Aquamation in Maryland

Home to cities such as Washington and Baltimore, each city has its own view on burials and cremation but as a state, aquamation has been legal in Maryland since 2010, and therefore moving away from defining cremation as only heat and flames.

Is Maryland becoming more conscious of the environment when it comes to burials?

With recent laws changing, there has been more of an urgency to look at providing more environmentally friendly ways to say goodbye within the state. Just last year, the Baltimore County Council passed a bill to allow some of the 177 acres in Windsor Mill to be used for Baltimore’s first natural burial ground. This step alone signifies significant changes in the thought process at government level towards eco-friendly burials.

Stepping back and looking wider, Maryland does have a number of natural burial sites. But these do come with their own challenges and resistance from locals, namely around the potential side affects of water quality. This is something that we have touched on before and can confidently say through the extensive tests that have been done, natural burials do not have an impact on water quality. The other issue they face is that none of these sites are exclusive natural burial sites and are often found on the same land as traditional burials.

Can I have a water burial in Maryland?

As mentioned earlier in the article, aquamation in Maryland is legal and the bill has been passed. One thing to note however is that there are currently no facilities that provide this process for human remains.

Having been approved over 10 years ago for the allowance of human remains, there is no doubt that there will be funeral homes and burial sites that will offer water burials as a service in the not to distant future. If you want to be kept up to date on the latest news, please do leave your details in our contact form.

Scattering ashes in Maryland – what do I need to know?

One of the by-products of an aquamation burial is that you will have more ash to scatter than a traditional burial. This can be of importance to family members who want to pay their respects to the deceased member by being able to scatter their ashes in more than one place.

Maryland thankfully does not have any specific rules on where ashes can be scattered however a document has been produced by the department of health and mental hygiene which provides information on how to scatter ashes responsibly.

Why should Maryland funeral homes be encouraged to adopt water burials?

The benefits to the environment can not be understated. As highlighted by English manufacturing company Resomation, who produce machinery that is used for water burial procedures estimate that natural cremation cuts gas emissions per funeral home by 35% when compared to fire cremations.

And there is more too; the amount of energy used during the process, due to its gentler and slower procedure time can save up to 90% in energy. Two significant figures that can have a lasting positive impact on the world if adopted more widely.