Planning a funeral for your loved one—or even for yourself—entails a lot of time and attention to detail. And if you’re not sure which option is the best for your loved one’s needs and desires, you could look to recent funeral trends and choose something that could be both beautiful and beneficial. Read on to learn more about cremation as a funeral trend and how it could be the right choice for you.
Save on Funeral Costs
Perhaps the most common reason why cremation has become a more popular arrangement over burial is because of the lower costs. If you’re on a limited budget or you simply want to spend more on other aspects of a memorial service, cremation allows you to lay your loved one to rest without stressing about how much it will cost.
Cremation costs less than a traditional burial depending on your preferences and other funeral expenses. Do you want something simple and elegant? A basic cremation and small service can cost thousands of dollars less than a traditional funeral and burial.
Make a difference after death
No matter how your loved one lived their life, their presence and influence in the world will be missed. So why not allow them to continue making a difference?
Cremation ultimately helps the environment because it consumes fewer resources and less energy in the process. People are also more invested in reducing their carbon footprints during life, and this goal can continue even after death. Cremation can reduce more environmental impacts compared to traditional burial.
For example, traditional burials require a wooden casket, which requires lumber and puts increased strain on forests around the globe. The embalming process involves a few different chemicals to prepare a body for burial. This can negatively impact the environment as those chemicals absorb into the surrounding land and potentially find their way into underground water sources.
Likewise, cremation reduces the need for land and the environmental impacts related to land consumption. Land is becoming increasingly sparse, with one international report stating that some cemeteries will no longer have any land left to use for burials.
Keep your loved ones closer
Rather than burying a loved one and laying them to rest in a cemetery kilometres from your home, keep them close by so you can remember and converse with them—or just sit peacefully nearby as you heal and move through their passing.
After cremation, you can place ashes in an urn that you can keep in your home in a highly regarded place. You can also look for modernised urns that further allow you to memorialise the dearly departed. For example, some urns are made of stainless steel with a porcelain center so you can include a picture of your loved one on the urn.
Celebrate life
Some of the most recent funeral trends center on celebrating life instead of mourning death and loss. When you lose a loved one, every feeling matters immensely, but many people have found ways to focus on remembering their family and friends and honouring them with joy and light. Many people personalise the funeral services and post-service remembrance of their loved ones.
One way to bring about this celebration of life is to scatter your loved one’s ashes along their favourite outdoor locale—just make sure to check with local authorities or city officials to make sure you can legally do so.