Alternative Cremation Options

The latest innovation in cremation is a process of alkaline hydrolysis, sometimes called resomation. The process was developed in the United States in the late 1990s. The Cremation Association of North America describes the process as "a water-based dissolution process for human remains that uses alkaline chemicals, heat, and sometimes agitation and-or pressure, to accelerate natural decomposition".

At Stamey-Tysinger, we called the process Foothills Aquamation Services. Aquamation is a water-based process combined with an alkali solution that gently returns your loved one's remains back to their natural form. Aquamation is more environmentally friendly than the traditional flame cremation process while offering the same benefits and more by using an alternative eco-friendly technology that steadily circulates a warm-water solution, uses less energy, and leaves a smaller carbon footprint.

Compared with traditional cremation, this process uses less energy and releases no carbon and no matter into the atmosphere. Not all regions have made the legislative changes required for funeral homes to offer this service to families and the equipment costs are more than a conventional retort. Both factors currently reduce the availability of resomation cremation services.