We all know that the lifespan of our pets, be it dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles, hamsters, and so on, is relatively shorter than that of us humans. It’s a universally sad truth that most, if not, all pet parents will experience — or have experienced — their pet’s passing.
Pawrents (read: pet parents) looking to cremate their pets might be interested in the water cremation option offered at The Green Mortician. Keep scrolling to find out why it’s touted as a gentler alternative to flame-based cremation to help your pet rest in peace.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be considered as medical, psychological, or legal advice.
What Is Aqua Cremation?
In recent years, the funeral industry has invented aqua cremation, aka water cremation, aquamation, or “green cremation.” In scientific terms, it’s known as “alkaline hydrolysis.”
Here’s how it works:
- Within a clean stainless steel machine, a chemical solution composed of 95% water and 5% alkali is allowed to wash over the body for a few hours.
- The constant, gentle flow of the solution dissolves the body, speeding up an otherwise natural decomposition that would take decades to accomplish if the burial happened in a cemetery instead.
- At the end of the process, the bones and any metallic implants (if present) are all that remains. The bones are then processed into ash and returned to the family.
Many people are surprised to hear that aqua cremation results in purer ash formed and 20% more ash produced as compared to flame-based cremation. It’s no wonder that ~90% of pet owners chose “green cremation” to honour their pet’s passing.
Purely Your Pet’s Ashes, Nothing Else
Some of us have heard horror stories from fellow pet owners about how their beloved pets’ ashes were mixed with others.
UK-based The Independent previously reported that “many pet cremation companies do not treat pets’ remains with dignity” because they are seen as ‘waste.’ There are even cases of missing ashes, which means that your pet’s remains are not returned to you in entirety.
Closer to home, some pet crematoriums in Singapore do offer communal flame-based cremation. At a lower cost, this allows pet owners to cremate their pets with others, resulting in mixed ashes.
For pawrents who prefer individual cremations to ensure that the ashes they receive are purely their pet’s, The Green Mortician has taken this into account. With its unique 9-step identification process, rest assured that the team takes the returning of correct ashes very seriously. As a safeguard, the steel partitions used in the water cremation process completely separate pets from one another, so that ashes would not be mixed up.
Eco-Friendliness: The Cherry on Top
As the proverbial cherry on top, aqua cremation is much more eco-friendly than traditional cremation.
Being a water-based method, its carbon footprint is only 1/10th that of its flame-base counterpart as the former doesn’t need to burn fossil fuels. This also means:
- 90% less carbon dioxide emissions
- Zero waste
- Zero harmful emissions
You’d be reassured to learn that water cremation doesn’t use up too much water. For context, about 606 litres of water (about the size of a 5-6ft long fish tank) is used to process two average-sized golden retrievers.
On top of that, the remaining liquid solution consisting of the dissolved animal tissues is nutrient-rich, making it an ideal fertiliser. It’s also treated at a licensed NEA treatment facility (the same process for human embalming).
Currently, The Green Mortician is actively partnering with the Singapore authorities to repurpose this highly nutritious effluent that’s free of diseases and pathogens for fertilising the local agriculture in a way that truly returns life to Mother Nature.
Help Your Pet Rest in Peace When the Time Comes
When the time comes, rest assured that your pet can truly rest in peace with the gentler option of aqua cremation at The Green Mortician.