Cremation Information

Cremation Information Guide

The popularity of cremation in the United States has been on a steady rise for the past 50 years. As the popularity grows, we receive more and more questions about cremation. Many people are still confused about cremation, and we often hear misconceptions about cremation. This section of our website is committed to teaching you all about cremation. The pages below have been written by our cremation professionals in hopes that families can improve their education about cremation and feel more empowered when making end-of-life decisions. Often people struggle to decide if cremation is right for them or their loved one. The starting point to this decision is to first understand and become informed with the facts of cremation. 

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Cremation Definition

First, here is a clear, simple definition of cremation: 


Cremation is a method of body disposal that acts as an alternative to burial. Cremation reduces a body to ash by exposing it to very high temperatures within a large furnace. Many people simply think cremation involves setting the body on fire and letting it burn. However, the overall cremation process is much more technical in nature and done with complete care. Click here to learn about our cremation process in full. 

Benefits of Cremation

It has always been an on-going debate: cremation vs. burial. Lately, cremation has been winning the battle as the more popular choice. The American cremation rate has been steadily on the rise for the past 30 years. The year of 2015 marked the first time the cremation rate was higher than the burial rate in the United States.


So, why cremation? Everyone has their own personal reasons for choosing cremation, but we have noticed 6 key benefits of cremation: 

Cost

On average, cremation is generally 45-50% cheaper than burial. Cremation allows you to avoid the big purchases of items like a headstone and a casket.

Cemetery Availability 

Plots at cemeteries are becoming more and more scarce. The cemetery you wish to be buried may not have plots available when you pass. Also since the supply of burial plots shrinks the cost of them has been on the rise. Cremation allows you to avoid the trouble of finding a plot.

Environmental Concerns

Cremation is considered to be more environmentally friendly than burial. Often the deceased is embalmed using harsh chemicals for a wake before he/she is buried. People have been critical that these chemicals can seep through a casket and create water and soil pollution. Secondly, burial plots take up land space and disturbs the Earth to inter a casket. Crematories do release carbon emissions into the air, but new technology is really starting to reduce the amount and impact.

Simplicity & Flexibility

Often times, when people choose a traditional funeral they choose to have their loved one buried as well. In contrast, cremation is more associated with memorial services and celebrations of life. A traditional funeral involves many more components such as a wake, gathering pallbearers, organizing a mass with a church, coordinating the burial with the cemetery, and much more. Memorial service and celebrations of life can be much simpler if you choose them to be. Since these ceremonies are more based on what you want and are less about common rituals, you can choose just how complicated and sophisticated the ceremonies are. Also, with burial, you are either interred underground in a plot or above ground in a mausoleum. With cremation, you have several options in terms of what you can do with your loved one’s ashes. You can scatter your loved one’s ashes, store them in an urn, hold a small portion of it in memorial jewelry, blast them as apart of fireworks, mix them into the ink of a tattoo, and do some many other creative things with ashes.

Religions Becoming Less Strict

Many people are starting to move away from tradition due to religions having a more relaxed stance on cremation. Catholics believe that the soul is immortal and does not depend on the physical body. Since cremation of the deceased's remains do not affect his or her soul, according to the Church, there are no doctrinal objections to the practice (Bryner, 2016). The less strict beliefs of the Catholic church are becoming another reason that people are choosing cremation rather than burial.

How Does Cremation Work?

People often have many misconceptions about how cremation actually works. Many people think cremation is done by simply lighting the body on fire and burning it. However, the cremation process is completed with a lot more care and is much more technical in nature. 


Traditional cremation is the process of reducing a body at very high temperatures until it is nothing but brittle, calcified bones. These are then processed into what are commonly known as cremation ashes. Returned to the family in a temporary urn (or a more personal urn selected by the family), these ashes can be kept, buried, or scattered. Some families even choose to place a loved one's cremated remains in a hand-crafted piece of cremation art.


Author Michelle Kim, in How Cremation Works, details the cremation process: "In modern crematories, the body is stored in a cool, temperature-controlled room until it's approved for cremation. The body is prepared by removing pacemakers, prostheses and silicone implants. The body is then put into a container or casket made out of flammable materials such as plywood, pine or cardboard."


The container is placed in the retort or cremating chamber. It takes anywhere from two to three hours to reduce an average adult to ash. When the cremated remains are cooled, they are processed to a uniformly-sized pebble-like substance and placed in an urn. The funeral director then returns the cremated remains to the family and that ends the cremation process.

What is Required to Arrange for Cremation?

One of the first questions we often hear when families are seeking cremation information is what is required? Once the decision to cremate the remains has been made, all that’s left is to complete authorization. This is done by the next of kin signing the authorization documents and paying for the service. Once this is completed, the remains will be transported to the crematory for the cremation process.

There are some other things your family may want to consider when making arrangements. These considerations include:
  • Is there a special set of clothes (military uniform, favorite suit or dress) that your loved one would want to be dressed in during the cremation?
  • Does your family have any special keepsakes, mementos, or personal letters they want placed inside the cremation casket with your loved one?
  • Would you or any family members like to be present for the cremation service?
  • What do you plan to do with the cremated remains afterwards? Do you need to purchase an urn or do you plan to spread them?

Is it Time to Speak with One of Our Cremation Specialists?

We encourage open dialog about all end-of-life issues, and sincerely hope you reach out to us to dig deeper into the topics related to cremation and burial. Learn more about our cremation services or contact us to ask a question or to set an appointment (either in your home or our office). We have years of experience and look forward to helping you decide what is right for your situation.
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