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scattering ashes

Scattering Ashes When You Cannot Travel to the Destination You Want

Many people have specific, memorable and significant places in mind where they hope to scatter their loved one’s ashes. However, difficulties can arise. These difficulties might be in ascertaining if scattering is allowed at the location, finding a suitable urn that will allow for travel to such a place or places, or even accessing the locations themselves.

Even though some ash scattering memorial locations and events may present challenges, many of these challenges can be overcome through planning and assistance. Before you start selecting the place, start by looking into the options, planning out what you want, why it is memorable and have a plan that you can execute. 

What should I know about scattering ashes?

ash scattering

When it comes to scattering ashes, you should know about the myriad of possibilities you can explore in order to best honor and remember your loved one.

Know Where

Within the United States, very few laws prohibit scattering ashes. However, you should always check with the specific regulations of your desired state and county before proceeding to scatter. We’ve compiled helpful state by state information that can aid you as you explore specific areas.

Know What’s Possible

Within federal and state regulations, you have a wide variety of options for scattering. Parks or other natural areas are popular choices for honoring the memory of loved ones. Many National Parks even allow ash scattering, although permission often needs to be requested, permits might be required, and trails and other areas typically must be avoided.

Further, ash scattering is not limited to land but also can involve water. Spreading ashes by water or doing a water burial can be more complicated and involve a few more regulations. However, specific urns can help overcome some of these challenges, including eco-friendly, regulation-compliant solutions. We’ve provided more information on Eco Water Urns to help you evaluate this option.

No matter if you are considering a land or water scattering location, keep in mind that the question of private property must always be asked. If someone owns the area, permission must be given. If that is not granted, then a new location needs to be sought.

Know the Types

As you seek your ideal location (or locations) to honor the memory of your loved one, you have to decide not only where to scatter their ashes but also how to transport the ashes to your specially chosen location. One urn type and size does not fit all.

Remember that you have options. At The Living Urn, we provide patented Eco Scattering Urns as a leading biodegradable bamboo solution. Its unique locking mechanisms gives you the ability to secure your loved one’s ashes while traveling to the special place or multiple selected places. These unique urns come in four different sizes: small, medium, large, and extra large. You can also have them engraved with a name, symbol, or other meaningful character to meet your personalized needs.

What if I want to scatter the ashes in a specific place, but I can’t?

destination ash scattering

If you cannot scatter ashes because of a local ordinance or law in place prohibiting this, then consider looking at alternate locations to scatter, or consider another way to remember them at that location. You could use something like ecorial.org  to pinpoint it as a special place, and leave maybe a tiny amount of ashes there, share a memory and mark the spot - explaining why it is special. 

If you cannot scatter ashes because you are unable to travel there, for health or other reasons, you can explore scattering services. This is where a trained professional can scatter the ashes for you, pinpoint it, video it, and take photos (shared on an online memorial) so that your wishes can be carried out and a loved one can be memorialized at a special place (or places).

We recently introduced our Premium Scattering Services - give us a call or check it out online to learn more about how these professional services can come alongside you to ensure your loved one’s ashes can be scattered where you want, even if you personally have limitations .

Additional Resources

We have many resources and articles to help you with this process.  Find additional helpful information on some of our blogs, such as Planning an Eco-Friendly Burial, A Guide to Hosting an Online Memorial, and other articles and blogs. You can also learn what others did and what they liked and didn’t like (and learn from their experiences) from our customer testimonials or on our Facebook group. 

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