5 Reasons to Choose Cremation

Cremation is becoming a popular choice. The first official cremation in the UK took place in 1885 in Woking. Although cremation was never illegal in Britain, it was only in 1902 that Parliament passed the Cremation Act, which formally recognised the practice and legislate its use. In this blog we will be exploring some of the reasons why it is becoming more common and why you should choose it as an end of life plan as well.

Environmental Effects

Burials have been around for centuries, deeply ingrained in religious and cultural history. However, There are multiple reasons why burials are actually harmful for the environment.

• Burials use up a lot of land space, meaning eventually we would need to use other natural spaces for burials such as recreational activities and enjoyment.
• If you have opted for embalming, this can release environmental pollutants into the earth and water streams over time such as arsenic, mercury and formaldehyde. In the US alone, over 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde are used annually, enough to fill 1.2 Olympic swimming pools.
• The body may also be a source of contaminating radioisotopes due to any radiotherapy treatment that might have occurred. Not only are these toxic chemicals harmful to the environment but they can also expose funeral workers to potential hazards.
• There are also concerns around the amount of wood that is used which goes into the creation of a coffin. It is estimated that this amount of wood is equal to about 4 million acres of forest, mainly tropical and precious wood.

You can access more astonishing statistics like these here.

The government has a page dedicated to preventing groundwater pollution when it comes to cemeteries and burials.

 Affordability

In general, the cost of cremation is much less than the cost of a burial for two main reasons.

• The cost of coffins and headstones are significantly higher than the cost of cremation urns.
• Usually a funeral director is much more involved in a burial service as there are many more elements involved. Whereas, with a cremation, it is easily organised with little to no help from a funeral director.

You can read our detailed guide on the costs of cremation and burials for a more in depth overview of facts and figures.

Creativity

With cremation urns, the possibilities and designs are endless. Cremation Urns come in different materials like ceramic or wood, which allows our artisans to create elegant and intricate designs. They also come in different sizes, for example keepsake urns are carefully crafted small urns designed to carry a fragment of your loved one. Our keepsake urns for ashes can be used for sharing with family or across your home.

Our Memorial Jewellery may be more suited to you if you wish to keep your loved one closer to you wherever you go. You can find our self filled ashes jewellery collection here.

We have some excellent inspirational ideas for scattering ashes, from coral reefs to fireworks, some will totally surprise you. We also have some sentimental ideas for hosting an ashes ceremony.

 Convenience

Arranging a cremation service is a much simpler process than a burial. In particular, a time and place is difficult to arrange when it comes to a burial and often a funeral director is needed for helping organise a lot of the components.

A lot more factors may be at play when organising a burial, for example the choice of cemetery, organising a wake, gathering pallbearers and the time in which it takes to organise.

 Closeness

Having your loved one cremated into ashes allows you to keep your loved one close at all times. You may wish to have a candled urn so you can light a tealight in times of remembrance. You can keep your loved one close with memorial jewellery or small urns to keep in multiple rooms of the house.