Why Do So Many People Choose Cremation for their Loved Ones?

Cremation is a burial practice that has been with us for many thousands of years. It saw a distinct drop in popularity some hundred-years or so ago but has been rising again recently. Cremation is a practice in which a deceased person is burned in a furnace at an extremely high temperature, and as thus, is reduced to a pile of ashes. These ashes are collected and transferred into an urn.

Cremations are becoming very popular. In North America, for example, there has been a 1038.88% increase in the number of people who are deciding to be cremated. That’s absolutely massive.

This page will hope to tell you a few of the reasons why so many people are deciding to cremate their loved ones, and why they are opting for this over more traditional funeral methods.

Intimacy of Cremation Urns

When your loved ones are transferred to an urn, which is ordinarily a ceramic vase with a lid, you are free to take them home. Keeping cremation urns around the home is very intimate, and although your loved one is not there superficially, they are au fond. You are free to talk to them, look at them, and to a certain extent even to touch them.

Cremation is a very intimate practise that enables you to spend the rest of your life with your loved one and keep them at home with you where they belong. This is potentially one of the most fundamental reasons that people decide to have their loved ones cremated. If you are looking for a burial method that will allow you to still feel your loved one’s presence, then cremation is certainly for you. The warmth that this can provide is unexplainable.

Cost of Cremation

Funeral costs can vary between methods. Unquestionably though, cremation is the cheapest method. If you are on a tight budget, then having your loved one cremated can be far better than spending tens of thousands on a huge funeral, hiring a vicar, organizing a burial patch, and buying a coffin.

Cremation is a one-off cost and most include the urn as part of a package, thereby reducing the cost further. If you do decide to go out and buy a customized urn, you are more than able to do this, and they do not cost a lot of money. Cremation is an ancient practice for just this reason; the low cost. It is far easier and more sustainable.

Freedom

Families now are more likely to relocate than ever before, with many families moving up-and-down the country every single year. This, however, can pose a problem if a relative has been buried in a nearby cemetery. This will mean you will be unable to regularly visit your loved one as you may have been doing for many years

Having an urn with you gives you the freedom to go anywhere in the world while remaining close to your loved one and not having to worry about long journeys to go and see them. Alternatively, you can get cremation jewelry for ashes that you can wear with you anytime. The freedom offered by cremation is unrivaled.

Environment

Cremation is not an entirely green practice, but even so, is a far better option than many other burial practices. Here are a few reasons to opt for cremation over other burial methods:

•  Land Shortage

There is a distinct shortage of land and has been for the last fifty years. Traditional funerals are reducing land day-by-day and many churchyards are overwhelmed and unable to find anywhere to bury the excess bodies that are seemingly piling up.

• Unsustainable Coffins

Most people are buried in metal and wooden caskets. These caskets have a very slow decomposition rate and will simply sit in the ground for hundreds of years. Every year, up to thirty-million meters of wood is felled to keep up with the North American burial customs. The steel used yearly is the equivalent to the amount used in San Francisco’s famous Golden Gate Bridge.

• Chemicals

Most people when waiting for burial are embalmed. This allows for an open-casket funeral. Embalming fluid is a combination of formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol, and other chemicals. These chemicals are terribly carcinogenic and can leak from caskets into streams near cemeteries and into the ground.

Preference

Many people may just want to be cremated. If this is the case, then you should honour your loved one’s final wishes, despite whether or not it is compatible with your religious ideology. Many religions shun the idea of cremation, but if your loved one has requested it, then you must give them what they have asked for.

Now you know several reasons why cremation is becoming much more popular. A cremation is an option everybody should consider as part of their end-of-life plan and can be comforting for your family.