All forms of cremation work by breaking down the soft tissues of the body (muscles, fats, organs). This ends with only bones remaining. These bones are processed into a powder (also known as ash) which can be returned in an urn.

With fire cremation, the soft tissues of the body are burned away, leaving only bones. With water cremation, the soft tissues are broken down using a combination of water, salts, warmth, and circulation instead of fire. You still have the option to receive ashes back. In fact, you receive 20% more remains because nothing goes up in smoke.

Water cremation has many names. The technical term is “alkaline hydrolysis”, but you may also hear it being called “water cremation”, “Aquamation”, “biocremation”, “flameless cremation”, or “resomation”. The technology has been around for hundreds of years as an eco-friendly alternative to fire cremation or burial.

When you choose water cremation:

• You receive more ash back, because none is lost to smoke residue. In addition, the ash that you receive back with water cremation tends to be cleaner, softer, and brighter because it is gently processed.

• Water cremation is the most eco-friendly form of aftercare. It uses significantly less energy for the same result and has no emissions, smoke, or greenhouse gases released. All chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and diseases are broken down. The remains are 100% sterile.

The only downside to water cremation is that the gentler processing of water cremation takes slightly longer. Burning of remains takes a few hours, but water processing takes a full day. We still aim to return the fully processed ashes within 1-2 weeks, which is a similar timeframe to most fire crematoriums.

Quite the opposite! In contrast to fire cremation (which releases greenhouse gases and requires a large carbon footprint to maintain fires) and burial (which can leach euthanasia chemicals and diseases into the soil), water cremation only produces two things - clean, pure ashes and a sterile liquid solution full of nutrients that is welcomed back into the water supply. This liquid (also known as effluent) makes a wonderful fertilizer due to its high nutrient content.

Maybe you are passionate about environmental sustainability and want to do the right thing for the planet. Maybe the image of burning gives you the heebie geebies. Maybe your pup’s best days were spent romping on the beach. Maybe your kitty spent hours staring at the fishtank, entranced by the flowing water. Maybe you’d love the option of having a plant fertilized by your lost pet. Whatever your reason for considering aquatic cremation, your choice is valid and your pet and our planet will be treated with the utmost respect.

Ask your veterinarian to hold your pet’s remains at their hospital and contact us to arrange pick up.

Alternatively, you can contact us to arrange a time for you to bring your pet to our facility in Smithfield, RI.

Water cremation is such a gentle process that it can be performed on any type of pet:

• Dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, and any other mammals

• Frogs and other amphibians

• Turtles and other reptiles

• Birds

• Fish

• Even pet spiders!

Actually, no! Even though water cremation requires a more personalized and time consuming process, the cost to you is about the same as fire cremation.