Special Things To Do With Cremated Remains
In combination with planting a tree with The Living Urn’s patented tree burial system, you can also scatter a portion of the ashes, do a water burial, bury ashes, among other memorials.
A common question we hear is, "can I do other things with my loved one’s ashes in addition to planting a Living Urn?"
The answer is yes – The Living Urn is just one of many ways a family can have a memorial experience to honor a loved one.
The Living Urn is designed to be used with any amount of one set of cremated remains – as much or as little of one set as you want to include. Our instructions explain the simple adjustments to make when planting different amounts.
Many of our customers choose to plant all of their loved one’s cremated remains with The Living Urn to grow a beautiful enduring memory tree, that honors their loved one and gives back. However, we also have many customers that will do other special things with portions of their loved one’s ashes. Some families choose to divide ashes among family members and one or more person will plant a memory tree with a Living Urn. Other families just simply want to keep some of the ashes in their possession permanently. We also have many customers that, in addition to planting a Living Urn, scattering ashes in a special and meaningful place such as a favorite beach, a mountain retreat, a childhood home, a vacation destination, a family property or some other spot that was important to them and their loved one.
Other Popular Memorial Options
Below are some of the things families have done in addition to planting a Living Urn…
- Keep Some Ashes with You – Funeral homes and crematoriums often provide an urn as part of the service they provide. They will also offer a number of urn options available for purchase, including keepsake urns, which are small urns designed to hold a portion of remains. Some families will simply keep ashes in the urn provided by the funeral home and others will purchase something special to hold the remaining ashes. We also have many families that will choose an burial urn or scattering urn, in addition to a Living Urn, to serve as a permanent urn to hold remains that are not planted. While both are made from bamboo and are therefore biodegradable, they are also a popular choice as a permanent urn as they are inexpensive, yet dignified and attractive and also give the family the option to scatter or bury the remaining ashes later at some time in the future.
- Scatter Ashes Outdoors or at a Special Place – We all have special places that have significant personal meaning to us and our loved ones. Maybe it is a property where you grew up, a vacation spot you and your family loved to go to, a trail you would hike or a park where time was spent together and memories were formed. We also hear stories that people scatter ashes at places like favorite sports stadiums or even theme parks. One rumor we’ve heard (of course, we don’t know if it is true) is that there are more ashes scattered in Central Park in NYC than anywhere else in the world. In summary these geographic locations where we spend our time become the backdrop of our lives and context of relationships with the people we love – they become impressed in our memories and just thinking of them can evoke powerful emotional responses. For these reasons and others, many people want scatter some or all of their ashes at a meaningful location. Many families that have chosen to plant a Living Urn have also expressed a desire to scatter ashes as well. To scatter ashes, you can simply use the urn that the funeral home provided or purchase another type of urn for this purpose. With these options you can just lift the top off at that special place and release and free the ashes. Another option is our Eco Scattering Urns, which we developed based on demand from our customers. Eco Scattering Urns are designed specifically to be inexpensive, eco friendly and to make the process of scattering ashes graceful and dignified. These high quality pieces are made from bamboo, one of the most environmentally friendly building materials, which makes them light, strong and beautiful. They are highly functional patented products with a special top design that allows them to lock in a closed and scattering position to scatter with control and can be easily resealed to scatter at multiple locations or by multiple people. They are easy to transport and are 100% TSA compliant. Since they are made from bamboo, they can be left in a forest or the water and will biodegrade or it can be kept by the family and even repurposed.
- Scatter Ashes in the Ocean a Lake or River – For some families, a lake, river, special beach or the ocean have important meaning. Across many cultures and religions water is significant symbolically, viewed as the sustaining source of life itself and representing purity and cleansing. Water has a natural appeal to humans and we’re drawn to it – both the sight and the sound have beauty. It can make us feel refreshed, peaceful, healthy and clean. Some people experience the water as a way of life – maybe related to a job and a way to make a living, or have a special relationship with the water through an activity like fishing, surfing, sailing, diving, beach walks, camping, swimming or family activities. As a result, we have hear from many Living Urn customers that they are also interested in dispersing some of the ashes in a special body of water as well. There are a number of ways to do this and one would be to simply open the urn provided by the funeral home and pour some of the ashes into the water. There are also some water urns available that breakdown when placed in the water. Understanding the need for a beautiful and dignified way to disperse ashes in a body of water and perform a water burial, we developed the Eco Water Urn. The Eco Water Urn also makes it easy for families to release some or all of the cremated remains into the water with grace and dignity. It comes housed in a beautiful bamboo case making it easy and safe to transport and travel with. Once it is placed in the water, it will break down quickly and release and free the remains. It can be placed from the beach in the water or a river, lake or ocean. It is also easy to drop from a boat, a ferry or a bridge.
- Divide Up Remains with Each Family Member and Each Plant a Memory Tree – We have had many families who choose to divide ashes among family members and each plant a memory tree with The Living Urn. Because this became more and more popular, we created the Family Program, which provides a discount for each additional Living Urn purchase when getting more than one.
- Bury Ashes at a Meaningful Location – There are many biodegradable urns if families want to bury some of the remains are a cemetery or other special place in addition to planting a Living Urn. The Eco Burial is a beautiful, affordable and eco friendly option, and it is made from bamboo, a sustainable resource!
- Have Jewelry, Glass or Other Art Created to Hold the Remains – This has become very popular and there are many beautiful cremation jewelry options available. Check with your local funeral home – they will have jewelry available to browse in person and in catalogs so you can find special piece for you. Also, there are a number of companies now that produce amazing glass keepsakes. Your local funeral home will also be able to help you this. If you are interested in incorporating your loved one’s ashes into jewelry or glass, another good place to start is doing some online research.