One of the major decisions when developing your own funeral pre-plan is whether to be cremated or have a full-body burial. It's estimated that more people will choose to be cremated than buried in 2015. There are a number of reasons why people choose cremation and here are the major points for you to consider when making your arrangements.
1. Your cremation may be less expensive than a full-body burial.
When you're cremated, you won't need to pay for various expenses included in a full-body burial. For example:
- You won't need a full-sized casket for your cremains.
- You won't need a standard cemetery plot.
- You won't need a concrete vault to hold the casket.
If you choose not to have a viewing of the body, then you can skip the expense of embalming.
However, you could still request all of these preparations with your cremation services.
2. Scheduling is more convenient with cremation.
Funeral homes must follow state and local regulations regarding how long they can hold a body before they must do something with it. Your family will have limited time in which to make the arrangements to have you buried. This can make it difficult to give people who live far away enough notice that they can travel for the funeral service.
After you're cremated, your family can take their time notifying friends and family so everyone can come together to pay their respects. This takes some of the stress off of your family to make quick funeral service arrangements.
3. Cremation has a smaller ecological footprint.
People who want an eco-friendly way to deal with their remains prefer cremation because of the following:
- There is no need to use the chemicals for embalming.
- Less materials are used if you choose an urn over a casket.
- Less space is required to bury your remains in an urn and no space is required should you choose to have your cremains scattered in a favorite area.
4. You have more options for disposing your remains.
When cremated, you can have the cremains buried in a cemetery or placed in a columbarium. But there are a number of other creative ways that people have had their cremains disposed of such as:
- Being put into the lead of pencils to be given away.
- Used to make a vinyl record with a recording.
- Planted with a tree in a reforestation project.
- Putting the cremains in small vials worn as pendants.
- Being scattered in a favorite park, lake or stadium.
5. Cremation makes returning home easier.
Should you pass away out of town, making arrangements to ship your body home can be difficult. You can be cremated and your cremains can be shipped easily to your family or funeral home.
If you have any questions about cremation, consider contacting a local funeral home, such as Romero Family Funeral Home Corp., to discuss your concerns.
