We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ed Gazvoda. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ed below.

Ed, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

In 2008, after reading an article about the growing problem of dead bodies being burnt and spewed out crematory smokestacks, I immediately knew solving this growing problem was my death calling. Having launched a company, which went public, to tackle the devasting effects of acid rain produced by burning fossil fuels, I had prior experience commercializing a chemical process to make breathing safer. The article referenced a company in Scotland with the technology to end fire cremations. I did a patent search on their proclaimed technology that of alkaline hydrolysis. They did not have the intellectual property rights to the system they were touting. After contacting inventors on patents related to alkaline hydrolysis, I met with a former president of Waste by Waste Reduction. This company had raised $40 million in the mid-1990s to manufacture alkaline hydrolysis systems, before they went bankrupt in 2006. Undaunted by their failure, I decided to create a cremation business that did not use petrochemicals and produced zero harmful emissions.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Today, families are increasingly making purchasing decisions to lessen their impact on the rapid loss of animal species, rising ocean levels, warming climate, increased severe weather events, poor air quality, water pollution, poor land use, and acidification of oceans. To address the heightened concerns of consumers, the funeral industry needs to change a few of its behaviors. As an industry, it needs to start providing families innovative ways to protect the health of the living and the planet. When funeral providers or veterinarians offer families Sustainable Funeral® options, we have witnessed over 80% of families opting for sustainable services over a petrochemical cremation or cemetery burial.

Here are the four new final dispositions options:

1. Sustainable Cremation – a zero-emission cremation with 100% of the body beneficially returned to the earth

2. Sustainable Burial – an earth burial at a location(s) best to memorialize the decedent – no cemetery plot nor casket required

3. Sustainable Composting – reducing the body to its organic nutrients without leaving behind potentially deadly pathogens

4. Sustainable Burial at Sea – a means to reverse the acidification of oceans and lakes

All four of these Sustainable Funeral® options allow the deceased to be returned beneficially to the earth. The decedent’s essence, the nutrient rich liquid remains from an alkaline hydrolysis 2.0 process, can be returned regeneratively to the earth or sea, without the need for a casket or cemetery plot.

Over a third of all the carbon dioxide emissions in the world end up being absorbed by oceans. The carbon dioxide reacts with the water to become carbonic acid. Once the oceans reach a 5.8 pH, they will no longer be able to absorb any mor carbon dioxide. With 40% of the U.S. population living in coastal counties, Sustainable Burial at Sea is an option for families wishing to do their part to protect coral reefs and marine life, especially plankton and mollusks whose exoskeletons are being dissolved by the acidification of our oceans. For a Sustainable Burial at Sea the essence is neutralized to a 12.5 pH enabling the body’s essence to reverse some of the acidification caused by carbon dioxide emissions.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My former alkaline hydrolysis business, Cycled Life, which I launched in 2009, had engaged a manufacturer, Bio-Response Solutions, to build our systems. After having sold the first alkaline hydrolysis system to Jeff Edwards, a funeral director in Ohio, the Funeral Board in Ohio shut him down. Our legal challenge to the board’s decision failed. The Funeral Board was comprised of crematory operators who choose to protect their market shares rather than protect the health of the families they served.

The system and chemical process did not work, as touted by my manufacturer; so, I closed the business.

Ten-years later, I discovered people were still buying and operating systems similar to the one that did not work. My wife and I decided to invest in seeing if all the problems with alkaline hydrolysis could be solved. We engaged and challenged two biochemistry professors and literally a rocker engineer to see if they could make a system that completed the process successfully. Eight-months later, we had a system that worked. Those knowledgeable about alkaline hydrolysis were awestricken by its performance.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

My rule has always been to use OPM, other peoples’ money, when launching a business. Seeking outside capital is a way to gain valuable feedback, before actually launching the business. It also forces you to create a business plan and a pro forma.

In 2018, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to present my idea to over 100 investors with a penchant for reducing energy consumption. I had cofounded or led three prior business to valuations in the hundreds-of-millions; yet, no one wanted anything to do with this business idea.

My wife and I decided to self-fund the business. The business has been able to grow from internally generated cash flow.

In 2010, we won the Denver Startup Week $100,000 Pitch Competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipGjK88ltfU&t=332s. I had received feedback on my pitch from three Toastmaster’s clubs, James LoGerfo, and Jay Mays from www.pitchlab.io. Practice what you pitch!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.firelesscremation.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firelesscremationsystem
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/firelesscremation
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FirelessC
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcQnOrAjj6dBiSOYxx4e1vQ