Emerging funeral method involves sewage disposal after dissolving body in liquid

People are typically buried or turned into ashes after they die, but there is another, lesser-known option.

It is known as alkaline hydrolysis, or green cremation, and it involves the use of water, an alkaline solution, heat, and pressure to dissolve the body.

CBC News recently reported on the first funeral home in Ontario, Canada to use this method of disposal.

Dale Hilton, the owner of Aquagreen Dispositions, is quoted as saying, "It's the same way as being buried in the ground, but instead of taking 15, 20 years to disintegrate, it does it in a quicker process. And it's all environmentally friendly."

In contrast, burials require plots of land, and fire cremations produce harmful carbon dioxide emissions.

A green cremation, on the other hand, dissolves body tissue into a sterile liquid that is eventually sent into the sewer system.

According to ABC News, "No funeral homes in the U.S. — or anywhere else in the world, offer [this method]. In fact, only two U.S. medical centers use it on human bodies, and only on cadavers donated for research."