Eco-Friendly Burials

[Nova]

Agree. My wife passed last December and as per our plan, she was cremated. I gave instructions to my children that when I die, I'm cremated and our ashes will occupy the same urn so we'll always be together and they're welcome to join us. Very old school in some cultures.

Good for you, Sam. I can't speak for your children, but as an outsider, I recognize how much you must love them to make these decisions yourself.

 

[TrackerSam]

I hate to tell you, Thunder, but my neighbor spent $10,000 cremating his husband a few years ago. He probably could have spent a thou or so if he had selected a cheaper urn, but even cremation is expensive unless one is very assertive and demands the cheapest option.

Wow. It was less than $1000 for us. I also had my mother cremated, 15 yrs ago and that was less than $500.

 

[Nova]

Welcome to California, particularly a resort town like Palm Springs!

But I bet you saved money by shopping ahead in a calm and collected frame of mind. That's a lesson for all of us!

 

[Sonya610]

I hate to tell you, Thunder, but my neighbor spent $10,000 cremating his husband a few years ago. He probably could have spent a thou or so if he had selected a cheaper urn, but even cremation is expensive unless one is very assertive and demands the cheapest option. (ETA I meant "saved a thou or so". He still would have spent many thousands of dollars.)

Rates vary by location but the Neptune Society is well known for having the most affordable cremation packages (I think usually under 2 grand). Of course when it comes to fancy urns or markers the sky is the limit price wise. As far as those that think it is a "waste of money" I would agree if the money is desperately needed for something else but it provides jobs (local jobs) and that is never a waste.

Thing about urns....unless there are family members that will really cherish the urns for generations what happens to them? If the ashes aren't buried then they become "stuff" that sits in someone's closet after the closest loved ones have passed.

I rather like the diamond idea....can't afford it but for 5-10k the ashes can be turned into beautiful jewels that last forever.

http://www.lifegem.com

 

[noZme]

I surfed across this article & am bringing it here to revive the conversation if anyone is interested.

Sharon Bailey died at her daughter's home in a bed with a dark wood headboard that she bought more than 50 years earlier, around the time she got married.
Her daughters, Laura and Beth, gently washed her body with soapy water. They rubbed rose-scented salve on her skin and dressed her in brown trousers, a brown turtleneck and a pretty pink fleece. Under her hips and shoulders, on top of fresh sheets, they placed small bags of dry ice. Bailey remained there for three days...

Home funerals were the norm until around the Civil War. The desire to preserve soldiers' bodies for transport from the South to the North led to embalming becoming more widespread, as did the multi-city tour of Abraham Lincoln's embalmed body, said Gary Laderman, an Emory University professor and author of "Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in 20th Century America." The era gave birth to the use of "mediators," such as funeral homes and hospitals, between the living and the dead, he said. "Back then, you usually died at home surrounded by family," he said. "I think there was an intimacy that existed with the dead that is not so prevalent today."

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/01/11/home-funerals-becoming-popular/21605207/

http://afterdeathhomecare.com/

more about environmentally friendly burials
http://greenburialcouncil.org/