Annette:

I’m Annette Jenkins.

Bob:

I’m Bob Jenkins.

And you’re tuned in to The Animal Innovations Show.

Chris:

Excellent introduction.

So, why don’t you guys tell us who you are, and how you’re innovating and helping animals?

Bob:

Well, we started a company called Let Your Love Grow in 2009 to help pet parents continue the cycle of the life of their beloved pet.

Pet death isn’t a topic a lot of people like to talk about. But as pet parents, it’s a vital part of being a pet parent.

And there’s so much mystique and unknown. We want to pull away the curtains and open it up, and let people understand that there are choices available after pet death that can be soothing and therapeutic to the pet parents.

We hate the word grief, but grief is the price that we pay for love. And the pet gives us such unconditional love. And when that time comes, we want to make sure we understand what our choices are: “What can I do? There were so many years that we took care of that pet. We wanted to allow…that nurturing to continue and not replace another pet but fill it in, as you get another pet and move forward.”

Because once you have an opening in your heart for pet love, that opening is never fulfilled again with another pet. It just opens up a new space.

Chris:

So, tell me more about what you guys do then and how you’re helping people to get through this.

Annette:

Well, we’ve created a product that’s an organic mixture that actually can be mixed with cremated remains. That will actually allow those cremated remains to live on in the environment in a safe fashion so you can actually continue the cycle of life.

And we found that to be very therapeutic for families because they’re in that grief cycle. And if they’ve got something that they can watch grow and nurture along the way, then that helps that grief cycle as well.

And that’s a beautiful reminder of that life that was so—so much a part of their life.

Bob:

So many times, we call them ashes, but they’re not ashes. They’re actually bones.

And the toxic elements of the bone are the high pH, which keeps any element within the bone from being released into the environment, and then the sodium content.

The sodium is what’s toxic to plant life. It’s anywhere from 200 to 2000 times the plant can tolerate.

So, we found a way to dilute the sodium and lower the pH so the elements found within the bone can be released and taken up by any living flora.

It doesn’t matter what type of plant. It can be a houseplant, a garden plant, a tree, or a bush.

Chris:

So, did you guys start this for the pet remains first and then move into humans? Or was it all kind of together at the same time?

Bob:

So, we did start on the pet market. And because the biggest hurdle for us, or the main reason was the fact of communals going to a landfill, so we started developing immediately the individual kits that we have available for families to do on their own.

But we really started looking at the pet cremation industry in the communal. And right now, as far as I know, we’re the only one that offers an organic solution for crematories for their communal remains. That we can mix the cremated remains with our product.

It sits out in the weather, and we have customers that have made butterfly gardens with them. They put them around their fields and landscape. And it’s a very safe environment. So, it gives a crematory a better option.

It’s all based on science. And I think that’s what brought the English government to our door was the fact that we have science to back up our claims. We’re not just saying—it’s not Bob and Annette saying, “Oh, this stuff is wonderful.”

Chris:

Yeah, I love this.

I love the focus and attention and thoughtfulness and all of this that you guys are putting into this.

So, what’s next? Where do you go from here?

It sounds like you’re starting to expand internationally.

Bob:

Well, we have a lot to go from here.

For the past 10 years—we’ve been in business for 11 years—for the past 10 years, we’ve been studying body decomposition. And it’s a conversation. It’s becoming more and more of an—

Annette:

Yeah, because green burial is becoming more and more of a thing. Not so much here in the United States. I mean, it’s like, what, 1% percent of the burial?

But across the pond, like in the UK and Europe, it’s becoming more and more of an issue because they don’t have land, like we do here.

We just think, “Oh, we have massive amounts of land. We don’t have to worry about that.”

Well, we do actually need to worry about it.

Bob:

Just, for example: United States. We put enough metal caskets into the ground annually to build the “Golden Gate Bridge” every year.

Chris:

Wow.

Bob and Annette:

Yeah.

Chris:

If you put it in that term—I mean, that’s kind of crazy.

Bob and Annette:

It’s staggering.

Bob:

One of the concerns was always: as a body breaks down, as the liquids and the fluids of that body come out, what happens then? Where does it go?

There’s been rumors. One of the reasons we bury bodies six feet is because, when the plague hit England back in the 1800, they thought, “If we put the body down six feet, it will be safe from that plague.”

But what they found is that the table water got into the bottom of that grave, and it can contaminate the table. And they just kept multiplying the pet plague.

I wanted to find out what happened at the bottom of the grave. And how could we advance the decomposition of a body organically.

There’s other companies out here that are coming up with ideas and all that, but they don’t have the science that we have behind it.

And we have not put this out. We’re just getting ready to roll it out to the market. But we want to make sure we truly understood what was happening to the body, what was happening to the soil around the body, and what’s the long-term impact of this?

We’ve developed a product for Earth burial. If the body wants—this is the human side, and it can be used on pets as well. A body can be buried in our product. And within two years, that entire body is part of the environment.

If they needed to reuse that great space, it’s available, and there’s nothing to extract from there. Well, right now, throughout Europe, they’re literally running out of burial spaces, especially in the UK. Germany is having severe issues with burial space.

We can go in and remediate those current burial grounds and eliminate that bone and let it become part of the environment. And then that great space can be resold.

So, we’ve also designed an above-ground decomposition system that’s called “The Pod Precision Organic Dispersal”.

And it uses our product, solar, and rainwater. And we can transition. In targeting a body, our goal is to do it within six months, and it’s a reusable system.

And then that body can be scattered in a rough terrain or an unused area of the cemetery that’s not revenue-producing.

And then there’ll be a memorial wall with the name of that person so they’ll always have a place memorialized.

And then we’ll do a DNA sample of that body before we transition. So, for genealogy, there’s an archive DNA for families to follow what happens to their loved one.

Chris:

Wow. That’s a well-thought-out thing to put together. I mean, I never would have thought of all those stuff.

This is so amazing, what you guys have done, and it’s been such a pleasure talking to you.

Is there anything else you wanted to mention before we wrap things up?

Annette:

Contact us at our website: WWW.LETYOURLOVEGROW.COM.

Chris:

There you go. And we’ll make sure to link it.

So, absolutely people need to check that out and look at the products and follow you.

It sounds like you guys are destined for amazing things to come.

Annette:

It’s been a journey, and we’re looking forward to the next chapter.

Chris:

Thank you so much for both of you coming on the show.

I really appreciate it.

And I’ll just remind our viewers and listeners as we wrap things up. If you’ve got a great idea, amazing people that I should talk to, like Bob and Annette, just go to INNOVATIONS.SHOW, and let me know about it.

So, thanks again so much for coming on. I really enjoyed it.

Annette:

Thanks for having us, Chris.

It’s been a pleasure, we really appreciate it.