A GREENER DEPARTURE
WORDS Kim Newth PHOTO Sarah Rowlands
Turning 50 brought an unexpected gift for Christchurch woman Debbie Richards: an epiphany about death and a dawning conviction that our practices around death could do with a makeover.
She and her husband were in Bali at the time, staying in accommodation next to a crematorium where mourners would gather to pose for photographs on the steps, dressed in colourful clothes. Their open, informal approach sparked questions for Debbie over how we approach and manage death in Aotearoa New Zealand.
A nurse and midwife for 28 years, Debbie had also worked in an AIDS hospice in London in the early 1990s. After returning from that fateful trip to Bali in 2017, her focus switched to studying death practices here and exploring alternatives to traditional flame cremation and burial.
“I discovered that water cremation is, in fact, the most environmentally friendly way to leave a body when you die,” says Debbie, who is the founder of Water Cremation Aotearoa New Zealand. “Climate change is an urgent call at the moment; when we think about death, this is a much better form of body disposal.”
Also known as ‘resomation’ or alkaline hydrolysis, water cremation starts with the body being placed in a stainless-steel unit containing an alkaline solution of potassium hydroxide and water. Inside the heated and pressurised ‘resomator’, the body gradually dissolves over three to four hours. Medical implants like pacemakers can be recycled afterwards. All that remains of the body itself is white bone ash that is returned to the bereaved, (just as ashes are returned after flame cremation).
Having travelled to Los Angeles to see one of these machines in operation at UCLA and also having met Leeds-based Resomator founder Sandy Sullivan, Debbie is satisfied that this option stacks up. Wastewater produced by resomation is both sterile and free of DNA.
“It’s a very clean, safe and dignified process that has much less impact on the environment than anything else we’re doing currently…With this process, 28kg of carbon is emitted each time as opposed to 186kg of carbon in flame cremation, [according to estimates in a Netherlands TNO report].”
Minnesota was the first state in the US to approve this form of disposition. In places where it is available, Debbie says it has become more popular than flame cremation. “It’s not for everyone, but this option – along with having environmental benefits – is certainly perceived as being gentler.”
Water cremation is not yet available here, but Debbie is lobbying hard to change that. Existing outdated legislation around burial and cremation is in the throes of a much-needed overhaul, but new policy is unlikely before next year. In the meantime, Debbie has written to Andrew Little, who she says has the power, as Minister of Health, to approve a new crematorium. She is also engaging closely with Tuahiwi Marae and Ngāi Tahu iwi.
“Manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga of land and people are guiding principles and reasons for offering the service,” she says, adding that Christchurch City Council planners have also pledged to provide guidance with the consent process.
Her dream would be to offer this option in collaboration with local funeral directors. “To date, I’ve had nothing but positive feedback.”