Cremation services have been a common method of disposition for many generations, going back hundreds of years or more. Essentially, it involves the use of fire to reduce the bodily remains down to their base substance of bone ash. Aquamation services near New Hanover County, NC, are a much more recent development, but the end result is the same. Rather than using fire, it uses water and an alkaline solution to break down the body. Here are some ways that cremation and aquamation differ from each other.

As previously mentioned, cremation services utilize fire to break down the bodily remains. It’s a fairly straightforward process, with the family receiving back their loved one’s remains in the form of ashes, which are held in a temporary urn. With its long history, the process has not changed too much but has seen certain improvements over time. While it has a smaller environmental impact on the planet when compared to traditional burial, cremation does have some drawbacks. This mostly includes the fact that the combustion process releases harmful gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. These “greenhouse gases” have been shown to negatively affect our earth’s atmosphere, contributing to accelerated climate change.

Aquamation services have the same end result – bone ashes – but without the fire and combustion. Instead, an alkaline solution is used to speed up the natural process that the body undergoes to break down into its base elements. It mimics what would naturally occur after an earth burial, but quickens the process exponentially. All that remains afterward are the bones and harmless sugars, salts, and amino acids. The bones are transformed into bone ash, which is then returned to the immediate family – again, in a temporary urn. The environmental impact is significantly lower than either cremation or burial. There are no harmful toxins or substances that enter the local ecosystem, and it does not release harmful gases into the air. Aquamation doesn’t require any use of land or valuable resources, either.

As you can see, while aquamation and cremation may seem similar on the surface, they are really quite different. Their main similarity is the end result that the family receives back, which is their loved one’s ashes. Apart from that, the disposition process is entirely different between the two. One uses fire, and one uses water. One releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and one does not. Neither one requires the use of land, although many families do choose to bury their loved one’s ashes.

If you’re curious to learn more about aquamation services near New Hanover County, NC, contact your local aquamation provider. They can give you details about pricing, as well as the different types of services that they offer. If you or a loved one had a passion for caring for the planet, you may want to consider aquamation services as your chosen method of disposition. Then, you can take comfort in knowing that you are positively contributing to the health of the planet for future generations, while returning your loved one’s remains back to their base element.