The death of any loved one is a difficult time for the surviving family members. There are many ways to dispose of the corpse afterward. The two most popular ways used in the US are burial and cremation. It is a time of mourning and despair, which makes decision-making harder.
Most people mention how they’d want their dead bodies to be disposed of later on. For those families, it doesn’t require any disputes but people who forgo this, or die in a sudden accident while being young cannot specify. This raises controversies amongst the surviving family members. Since all relatives and friends are also invited to a funeral, it usually turns out to be a stressful and agonizing process despite using the funeral services.
Let’s review and explore the pros and cons of burial and other alternatives, in depth along with cremation vs burial services. Nowadays people are shifting rapidly to more cost-effective and time-saving alternatives for disposing of the corpse.
What is the most popular alternative to the burial process?
Currently, the most popular way of disposing of the dead body of a loved one amongst US citizens is cremation. According to the statistics recorded by the CANA Cremation Association of North America, the rates have risen from 48.6% in 2015 and were expected to reach up to a whopping 54.3% by 2022.
Another latest study by Harris Poll, commissioned by the (FAMIC) Funeral Memorial Information Council revealed that a whopping 65% of Americans are more prone to choosing cremation over a natural burial. Obviously, it is quite clear that the population percentage from 50%-50% has shifted towards a more likely preference for cremation, in the last 5 years.
What is the difference between cremation vs burial?
In burial, the body of the deceased is preserved, clean, embalmed, suited in his nicest attire, put in a casket, and buried in a grave. Usually, this costs around $10,000 at least. For cremation, the body is cleaned and put in a metal tray with flammable matter such as wood and cardboard and burned. The remains, and ashes from this are collected in decorated urns. This can be done for as low as $675 to $2000.
Why should I choose a Natural Burial Service?
It is meaningful Since the majority population of the US comprises Christians, it is a perception of people that they’d prefer a religious approach. It implies that they’d choose to bury their loved ones after their death in a conventional manner. It is just a misconception according to recent stats, but most people choose burial after death themselves. Anyhow, the new generation prefers time and cost-effectiveness, and an environment-friendly approach towards everything in their life. This dominates their popular life choices and is affecting the after-death process too. Catholics prefer a religious approach and still vouch for the proper burial of the dead body with a graceful yet expensive funeral ceremony. Though handled by the funeral services, it usually takes up to a week to a couple of weeks for arranging it, a disadvantage of cremation.
Especially if the relatives have to come from all across the globe. Nevertheless, it cannot be argued that a burial process with a proper funeral ceremony pays due tribute to the concept of retaining the sanctity of a human body. Irrespective of any religion, preserving, cleaning and properly burying a corpse, is truly respectful and the most appropriate way to say goodbye to any loved one. This is one of the major advantages of a burial. The grave is a Physical Souvenir Apart from paying the well-deserved homage and respect to the dead body, a grave stays as a landmark for eternity.
People can visit, even the grandchildren and the next generations can come and pray for the forgiveness of the deceased soul. A grave is awfully costly since one has to pay $1000 for the slot, the digging requires further charges, and the burial inexpensive steel and wooden casket charges a lot, too. Mostly a good funeral ceremony with a proper natural burial will cost you around $20,000. If considered in terms of cost-effectiveness, a cremation costs around $1000. And if a funeral ceremony is conducted with the urn of the deceased ashes, it might take the costs to around $7000. An urn costs as little as $675 and can be bought online as well. Scientific people who lack depth can and usually go for cremation.
Though it is not a respectful way to dispose of a human body. Having said this, people who cannot afford funeral services or cemetery charges can and should opt for cremation. Recently, the church has also allowed cremation due to the degrading financial status of the people. Religious Considerations Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are the strongest supporters of a proper burial of the dead body. In fact, cremation is considered a harsh disrespect of the human body from a religious perspective.
People in the US opt for cremation only due to its cost-effectiveness and for saving time. According to Catholics and Christians, the Bible does not negate the burning of a body after death in any verse explicitly so it is deemed allowed. Similarly, the church also granted permission to people for conducting the cremation process. Though it is still not favored by the church. Judaism and Islam are the strongest condemners of cremation and strictly prohibit it. Lasting impact Obviously, a natural burial tempts more to people more since it is human nature to revert to goodness, and irrespective of any religion, humanitarian values appeal to a burial.
People argue that the ashes can be divided in an urn and distributed amongst many loved ones. They further say that urns are portable and remains of the deceased can be deposited at his cherished or favorite places. This is debatable and anyone can do what appeals to their conscience. Paying for a gravestone, grave land, grave digging, burial, funeral ceremony, casket, catering services, arranging the ceremony, and dealing with relatives can be emotionally and financially, extremely exhausting. But it is the right way of saying the final goodbye.
Why do new generations prefer cremation?
We all understand how the world is shifting to more convenient and cost-effective alternatives for everything. Similarly, it is obvious that people are switching to cremation instead of a natural burial. These are the reasons for it:
- It is cost-effective: $20,000 for burial and $1000 for cremation.
- It is time-saving, the funeral ceremony involves at least a week’s time, and cremation is a matter of a couple of hours.
- The alibi of portable urns with the ashes of their loved ones. While only people living close to the graveyard can visit more often.
- People debate that ashes can be divided into multiple urns and distributed amongst loved ones.
- Cremation is considered more environmentally friendly since it releases a minimum amount of mercury into the atmosphere.
What are the disadvantages of burial services?
Environmental impact
The cremation process does not leave any negative impact on the environment, it is a minimal leakage of mercury into the atmosphere during the combustion of the body, which later settles on land residual form. That amount of mercury is negligible compared to the excessive hazardous amounts released in firewood at chimneys, fireplaces in homes. However, for natural burial, the steel and wooden expensive caskets affect the environment conversely. Furthermore, the overcrowded and insanely expensive graves in a cemetery are also a grave concern.
Expense
As we’ve mentioned before, the grave slot is pricey, digging charges further, then burial labor costs, then a casket, and the funeral ceremony. It all adds up from a normal $10,000 to a decent and presentable ceremony of $20,000. Simple cremation costs as low as $1000, for real!
Time-consuming
The Church encourages people to conduct a proper funeral ceremony even if people choose cremation due to lack of funds. The funeral ceremony is conducted with the ashes of the deceased, preserved in an urn. Anyway, a normal cremation procedure takes a couple of hours whereas a natural burial equipped with a funeral takes at least a week’s time period.