Category Archives: Funerals

10 Tips A Funeral Home Won’t Tell You

In the past, we have written a lot about planning a funeral, the prepayment option and hints to save money. We recently came across a blog from urnsonline.com that we want to share with you. Click here to see what it says. The ideas are excellent ones and convey suggestions that you probably aren’t familiar with. Take a few minutes to read the blog, even if you’re not planning a funeral right now. The tips will come in handy when you do.

For further information about funeral planning, go to www.diesmart.com.

The Mushroom Death Suit – almost ready for use

We’ve reported before on unique ways to dispose of someone’s body after death. However, a friend found a new one that already has people lining up to use it – The Mushroom Death Suit. The brainstorm of Jae Rhim Lee, it’s a burial suit that contains mushroom spoors. They will be able to “eat” your body and neutralize its toxins after you’ve been buried. The suit will prevent toxins in the human body from being released into the environment after death and is also intended to help deliver nutrients to plant roots more quickly and efficiently.

The first real user of this suit will be Dennis White, a 63-year-old man suffering from a neurodegenerative disease. He hopes that this will make his death a greener process.

The Infinity Burial suit (the other name for this product) is available in pod form for animal burials as well.

Whether the suit will actually work in practice is yet to be seen…but it’s certainly an interesting idea.

For more information about traditional and non-traditional ways to dispose of a body after death, go to www.diesmart.com.

Dinnerware made from your loved one’s ashes!

Last week, I wrote about glass art that can be fused with ashes from a deceased loved one. This week, I came across something even more bizarre.

Chronicle Cremation Designs has launched a range of custom ceramic dinnerware glazed with the cremated ashes of dead loved ones. Here’s what it says on their website.

Justin Crowe, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, mixes cremated human ashes into a glaze which he uses to coat bowls, vases, candle holders, coffee cups, urns and other ceramic items. Once they’ve been fired in a kiln, the glaze becomes food- and drink-safe, which means you could perhaps drink a coffee with an aura of grandma, or use something of old uncle Bernard to serve roast potatoes.

The idea developed out of an art project in which Crowe used the mixed ashes of more than 200 people to create a dinnerware collection called Nourish, and then used it to serve food at a party.

“I wanted to create a dinnerware set that infuses a sense of mortality into everyday life,” he said, explaining that he bought human remains from bone dealers (who typically sell to medical professionals, students and oddity collectors) and then turned them into ash in the kiln before grinding them up with a mortar and pestle. He then mixed the powder into a glaze.

Now, you can send in about a cup of ashes from the remains of your loved one and have it made into an item that you can use every day.

This is definitely something for everyone, but….

For more cremation and funeral ideas, go to our site diesmart.com.

Do you want to stay next to your pet forever?

The Virginia legislature recently amended state burial law to allow cemeteries to provide designated spaces for burying pets in caskets next to their owners.

Prior to passage of the new law, cremated remains of a pet could be buried in the casket with the deceased or the body could be interred in a pet cemetery adjacent to one for humans. An example cited in an article in the Martinsville Bulletin prior to passage of the new law is Noah’s Ark, a pet cemetery, that is adjacent to National Memorial Park Cemetery in Falls Church, VA.

The new measure is intended to help people who think of their pets as family members and who want them buried with them. The law specifies that pets and owners cannot share the same grave, crypt or niche and the pet section of the cemetery has to be clearly marked.

Now that the measure has passed, a couple can buy three adjacent plots – one for each of them and the one in the center for their beloved pet.

A few years ago, the New York legislature passed a law allowing humans to be buried in pet cemeteries along with their pets. However, pets still cannot be buried in cemeteries intended for humans.

Burial of a pet with its owner after death is a topic that has spurred a lot of discussion and emotions but very few states up to now have tried to deal with this issue.

For more information about end of life planning, go to www.diesmart.com.

Have you thought about an at-home funeral?

Until the end of the 19th century, when someone died, it was the norm to keep the body at home where the family would take care of the deceased loved one until his or her burial. But as the funeral home industry grew, the number of at-home funerals declined and didn’t regain popularity until about ten years ago.

A story from WBUR, Boston’s NPR station, discusses the recent interest in this type of funeral and cites several examples of families who have chosen to have a more natural, custom ceremony conducted in their own home.

Some people with whom I spoke said they would like this type of treatment when they died but they didn’t think it was legal. In fact, in all but nine states, it is definitely legal. Massachusetts even offers clear instructions for home funerals on its website, including what you need for a death certificate, guidance on burials and preparing the body.

If this type of funeral is of interest to you, there are many sources for information. One is the National Home Funeral Alliance, which has about 300 members around the country. Another source is our website, www.diesmart.com.