Popular Mechanics:
Four decades ago, less than 5 percent of American were cremated when they died. Now that figure stands at nearly half. This is how cremation actually works, and the story of what happens to a culture when its attitude about how to memorialize the dead undergoes a revolution.
Behind the scenes stuff always fascinates me and what goes on at a crematorium definitely qualifies.
I can’t speak for my relations on the west coast, but up until a relatively short time ago, the only real estate my family ever owned in this country was parking space for coffins. That always seemed ridiculous to me. Before she died, I was glad to know that my mom agreed with my suggestion of relative expedience over needless expense.
Did “The Loop” change the quote or did Popular Mechanics update its intro? Because it now reads as:
“less than 5 percent of Americans were cremated. Now that figure stands at nearly 50 percent”
When I first read The Loop quote, my impression was cremation had dropped to 2.5% and this was a story about how Americans had been turned off the idea.
They definitely changed it to make it more clear.
I thought the alkaline hydrolysis alternative method using potassium hydroxide was intriguing.
It was also interesting to learn that some cemeteries are running out of space. I had been wondering about that, myself.
I’ve always been interested in old buildings and ruins and often wondered what life was like “back then.” Similarly, I’ve walked through cemeteries, looking for nice specimens of marble and granite to photograph for texture images for my 3D work. Sometimes I’d notice the dates, life spans, and periods, wondering what their lives were like, etc.
I think there should be a way to check on old, apparently forgotten, graves to see if sections of cemeteries could somehow be “recycled.”
The distortion of facts with their description of the alkaline hydrolyses is pretty bad.
Alkaline hydrolysis is interesting. In California you have to donate your body to the University system to have that process done currently. And donation for other kinds of medical research has been so subject to abuse and profiteering, this is the only thing I would donate me to.