Why Cremation May Be the Right Choice for Your Recently Deceased Loved One

One of the more important decisions you will make in the first hours or days following your loved one’s death is between burying and cremating the deceased. While burials have been considered traditional in the United States for centuries, an influx of families from Europe and Asia where cremation is the norm has driven up the practice’s popularity in the U.S. Americans of all backgrounds are now considering cremation as an alternative to the traditional ground burial, often for the following reasons:

Cultural or Religious Tradition Societies in South and East Asia have been cremating their dead for thousands of years. If your loved one adheres to Buddhist or Hindu principles or has been heavily influenced by regional Asian cultural practices, cremation may be the right choice.

Green Alternative Depending on the memorialization arrangements you make before and after the cremation process, cremation can be a much more environmentally friendly method of disposing of a loved one’s body than traditional burial. If you opt to not have a viewing, the use of formaldehyde can be avoided. You can also save land and avoid unintentional soil pollution sometimes caused by caskets.

Lower Costs In its most basic form, cremation is less expensive than ground burial. Direct cremation services with an accompanying urn may cost up to 50% less than direct burial services, even with an inexpensive casket and burial plot.

Memorialization Options Opting for cremation gives a family a choice between several potentially appealing memorialization options. Based on your wishes and those of the deceased, you can choose to scatter some or all of your loved one’s ashes in a meaningful place. For storage of the remaining ashes, you can choose between a columbarium niche on cemetery grounds, an urn or memorial container for display at home, and other meaningful options.

Serving the entire East Bay area, Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland offers high quality cremation services and a wide range of cemetery memorial options. To speak with one of our caring and dedicated funeral service providers about the cremation or funeral planning processes, call (510) 654-0123.