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Monday 8 April 2019

ICCFA 2019

The ICCFA 2019 took place in Charlotte North Carolina. A pretty bland city, clean and efficient city but lacking character for me, Each year when I attend these events I am very focussed on what's new, what's gonna change, what's different and most years I have found seriously interesting stuff to report on. This year, I found the convention quiet and boring.

I did have to dig a little deeper to find something new and different to tell you about and what I did find definitely peaked my interest and will for you too I know, especially because rumour (and the Meath Chronicle!) has it that one of them is coming to Ireland....soon..... so watch this space!

Resomation, also known as Water Cremation and depending on who you are talking to - Aquamation, Bio-cremation, Hydro Cremation, Alkaline Hydrolysis etc etc is the process of body disposition with water instead of flames. I personally am not a fan of flushing granny down the loo but I wanted to know more and maybe you do too. Check out resomation.com if you want more than I give you here. First things first - resomation and aquamation and others are NOT the same. Not the same companies nor the exact same process which I find extremely confusing and therefore can only imagine how Joe Public feels. I spoke with the creator of RESOMATION, Sandy, a Scotsman - nice to here one of 'our' accents on this side of Atlantic. Legally, Sandy told me that Water cremation is approved in 15 US states. In the UK, plans to introduce water cremation are progressing, he told me that had 'done' two bodies just this week in the UK. Irish Mortician, Elizabeth Oakes, plans to offer water cremation as an alternative to flame cremation and burial in Ireland. More on that at another point. I was impressed by Sandy. I was impressed by the output of the process, it truly is less about flushing Granny down the loo and more about less interference on the body and more about saving the environment from mercury emissions and with water cremation, no airborne emissions are produced and the solid leftover mercury-containing amalgam is collected and safely recycled. I also did love the powdery finish to the remains and, weirdly, we all know that people are vain and particular about this, even in death. A beautiful white powder is better than black, rough grainy remains...no?

Other innovation discovered was Funeralocity - the Expedia of the funeral world! We have TheKnot.com for weddings, Hotels.com for accommodation, Expedia.com for travel, and much much more - it's about time a comparison site came to the funeral industry! That's the good news...for the consumer. The bad news is, its only US based. I know funeral directors will probably want to fight something like this but I think it's important and honestly, it's coming whether anyone wants it to or not.

What are your thoughts on Resomation and Funeralocity?

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