Cremation Blog

Some people choose a funeral with a traditional burial while others select cremation for their end-of-life service. Each of these services offer benefits, but a growing number of people are choosing cremation due to increased affordability, convenience, and environmental concerns.

Cremation vs. Funeral Cost

Arguably, the biggest advantage of cremation is that it is a low cost alternative to burial. Burial costs today average about $8,000, and the price may be higher than that in some places.

In contrast, cremation costs one-quarter of the cost of burial and is as low as several hundred dollars in some regions. Because cremation is a simple service that doesn’t require a funeral, burial plot, headstone, and other burial-related expenses, cremation costs remain relatively low.

As cremation becomes a more common choice, families are looking for new and creative ways to memorialize loved ones and dispose of remains. One growing trend in end-of-life memorialization is cremation jewelry. As more people offer this unique take on disposing of cremated remains, families have a wider variety of options for creating cremation jewelry.

Cremains Set in Clear Jewelry

One new entry into this field is Close By Me Jewelry, a company that mixes a small amount of cremains with a clear substance and then molds it into keepsakes. This offering is different because you never know what color the jewelry will be before it’s made. Gina Murphy, who created the patent-pending process, says: “The color ranges from a light beige to black. A recent one was burgundy.” The mixture is set into sterling silver to create rings, pendants, earrings, cufflinks, or charms.

Every year about 2.5 million people die. Over the course of the past decade, an increasing number of these individuals have opted for cremation — about 42 percent in 2011, according to the association of funeral directors, double the number from 15 years ago.

Why Cremation?

These figures beg the simple question: What’s caused this sudden increase? Even before the recent jump, cremation rates have been rising in the United States for at least 30 years — up from 15% in 1985, according to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA). What’s behind the increasing popularity of cremation? It all boils down to three things: religion, family, and cost.

A sizeable number of people opt for cremation over burial these days. In fact, the rate is as high as 60 percent in some states. Many choose cremation to cut down on costs associated with burials, but cremation offers other considerable benefits.

In addition to low costs, cremation has less of an impact on the environment than a traditional burial. Here are five eco-friendly benefits of cremation:

Cremation doesn’t require a casket.

Unlike a burial, cremation does not require a casket or a headstone, making it a cost-effective and eco-friendly choice. Cutting down on natural materials such as wood, stone, and metals needed for caskets, headstones, and other memorial structures benefits the environment as well as your pocket book.

Cremation doesn’t require space in the earth.

A burial not only requires a casket, but also requires space in a cemetery or a mausoleum. Cemeteries in many places have a limited amount of space available, and some are running out of space or suffering from overcrowding. Cemeteries must expand or new ones must be created to accommodate burials. Scattering remains or keeping cremated remains in an urn preserves space. eliminates cemetery costs, and lessens the environmental impact.

Preplanning cremation offers many benefits, including addressing the financial side of funeral planning. Consider matching end-of-life planning with a cremation insurance policy to address the financial element. Planning ahead offers many benefits — both for yourself and your loved ones.

• Remove the financial burden at the time of death
• Control cremation costs
• Spare your family difficult decisions
• Gain peace of mind
• Manage end-of-life planning with low monthly payments

Save Your Loved Ones from Financial Stress

An important benefit of cremation insurance is that it spares your loved ones the financial stress of your passing. Losing a loved one is always difficult. The last thing anyone wants is for the family to be overwhelmed by the financial cost of end-of-life arrangements. When you purchase a cremation insurance policy, you eliminate that source of stress for your family. Wouldn’t you like to them to be taken care of after you’re gone? Call us today to learn more: (610) 572-7078.

As we planned for deployments and prepared for homecomings, we must also prepare for those we will leave behind.  Providing a roadmap to ease the already emotional burden on your loved ones leaves a lasting memory untainted with the frustration of having to navigate through different agencies for assistance.

When a family chooses cremation for a loved one, it necessitates the question: What will we do with the remains? What you do with the remains plays a key role in the type of urn that is right for your family. Different urns are designed with different purposes in mind, so choose an urn that is appropriate for the final disposition that you have in mind.

Scattering Urn
Families choose scattering urns as inexpensive, temporary urns to house cremated remains for a short time between the cremation itself and scattering the remains. Scattering urns are typically inexpensive urns, and they often lack embellishment as they’re only intended as a temporary means to house the remains.

Eco-Friendly Urn
An eco-friendly urn or biodegradable urn is an urn that is designed to break down quickly and easily after being buried in the earth. These urns are typically constructed from unbleached, pressed cotton, and may include a biodegradable bag to hold the remains.