The Living Urn Continues its International Expansion by Launching in Australia
The Living Urn® is excited to announce that it has continued its global expansion in 2019, recently launching its market leading tree burial urn and planting system in Australia. This expansion comes shortly after entering into the U.K, France, the Netherlands, Ecuador and New Zealand, to name a few. The patented Living Urn® is now in 17 countries worldwide and expects to be in over 20 by the end of 2019. This unique bio urn system is offered by over a thousand funeral homes and cemeteries and has been responsible for tens of thousands of tree burials since its inception in 2015.
Giving Back in Australia
Australia is a country that has vast areas of forests, including rainforest, open forest, woodland forest, and mallee forest. Significant portions of the country’s diverse forests have been destroyed for logging and other reasons over the past few decades. This has resulted in many of its beautiful and unique animal populations losing their habitat and becoming endangered or extinct. The rapid deforestation that has occurred in Australia is also responsible for an increase in the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Recognizing the deforestation issue in the country, The Living Urn® Australia is working to support local initiatives to regenerate forests. Australian President, Sam McConkey, commented "We see The Living Urn® as an opportunity to not only support grieving families by offering a unique and enduring memorial option, but to also support local efforts to replant trees in forests and national parks. By supporting these efforts, we provide families without a backyard a place to honor and remember their loved ones and also use this as a way to protect our delicate climate and help restore our precious forests.”
Additional Biodegradable Urns Now Offered in Australia
In addition to The Living Urn®, the company has also launched additional products in the Australian market, including, Eco Scattering, a leading new patented bamboo scattering urn, Eco Water, a water burial urn that floats like a buoy and slowly disperses ashes in a body of water, Eco Burial, a biodegradable cylinder bamboo urn that can be buried or kept as a decorative urn in the home, and The Living Urn® Indoors, a unique bonsai tree, house plant or flower memorial option that can be kept indoors or on a patio.
Sam McConkey, The Living Urn® Australia President commented, “We’re excited about the opportunity in Australia, not only with The Living Urn®, but our portfolio of additional eco-friendly cremation urns. These proprietary urns create unique memorial experiences for families without harming the environment. Australians are inherently eco-conscious and we believe our entire portfolio will continue to capture market share and has a great future in the Australian market.”
Australia Expansion
Australia is home to 25 million people with over 140,000 deaths each year. Cremation is increasingly the preferred memorial option with over 70% of the Australian population choosing cremation instead of burial. Similar to the U.S., the main driver of this movement is the fact that many people are less traditional than they once were and also cost. In Australia, the average cost of a burial is AU$15,000, with the average cremation only costing a fraction of that amount and averaging AU$4,000.
The Living Urn® is a natural addition to the memorial landscape in Australia, a land characterized by open spaces, natural beauty, and an amazing array of native and exotic trees. More than one-third of Australia is desert, with the remainder consisting of a diverse landscape – mountains, tropical islands, rainforest, lakes, and rivers. With its warm sunny climate and many open spaces, Australians naturally love the outdoors and nature. It’s the sixth largest country in the world, covering nearly 3 million square miles of space and one of the most ethnically diverse regions globally. Australia is also home to one of the earth’s natural wonders and the world’s largest coral reef – the Great Barrier Reef!
Mark Brewer, company President commented, “We’re extremely excited to expand into Australia to help meet their increasing demand for eco-friendly memorial products. It’s a great market for The Living Urn® and we have been exploring various entry points in Australia for the past two and a half years. In less than three months in the market we've seen an incredible response to the product and have quickly become the most popular bio urn in Australia. This is a testament to the quality of the product, the team in Australia and the Australian market demand for eco-friendly memorial options for people who choose cremation.”