Disposal+or+dispersal?+Environmentalism+and+final+treatment+of+the+British+dead

Rumble,Hannah, John Troyer,Tony Walter, and Kate Woodthorpe. Disposal or dispersal? Environmentalism and final treatment of the British dead. Volume 19, 2014 - Issue 3

The authors in this article have compiled a work of research focused on the different types of human remain disposal and the newer dispersal techniques becoming more popular, particularly in the U.K. In this context, disposal is when bodies are separated from the living, such as in traditional burial as well as in cremations where the deceased are kept isolated in urns. Dispersal, on the contrary, is when the remains of the dead are used to sustain life and the environment such as in natural burial, and in new technological means of dispersal like alkaline-hydrolysis. The article also begins to reveal the growing ecological consciousness related to how the deceased are managed.

I found that this article was particularly informative as it introduced me to alkaline-hydrolysis, reuse of implants, as well as cyromation. All of these options have an ecological appeal as they offer the deceased the chance to become a part of nature. Whether being directly laid in the ground without coffins or preservatives, or being decomposed and incorporated into ecosystems as fertilizer, one can, in a sense, live on through plants and animals that are nourished by your body. In the case of recycling implants or having the heat generated from your cremation used to assist living humans, the dead are truly given a way to sustain life. Overall, this article provides the pathway for people to become informed of the changing platform on which death is perceived.