Sign the petition to make this option available to British Columbians!

Watch the recording of our May 17 webinar to learn more!

Most of us have probably never considered how decisions about our death could impact the planet. When faced with the death of a loved one, British Columbians can only choose between burial and fire cremation. Most choose flame-based cremation. Cremation is believed to release somewhere around 10 million kilograms of carbon every year in B.C., enough to drive a gas-powered vehicle upwards of 1,000 times around Earth’s equator! It’s not surprising that many of us would like a more earth-friendly alternative.

When famed Archbishop Desmond Tutu died last December, it emerged that the anti-apartheid leader had chosen water-based cremation, also known as aquamation or alkaline hydrolysis for the disposition of his body. Aquamation uses 90% less energy, and has just 1/10th of the of the carbon footprint of flame-based cremation. It’s already offered in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland & Labrador, and the Northwest Territories. And while it’s approved for pets, this process is not currently available for humans in BC. We need to change that!

In light of the climate crisis, Transition Kamloops is supporting the campaign to change provincial regulations to give British Columbians this final, greener option. We’ve already spoken to our MLAs Todd Stone and Peter Milobar about it, and they expressed a willingness to learn more and discuss it further before deciding whether to push for regulatory change.

We hosted a webinar with experts from Aquamation BC (including Christa Ovenell, who you may have heard Dec. 12, 2021 on CBC) to explain the process and the steps that are needed to make it available to British Columbians. Check out the recording here.

Our society is somewhat averse to talking about death, and government won’t take action unless we put significant pressure on them—so let’s add our voices. Please sign this petition urging the BC government to bring alkaline hydrolysis to BC, and share this article so more people can learn about the potential benefits of aquamation and support the call to make it an option for British Columbians!