Have you ever thought about your wishes after you’ve passed away? Maybe you’ve considered cremation, or you’d rather opt for a traditional burial. There are more options now for memorial services or funerals, and it’s smart to consider them and which one means the most to you.
Putting some thought into it makes things easier for your loved ones left behind. Eliminating guesswork allows them to honor your wishes and focus on the matters at hand.
If you opt for a burial, you’ll need to find coffins for sale from companies like Titan Casket. With cremation, typically an urn is used to store ashes.
Read on to see how each process is different to decide which is right for you.
Burials Have Many Options Including Different Coffins for Sale
The first thing that might pop into your head when you consider a burial is that you’ll need to purchase a casket or coffin. These are typically purchased at the funeral home or online by searching for coffins for sale.
In a traditional burial, the body is bathed and prepared, then embalming is used to preserve it before laying it into the casket. Many people still opt to do this as it delays the decomposition process long enough to have memorial services beforehand, especially if an open casket is chosen.
Green burials are becoming more popular now due to the lower environmental impact. Some religions have used this method for hundreds of years. In this case, a person is buried in an environmentally friendly casket and no embalming fluid or preservation is used, allowing the body to decompose naturally. No grave liner is placed so the casket breaks down into the soil as well.
Natural burials and green burials are very similar. A green burial must happen in a cemetery that does not use any pesticides or chemicals. Additionally, all the bodies buried must have had a natural burial, meaning no embalming and no traditional caskets.
If you’d rather not be buried in a cemetery at all, there are still other options. Some states allow home burials and some states have even discussed human composting, which is a form of burial outside regular cemeteries.
Up in Smoke: Cremation is Increasingly Common
Cremation has been popular in various parts of the world for thousands of years, but only recently has it caught on in the West. People choose cremation for many reasons, including:
- Cost—cremation is often cheaper than a traditional burial. Urns are cheaper than coffins for sale.
- Flexibility—urns are small and transportable. It’s not uncommon for people to keep an urn through multiple moves and for many years. It may feel more like a piece of your loved one is with you.
- Environmentally friendly—cremation requires far less land because you don’t need to bury a coffin. There are even new practices like using water and potassium hydroxide instead of flames, although this has not been legalized in every state. Cremation also does not involve embalming.
After the body is prepared, it goes into a casket, coffin, or other container that must be combustible. There are specific coffins for sale that can be used in a retort, which is the chamber build for cremation. After the cremation process, the remains are cooled and then inspected for metal fragments before being ground into powder, or cremains. Then they are sealed in an airtight bag and placed into an urn for the family to take with them.
Honoring the Deceased is Key
Whether you choose to be buried or cremated, your loved ones will be able to say goodbye with a memorial service and focus on healing. There is no wrong choice here, only the decision that’s best for you.