Turn Buried Bodies Into Organic Soil - Scientist
Reuters
Jun 1 2001 11:41AM
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish scientist investigating the most
environmentally friendly form of burial has found a way of quickly recycling
corpses into soil enricher, the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet reported on
Friday.
The new green method, approved by the Church of Sweden, turns the human body
into organic matter in a few weeks compared with coffin burial, in which the
body takes between 50 and 60 years to decompose.
It was developed by biologist Susanne Wiigh-Masak, who found that cremation
emits poisonous gases with unknown effects, making it even less eco-friendly
than conventional burial.
In the new green method, the body is immersed in a bath of liquid nitrogen,
producing up to 65 pounds of pure organic matter, which is put into a thin,
easily degradable coffin.
This is then buried near the ground surface and enriches the soil in the
same way as autumn leaves.
On the question of ethics, the Church of Sweden gave its blessing to the new
burial method.
"We are promised a new body at the resurrection and so we have no need for
the old one," Kerstin Lindqvist, a senior prelate, told Svenska Dagbladet.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
|