A Cleaner Return to Nature

The Environmental Benefits

For many families, protecting the Earth is a lifelong commitment. We recycle, conserve water, and strive to reduce our carbon footprint. Yet, when it comes to end-of-life care, traditional options often conflict with these values. Both traditional burial and flame cremation carry significant environmental costs—from land consumption and embalming chemicals to heavy fossil fuel usage.


At Still Waters Aquamation (a service of Fred L. Jenkins Funeral Home), we offer a path that aligns with your eco-friendly values. By choosing alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation) instead of fire, you choose a process that honors a lifetime of environmental stewardship.


Here is a closer look at the profound environmental benefits of this modern, sustainable choice.

Zero Direct Carbon Emissions

The most significant drawback of traditional flame cremation is its heavy contribution to climate change. A single flame cremation requires burning natural gas for hours, releasing hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) directly into our atmosphere.


Because Aquamation is entirely flameless, it involves no combustion. It generates zero direct greenhouse gas emissions, making it a remarkably clean alternative that keeps our West Virginia skies clear.

90% Lower Energy Usage

Heating a traditional cremation chamber to nearly 1000° requires an immense expenditure of fossil fuels. Aquamation, by contrast, operates at a fraction of that temperature and utilizes electricity with incredible efficiency.


Choosing water cremation results in a 90% reduction in energy usage compared to flame cremation. To put it in perspective, the energy saved by choosing Aquamation for one person is equivalent to driving a car thousands of miles or running a typical household for weeks.

The Power of No Combustion

By eliminating fire from the process, we eliminate the secondary environmental hazards of combustion. When a body is cremated with flame, anything hidden inside goes up the chimney. This includes mercury from silver dental fillings, which enters the atmosphere as a dangerous airborne pollutant.


With Aquamation, there is no combustion. Mercury and other heavy metals remain completely stable and intact, allowing our licensed professionals to safely isolate, capture, and recycle them rather than letting them pollute our air and waterways.

A Thoughtful Approach to Environmental Impact

Every form of final disposition has an environmental footprint, and each offers meaningful ways to honor a loved one. Traditional burial, flame cremation, and aquamation each have their own considerations, benefits, and longstanding significance to the families who choose them.


Aquamation offers an additional option for families who wish to consider environmental impact as part of their decision. Because the process does not require a burial casket, outer burial container, or embalming chemicals, it can reduce the use of certain materials and resources associated with conventional burial.


During aquamation, a gentle combination of water, controlled temperature, and alkalinity breaks down organic tissue into simple compounds, including amino acids, sugars, and salts. The resulting liquid is treated and discharged in accordance with applicable wastewater requirements.



For families who value environmental stewardship, aquamation provides another dignified choice—one that reflects their personal priorities while honoring the life of someone they love.

A Lifelong Stewardship of Natural Resources

Choosing Aquamation is the ultimate act of preservation. It protects our natural resources in several key ways:



  • Saves Forest Resources: No trees are cut down to manufacture expensive caskets that will be buried or burned.
  • Preserves Open Spaces: It eliminates the need for sprawling cemetery plots, preserving West Virginia's beautiful natural landscapes for generations to come.
  • 100% Medical Metal Recycling: Joint replacements, titanium rods, and pacemakers exit the process completely clean and undamaged. We are able to recycle 100% of these medical metals, reducing the demand for destructive mining of new natural resources.