What Are The Benefits Of Direct Cremation?
If you've been contemplating your own final arrangements or if you are charged with making arrangements for a friend or family member, you know that one of the primary decisions you have to make is whether to have a burial or cremation. In addition, you'll need to decide if you want a viewing and/or a funeral. Opting for direct cremation helps to streamline the process, saving money and stress.
What is direct cremation?
With direct cremation, a deceased person's body is taken by the funeral home staff to a crematory (such as Romero Family Funeral Home Corp.) and is cremated, usually without holding a viewing or a funeral. After direct cremation, the family has the option of having a memorial service at a later date.
Advantages to direct cremation
1. Cost. Direct cremation costs much less than a burial with a viewing and a funeral. With direct cremation, you don't need to buy an expensive casket. There are pine caskets, canvas bags or even reinforced cardboard containers for this purpose. You'll also save on embalming expenses, the cost of a viewing and a funeral and the cost of a cemetery plot and gravestone.
2. Ecological benefits. Cremation is also kinder to the environment than a cemetery burial. With cremation, you don't use land and natural resources that could be used for other purposes, nor do others have to use resources (such as water and gas for a lawnmower) to maintain the grave site.
3. Scheduling flexibility. Direct cremation can make it easier for friends and family of the deceased to plan services. Unlike a cemetery burial, which needs to happen soon after the person dies, a memorial service can be held at any time. This gives out-of-town family and friends a chance to gather without disrupting work, school and other family obligations and without having to buy expensive, last-minute airline tickets.
4. Portability of remains. Another big advantage to cremation is that your family member's remains are portable. If you move across the country, you don't have to buy an airline ticket to visit your friend or family member's grave; you can take their remains with you--in an urn, as a piece of cremation jewelry or in a memorial box.
While direct cremation isn't the right choice for everyone, such a decision can save a significant amount of money as well as allow family members to better schedule a service around work and school demands.
Share
