South Africa says last goodbye to Archbishop Desmond Tutu 1:26
(CNN) -
Family members gathered to bid farewell to Desmond Tutu, a hero of the anti-apartheid struggle, at a private funeral at St. George's Cathedral, where his ashes were interred in Cape Town and buried.
At his request, the body of the Nobel Peace Prize winner underwent aquamation - considered a greener alternative to cremation - the Anglican Church of South Africa confirmed to CNN on Saturday.
What is aquamation, the process that Desmond Tutu chose?
Aquamation is a water-based process whose scientific name is "alkaline hydrolysis", in which a "combination of smooth water flow, temperature and alkalinity is used to accelerate the decomposition of organic materials" when a body rests in soil, according to Bio-Response Solutions, an American company specializing in the process.
The company's website says the process "uses 90% less energy than flame cremation and does not emit any harmful greenhouse gases."
Desmond Tutu's life in data
How is it done?
According to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), an international nonprofit organization, alkaline hydrolysis is sometimes called flameless cremation.
The body is placed in an alkaline hydrolysis machine, made up of an airtight chamber filled with a solution made of water and alkaline chemicals.
The chamber heats up, liquefying the body and leaving only the bones, according to the CANA website.
Once the bones are dry, they can be pulverized.
"The process produces approximately 32% more cremated remains than llama cremation and may require a larger urn," according to the CANA.
Tutu's coffin leaves St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town at the end of his funeral on Saturday.
(Credit: Nic Bothma / Pool Photo via AP)
Desmond Tutu, an environmental advocate
Tutu was a fervent defender of the environment: he gave many speeches and wrote several articles on the need for action to tackle the climate crisis.
In 2007, he wrote an article titled "This Fatal Complacency" for The Guardian in which he addressed the worrisome impact that climate change was having on the Global South and on poor communities, as much of North America and Europe were still not facing each other. to the extreme weather conditions caused by the weather emergency at that time.
In addition to requesting an eco-friendly alternative to cremating her body, Tutu also took other steps to ensure that her funeral was as modest as her lifestyle: her body was placed in a simple pine coffin, which was the "cheapest available "at his request, his foundations said.
Desmond tutu
