Leading Eco-Friendly Pet Memorials in 2024
The American Pet Products Association (APPA) recently conducted a survey and found that approximately 85 million families in the U.S. have a pet (more than 2/3 of American households!). Pets are loved and cherished as members of the family and when a pet passes, it can be a time of strong emotions. There are many pet memorials you can purchase online that incorporate the ashes of your pet and honor their memory. Some families opt for a traditional pet urn and keep the ashes with them in the home. Other families want to do something unique with some or all of the cremated ashes of their beloved pet with a bio urn for pets. Below are some of the most popular, unique, and eco-friendly pet memorial options for families that will honor the memory of a pet and involve a biodegradable pet urn.
Grow a Living Memorial (outdoors)
A pet memorial option that continues to grow in popularity is to use the patented Living Urn bio urn and planting system to grow a tree from an urn containing your pet’s ashes. This serves as a living memorial that can grow and thrive for generations to come.
Many families who choose this uplifting pet tree urn option are surprised how easy it is to grow a tree memorial of their beloved pet. Simply place your pet’s ashes in the bio urn and walk through the step-by-step planting instructions provided to plant and grow a living memory!
The Living Urn offers over 50 tree options, which are narrowed down by zip code to what grows best in your area. The trees are delivered right to your doorstep, fresh and healthy, whenever you are ready to plant. All trees are shipped in gallon or quart pots with a strong and robust root systems.
Many families plant The Living Urn for pets in their yard, on the property of a friend or family member, or even at a local park (with permission). There are also many other places to plant - if it’s not your own property, it’s always a good idea to get permission and check any local or state regulations.
Grow a Living Memorial (indoors or on a patio)
If you want to plant a Living Urn but don’t have a place to plant, a great option for families is The Living Urn Indoors/Patio for Pets. This is a 9” diameter and 9” high sleek porcelain urn that comes in white, blue or beige. It can be planted with a bonsai tree or houseplant indoors or on a patio. With this special indoor pet urn, families have the flexibility to easily take it with them if they move.
The Living Urn offers a number of beautiful bonsai trees and houseplants that can be shipped with the indoor urn. Alternatively, many families chose to order The Living Urn Indoors/Patio without a tree or plant and visit their local nursery, or hardware or grocery store, and pick up one of their choosing and follow the simple instructions provided to plant with the urn.
Scatter Ashes of Your Pet
One of the most popular memorial options for a pet is to scatter their ashes at a special place. Many of us love spending time outdoors with our pets and we have special places where we’ve spent time together. Scattering ashes at one of these places can be a nice way to honor a beloved pet’s memory. This can be done on a favorite trail or a beach where they would be walked. Another popular place to scatter is at a pet’s favorite place in the yard. Other families scatter at a place they liked to hike or camp, a vacation destination, or another location that has special meaning to the family. If you choose a location that’s not your own property, it is always recommended to get permission first.
While some families use a container found around the house to scatter pet ashes, affordable urns designed to scatter now exist and are becoming very popular. One favorite option for families is the Eco Scattering Urn for Pets. This unique biodegradable scattering urn is made entirely from bamboo, which, besides being beautiful, is also one of the best eco-friendly materials available due to how fast it regrows after it is harvested. It comes in two sizes for pets (priced at $49 and $59 respectively) and has a unique locking mechanism on top that allows families to scatter pet’s ashes with control and ease (or at multiple locations). Other scattering urns on the market are manufactured from cardboard and have similar price points (but have fewer features and advantages compared with the Eco Scattering Urn).
Bury Ashes of Your Pet
Many families choose to bury the ashes of their pet at a special or meaningful place, or on their property. It is always recommended to check for any local rules and regulations related to burying ashes in your area.
Some families will choose to bury their pet’s ashes without an urn, or in a simple biodegradable bag. While many other families want to use an urn to bury their pet ashes. The Eco Burial Urn is an urn that is growing in popularity and has become the burial urn of choice for many funeral homes and pet crematoriums nationwide. This unique pet burial urn is biodegradable and made from bamboo, a sustainable resource. It can be kept above ground for as long as a family wishes and will only biodegrade once it is placed in the ground. This allows families to hold on to their pets ashes until the time is right for them to be buried. This attractive pet urn option that can be purchased for $69 on The Living Urn’s website.
Water Burial for Pets
Burials at sea, or water burials, are a popular option for both people and pets. This option involves scattering ashes in the water and is commonly accompanied with a ceremony to honor a lost pet or person.
Most families who choose to do a burial at sea for their pet use an urn designed for water burials for pets. There are a few options available and one of the most popular is the Eco Water Urn. This unique water urn floats for a short period of time after which it breaks apart and frees the ashes into the water. It comes packaged in an eco-friendly cylinder made from bamboo - many families use this to transport the urn to the ocean or other waterway and in ceremonies.
Which Memorial is Right for Your Pet?
There are many memorial options to decide upon after your pet passes. In this blog, we provided a brief overview of five of the leading new eco-friendly pet memorial options that incorporate pet ashes. There are many other memorial options available and a quick internet search will help give you some additional ideas. In addition, if you can’t decide on a memorial now, you can hold on to your pet ashes until the right time to memorialize him or her – the ashes can be incorporated into a memorial at any time in the future.