Don't want your corpse burned or buried? You can choose 'aquamation' in Saskatchewan

Death is inevitable. So is the need to deal with a person's body afterward.

Not everyone knows about the options available beyond a traditional burial or cremation, which uses fire to reduce a corpse to ashes.

In Saskatchewan, people can also opt for aquamation. It's been touted as a greener, more environmentally-friendly way to deal with a corpse.

Aquamation, also known as alkaline hydrolysis, uses water flow, temperature and alkalinity to speed up the decomposition of the body while it is in an airtight, stainless steel container.

"All it does is accelerate nature's process," said Jan Porten, managing director for Eirene Funeral Services in Saskatchewan.

"It uses 85 per cent less energy than traditional flame cremations. It only leaves one-tenth of the carbon footprint that a traditional flame-based cremation would leave."

Saskatchewan was one of the first provinces to legalize aquamation in 2012. It's now one of five Canadian provinces that has the option.

Mallory Greene, CEO of Eirene, noted there was resistance to flame-based cremation when it became an option.

"The industry as a whole really, I would say, pushed back on that because it just was something different and new and would require changes even to the operations of the funeral home," she said. "The same is happening with any new kind of disposition."

She said aquamation could expand if people advocate for the option.

Greene said the process is legalized in about half of the U.S. and that in Canada, provinces might not even need to create new legislation to make aquamation accessible. Instead, she said politicians can amend existing legislation around cremation to include aquamation.

"I always like to say that the process of legalizing it isn't that difficult. It really just involves having the right people and groups who are really pushing."