Aquamating Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s body is a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional cremation.

  • Desmond Tutu to be interred behind pulpit at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town
  • Aquamation claims to reduce the harmful levels of carbon dioxide up to 90%
  • Dean of St George’s Cathedral said it was what Tutu ‘aspired to as an eco-warrior’










The body of Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be aquamated – a greener alternative to cremation using water and chemicals.

He will be interred behind the pulpit at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, where he served as an Anglican Archbishop for 35 years.

According to Aquamation, it can reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 90%

The body of Archbishop Desmond Tutu (coffin pictured at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town) will be aquamated – a greener alternative to cremation using water and chemicals

The body of Archbishop Desmond Tutu (coffin pictured at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town) will be aquamated – a greener alternative to cremation using water and chemicals

The ‘environmentally friendly’ process involves heating the body in a mixture of potassium hydroxide and water for up to 90 minutes leaving only the bones.

The solution is then rinsed at 120C (248F), and the dried pieces are pulverized into ashes.

The Dean of St George’s Cathedral, the Very Reverend Michael Weeder, said it was what Archbishop Tutu ‘aspired to as an eco-warrior’.

Boxing Day saw him die at the age of 90. Before his death, the anti-apartheid campaigner had insisted there should be ‘no ostentatiousness or lavish spending’ on the ceremony.

Desmond Tutu (pictured) will be interred behind the pulpit at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, where he served as an Anglican Archbishop for 35 years

Desmond Tutu (pictured) will be interred behind the pulpit at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, where he served as an Anglican Archbishop for 35 years

He wanted ‘the cheapest available coffin’ with only ‘a bouquet of carnations from his family’, according to the Archbishop Tutu IP Trust and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation.

Although it’s expected that his burial will take place on Saturday, details are not known about whether this will be private or public.

Thousands of South Africans have paid their last respects at St George’s Cathedral where his body had been lying in state with some even hitchhiking across the country to visit.

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