footprint. As Doughty says in her video, it is a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions, and hazardous chemical emissions are nearly nonexistent, not to mention there is no mercury from dental fillings. The water used in the process is equal to the amount used by the average living person in three days.

Alkaline hydrolysis was initially developed in Europe in the 1990s as a method to dispose of cows with mad cow disease. It was then used in the U.S. at the Mayo Clinic and University of Florida to dispose of cadavers. (Traci Rylands, Confessions of a Funeral Director, July 22, 2014).

As of now, it costs about $1,000 to $2,000, though mostly because of the unavailability. Alkaline hydrolysis is only available in 14 states in the U.S., four provinces in Canada, and just recently moves are being made in the U.K. to offer it. Experts believe that as more countries begin legalizing it and funeral homes begin offering it as an option, the cost will decrease.

Green Burial

A green burial is essentially any burial that uses methods and materials that lower the impact on the environment. According to Ellen Newman, a licensed funeral director that specializes in green, natural and family-led funerals, burial and end-of-life options and a co-founder of the Good Green Death Project, in a recent article on talkdeath.com, this can mean a burial where the body is not embalmed and buried directly into the earth in a biodegradable container with no concrete vault or grave liner.

Green burials are generally allowed in most countries, though may vary by cemetery depending on their individual by-laws, especially in areas where there is a large population that prescribes to Jewish or Muslim burial customs, which do not permit embalming, vaults or grave liners. Some countries have natural burial grounds which prohibit grave liners, vaults and embalming. There are also conservation grounds, which work to conserve the natural ecosystem. Another option is a hybrid cemetery which caters to both traditional and natural burial. 

Options for caskets in green burials are varied, from a simple wooden casket, to cardboard (mostly used for cremation), woven caskets and shrouds.

A green burial can cost much lower than a traditional burial when you factor in the costs of embalming, vaults, grave liners and less eco-friendly caskets. However, the one cost that remains is that of a plot, which again, will vary from cemetery to cemetery.

Especially in the middle of a pandemic, some may worry about the idea of transmissible diseases being spread to groundwater through natural burial, but experts say that isn’t the case. In fact, not undergoing embalming is actually safer as there are no chemicals going into the ground. Natural burial also requires a shallower grave, which allows for more oxygen to reach the body and aid in decomposition, with the remains nourishing the surrounding ground and plantlife.  

Additionally, once a person is dead, the chances of any communicable diseases spreading tend to die as well. According to the Pan American Health Organization, the transmission of an infection requires the presence of an infectious agent, exposure to that agent, and a susceptible host.

“The human body is host to many organisms, only some of which are pathogenic. When the body dies, the environment in which pathogens live can no longer sustain them. Microorganisms involved in the decay process (putrefaction) are not pathogenic,” it said. 

The World Health Organization echoes this, by saying that even though some diseases are highly contagious, their causative agents are unable to survive long in the human body following death and therefore it is unlikely that such epidemics will result in contact with dead bodies.

“Dead or decayed human bodies do not generally create a serious health hazard, unless they are polluting sources of drinking water with fecal matter, or are infected with plague or typhus, in which case they may be infested with the fleas or lice that spread these diseases. In most smaller or less acute emergency situations therefore, families may carry out all the necessary activities following a death,” the WHO said. 

Other Green(er) Options

In today’s age, there are a number of options available after death that are better for the environment than conventional burial or cremation, though not all are currently legal everywhere.

A newer option that is currently gaining traction in the U.S. is natural organic reduction(NOR), or more colloquially put, human composting. The first such facility was opened in Seattle, Washington, around 2020 after a decade of research and efforts to change local law, according to The Seattle Times. Now that it is catching on, more places have opened in Washington state and others are looking to open in other states. The process takes anywhere from several days to several weeks depending on the specific facility and the materials used. The body is kept in a cylinder that is frequently rotated to disperse oxygen. The temperature inside is kept between 130 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit for safe and efficient composting. The body - much like melon rinds or banana peels - is broken down into soil that can then be taken by the family or donated to ecological projects.

There are then other, more common options such as donating your body to scientific research, or less commonly, donating it to a body farm which helps forensic scientists and anthropologists better understand how the body decomposes in different settings. There are currently seven in the U.S. with more set to open.

Unconventional Options in South Korea

While things like human composting and water cremation may not yet be available in South Korea, there are a few less traditional options for interment that people can look into. A natural burial may be available, though it will depend on the specific cemetery. Though as cremation is by far the burial of choice, there are a few growing trends to look into.

House of Memory and Eternity

Traditional mausoleums or charnel houses for cremated remains can sometimes be viewed as sterile or lacking a certain warmth. They are, after all, there to store remains. However, House of Memory and Eternity, or HOME, owned by the Songpa Foundation, kept the living in mind while creating their interment space. Remains are kept in airtight, plastic boxes, which are then placed in book-shaped containers called Home Boxes. They are then stored in what can best be described as a calming library, with family and loved ones allowed to come visit whenever they wish. 

“HOME has turned a mausoleum into a home library, providing a more comfortable and warm space when honoring your loved ones. People feel free to gather around and have friendly chats remembering their loved one,” it said in an email interview with Groove.

The idea came from the philosophy of HOME’s president.

“Each life, in the end, is just the records of the moments of happiness, joy, sadness, and whatever people have gone through. The bereaved families visit HOME whenever they want, pick up the Home Book, and write letters yearning in grief and loss, happy moments, guest logs, and the words they want to say to their beloved,” it said.

The facility said that it focuses on creating a space not just for the dead, but more for the living where families and loved ones can reminisce, laugh, cry, write letters and remember their loved ones.

“HOME serves to be a symbolic place, in efforts to bring a more inviting and warm environment, and HOME dares to change how people perceive death and distressful funeral culture,” it said.

Natural Hanulsoop Forest Memorial Park

Burial in traditional cemeteries is becoming less common in South Korea as more people opt to be cremated and it becomes more difficult to manage and maintain burial sites, not to mention it isn’t eco-friendly, according to the Natural Hanulsoop Forest Memorial Park. Some 70 percent of cremated remains are kept at charnel houses or mausoleums. Among those, a growing number are choosing natural burial sites, with the rate currently sitting at 16 percent.

The memorial forest, located in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, said influencing this trend is the fact that most burial sites are located in the mountains which have bad access, stiff slopes and can be easily damaged by wild animals. Not to mention, traditional cemeteries can damage nature and are often costly. Providing interment in a natural or forest burial park inflicts less damage on the environment and is less costly, not to mention provides a more healing atmosphere for visitors.

“Considering the trends of young generations not familiar with managing tombs and the shortcomings of land properties, it is projected that the ratio of conventional burial will fall and natural burial will grow in the future,” the memorial park said.

That said, while it is called a natural burial park, Natural Hanulsoop Forest Memorial Park does not currently allow the burial of non-cremated remains as it isn’t registered as a cemetery. But it can provide a calm and natural atmosphere for the repose of a loved one’s ashes.

The park allows several options for the burial of remains in an urn near a memorial tree. Remains can be buried in a family plot or a common plot and prices vary depending on the type of plot and the type of memorial tree. Prices range from 711,000 won to 2.3 million won for 15 years, with remains allowed to stay up to a maximum of 60 years.

The park also provides funeral services, as well as campsites and rest areas. In addition, it has various therapy programs such as massages, meditation, laughter therapy and others. These services are only offered to family and loved ones of those interred in the park.

Potential Future of Funerals in South Korea

While it’s unknown just how far off this latest entry is, in the digital age, there is no telling.

Design studio Common Accounts re-imagined the traditional funeral, utilizing alkaline hydrolysis instead of conventional burial or flame cremation, and relying on social media to generate a virtual afterlife. The studio also came up with the concept with Seoul specifically in mind. Like many other large Asian cities, burial plots are becoming scarcer and cremation is growing in popularity. 

“Today’s city can no longer afford to keep the material business of death at arm’s length, given diminishing land availability, environmental concerns, and the prospect of your digital afterlife,” said co-founder Miles Gertler in a Feb. 29, 2020 article for Dezeen design magazine.

Common Accounts built a prototype funeral home for the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism in 2017, housed inside a traditional Korean hanok. The studio also produced a short film that portrayed a possible ceremony at the funeral home that premiered at the exhibition (Re)design Death at the Cube Design Museum in the Netherlands last year.

First, a virtual afterlife portal is opened where friends, family and others are invited to contribute digital memories. Then, the deceased is placed inside the alkaline hydrolysis machine and transformed into a fertile liquid that is used to feed a flower garden on-site. The garden is further used for floral arrangements within the funeral home and the heat generated from the process can be used to sustainably warm the building. 

Co-founder Igor Bragado said in the interview that the world needs new, cleaner, socially productive disposition alternatives that integrate easily with the urban and digital realms. Bragado added that new technologies present “unique opportunities for the production of value - material, ceremonial, and ecological - that shouldn’t be ignored.”

Curator of the Seoul Biennale installation Lee Ji-hoi said in the article that this is a significant dialogue that is needed in Seoul, with the shortage of facilities and burial space creating a crisis in how death is managed in the city.

“We can use this crisis to probe death’s productive potential in daily urban life,” she said.