Sweden's new funeral rite - bodies freeze-dried, powdered and made into tr [View All]

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Sweden's new funeral rite - bodies freeze-dried, powdered and made into tree mulch
By Kate Connolly in Berlin
(Filed: 28/09/2005)

A town in Sweden plans to become the first place in the world where corpses will be disposed of by freeze-drying, as an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation or burial. Jonkoping, in southern Sweden, is to turn its crematorium into a so-called promatorium next year.

Swedes will then have the chance to bury their dead according to the pioneering method, which involves freezing the body, dipping it in liquid nitrogen and gently vibrating it to shatter it into powder. This is put into a small box made of potato or corn starch and placed in a shallow grave, where it will disintegrate within six to 12 months.

People are to be encouraged to plant a tree on the grave. It would feed off the compost formed from the body, to emphasise the organic cycle of life.

The national burial law is currently being updated to accommodate a practice that is expected to spread across the country over the next few years.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/28/wfreez28.xml