5 Funeral Trends that are changing death care traditions as we know them

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Cremation Advisor

The funeral industry is experiencing an era of change in the 21^st century. It is probably the most seismic change the death care business has experienced for over two centuries. A once very traditional and stoic industry is being affected by shifts in consumer demand. So, what funeral trends are happening? And how are they affecting funeral homes and funeral consumers?

#1 The demand for affordable cremation

Cremation has soared in popularity in the last ten years and, in the last three years, has moved to become the preferred option for the majority of Americans, with the cremation rate reaching 58% last year and set to reach 80% by 2030, according to Cremation Association of North America (CANA).

Although some families choose cremation with a funeral or memorial service, the demand for direct cremation as a simple, no-fuss, and affordable funeral alternative is making up the core of the cremation business.

Providers in the DFS Memorials Affordable Cremation Network report that up to 80% of cremation cases they handle are now direct cremation cases.

#2 An interest in eco-friendlier funeral alternatives

There appears to be a growing interest (especially in certain states) in eco-friendlier funeral options. Many consider cremation eco-friendlier than a traditional burial, with embalming fluids, concrete, and steel being buried into the earth.

Some families still opt for burial and are considering natural burial, and even traditional cemeteries are adding hybrid green burial sections to cater to this demand.

Visit this Green Burial Directory on US Funerals Online to locate Green Cemeteries near you.

#3 A break away from convention in rituals

Society is changing, and how we approach life rituals is part of that change. There have been changes in our attitudes to how we approach births for some time now, with a greater interest in natural birthing processes. Some families have moved away from a somber funeral ritual to choose a Life Celebration event instead, breaking the convention of a traditional funeral service.

#4 A Preference for more Personalization in Memorialization

Personalization has become quite the ‘buzz’ concept of culture today. We all look for myriad ways to personalize our lives. We personalize our daily lives and possessions to stamp our identity, so why not choose to host a funeral that exemplifies this quality of personalization?

This trend has meant that funeral homes are having to adapt to cater to personalized services. And even accept that families may now opt NOT to use their chapel or funeral home for a memorial service but prefer to host their own memorial tribute service at a different venue.

Check out our Guide to Memorialization and Cremation Tribute Ideas.

#5 A return to the 19^th century concept of family-led funerals

Back in the day, an undertaker was largely just responsible for making a coffin and burying the deceased. The family would prepare their loved ones and lay them to rest in the parlor, holding a vigil at home to mourn their departed family member.

Eventually, the business of undertaking extended to funeral parlors and, today, funeral homes and funeral directors.

However, there is a trend affecting the funeral industry today, where more families are wishing to conduct a ‘DIY’ funeral for their loved one instead of just using a funeral home to conduct everything.

There are 10 states that DO require a family to employ a funeral director to conduct funeral services and handle a deceased’s body.

But that still leaves 40 states where a family can, if they so choose, opt to handle the funeral services themselves. Several organizations nationwide support families who wish to conduct a family-led funeral.

These 5 trends are changing an industry that has been very traditional for many decades. Some businesses recognize these changes and adapt to meet the demand. But for some in the industry, these trends are presenting them with challenges.

How to arrange a green burial in Atlanta, GA for $1,895

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Sara Marsden

Are you considering a greener alternative for your end-of-life wishes? It seems more of us are now engaged with the environment and are looking for eco-friendlier options in many life choices. This article can explain how to arrange a green burial in Atlanta.

According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), a recent survey indicated that 54% of Americans would consider a green funeral. By all accounts, there has been a shift in funeral trends over the last decade. A move away from expensive, traditional funerals and a move towards greener, simpler and more affordable funeral alternatives.

A traditional funeral would cost (on average) around $7,365 (NFDA) without any cemetery costs included. More families are struggling financially to meet funeral expenses in today’s economic climate, and cremation has gained popularity in the last 10 years. Cremation was considered to offer a ‘greener’ alternative to traditional burial. And it is way more affordable. A typical direct cremation service costs between $895 and $3,000 in and around Atlanta.

Why opt for a green funeral or natural burial in Atlanta?

But why this changing shift towards natural burial options? The environment and the climate crisis has been a growing concern in society, especially over the last few years. The big shift towards cremation has, I believe, been positioned to us by the funeral industry as it still gave them some power and control over our death-care options. We needed a cheaper alternative to expensive traditional funerals.

But now more Americans are considering the carbon footprint of a cremation. And if there is a more natural, and less detrimental option for disposition, we are open to consider it.

In 2017, a study conducted at the request of the City of Paris found that traditional burials generate, on average, 833 kilograms (or almost 1 ton) of carbon dioxide, nearly the equivalent of a round-trip flight between Paris and New York. Cremation produces an average of 233 kilograms (500 pounds). A natural ‘green’ burial can eliminate the majority of any emissions, and if combined with replanting trees and natural vegetation, can even help to reverse greenhouse gases.

What is considered a green funeral or natural burial?

The concept of a natural burial is to lay the body to rest returning to the earth in a natural state of recomposing. No embalming fluids are used in preserving the body. After death, the deceased can be kept on dry ice, or in refrigerated storage, until the burial can proceed.

The body is buried in a simple wicker casket that is bio-degradable, a simple pine box (with no metal) or even just a burial shroud. There are no concrete vaults. A burial plot is dug and the body laid to rest.

Some green burial sites are nature preserves where trees or local shrubs are planted to help regenerate and conserve. The natural burial sites and conservation burial sites are offering the ‘true’ future of natural organic death-care. Although, many existing traditional cemeteries in Georgia have added a green division to their grounds to appeal to the growing demand for green burial. These are what are known as hybrid cemeteries.

To learn more about green burial sites and memorializing a natural burial, visit the guide to green funerals on US Funerals Online.

Natural burial vs. Cremation

Direct cremation will cost you around $1,000 and a green funeral starts at around $2,000. If you employ the services of a funeral director, there will also be their professional service charge to add to the natural burial plot fee. However, as Georgia allows families to conduct their own home funeral or DIY funeral care, you do not necessarily need to employ a funeral director.

How much does a green burial cost in Atlanta, GA?

A green burial can save you money on funeral costs. Typically a green burial will save you 40% on the cost of a traditional burial. Our affiliate green funeral provider in Atlanta charges $1,895 for a green burial service. This does not include the burial container, but a range of biodegradable caskets and shrouds are available.

If you have questions about arranging a green burial,

please call us on (470) 206-0404 and we will be happy to assist you.

Where can I have a green burial in Atlanta?

There are two bespoke Natural Burial sites around Atlanta. Milton Fields in Milton and Honey Creek Woodlands in Conyers. There is also Eco-Eternity Forest north of Atlanta in Dahlonega but only cremated remains can be interred in the forest.

Milton Woods was established in 1984 by Jim Bell on 17 acres. There is a capacity for 4,000 burial plots on the meadowland. Burial plot prices start at around $1,695.

Honey Creek Woodlands is a 2,300-acre nature preserve in Conyers operated by a Monastery. A burial plot here costs $2,500.

You can pre-purchase a burial plot at either green burial site with a small down-payment.

Memorializing after the direct cremation

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Cremation Advisor

Understanding Direct Cremation Part 4 – Save on your memorialization costs

A direct cremation offers a family the opportunity to ‘simply’ employ the services of a funeral director and/or crematory to conduct the disposition of the deceased. As mentioned in my earlier posts on Understanding Direct Cremation, it can help the family to arrange a direct cremation at a low cost, and then the family can arrange their own memorial service.

Once the direct cremation has been performed and the family have the ashes returned, a memorial service or life celebration service can be held. This can be held anywhere and does not need to be in a funeral home. Indeed it can be more befitting and uplifting to hold a memorial service somewhere that is special to the family or the deceased. It can be held in a place of worship, a community center, a golf course clubhouse or outdoors in a garden or park. The possibilities are endless!

Some in the funeral industry will have us believe that the ritual of memorialization is integral to how we grieve. I believe that how everyone handles loss and grieving differs, and that a family are far better equipped to know and commemorate their loved one that has passed.

Some families need a funeral director, a minister or a Celebrant to help them conduct an appropriate and befitting tribute. However, there is no ‘rule’ that says that this is right for every family. If you feel you wish to conduct your own personalized memorial service, there are many resources and ideas online to help you.

These days you can quite easily make your own memorial products such as memory tables or boards, memorial candles or balloons, memorial DVD tributes or a dedicated online memorial webpage. If you are considering scattering some (or all) of your loved ones ashes, there are many creative ways to do so.

Part 6: Death away from home – a direct cremation & shipping cremated remains

[Sara Marsden] Google+

No Body will be at this funeral – the death of the traditional funeral!

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Cremation Advisor

I came across this great little column to day, where a baby boomer had expressed her feelings and changing attitude towards death care and funeral rituals.

The trend in funeral care now is most certainly shifting towards cremation accompanied by a personalized memorial service. This column from Linda Jo Scott succinctly highlights just how much peoples’ attitudes have changed.

It resonates with our shift to focus on a funeral as a ‘life celebration’ as opposed to a somber event. It also suggests that the baby boomer generation, and indeed those that follow, will demand new, innovative and personalized memorial tributes. Are we entering an era where the memorial service will take over from a traditional funeral service?

It is a wake-up call to the funeral industry, many of whom are still very slowly adapting to the huge cultural change within the death care industry.

What are your thoughts? What kind of send-off do you envisage for yourself? Do you think it is important to drive more acceptance of discussing final plans?

Natural Death Care: the ‘do-it-yourself’ alternative

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Sara Marsden

Have you ever thought about caring for your deceased family member yourself? Washing him or her, preparing he or she for burial (or cremation), building your own wooden coffin, transporting them to their final resting place and conducting your own funeral service. Sounds a little extraordinary doesn’t it? Yet it is not that long ago since that was how it was done. Most people died at home and the family cared for them, perhaps enlisting the services of their minister and an undertaker/cabinet maker.

However, home funeral care is gaining more popularity, as there is a cultural shift towards reclaiming these rituals for the family. We are witnessing a revival in the home funeral, or family-directed funeral, as culturally and financially Americans are seeking other alternatives for a funeral. Natural death care seems like the other paradigm to natural childbirth, bringing the rituals of entering and leaving our lives back towards a more holistic approach.

Conducting your own funeral offers some more simplistic, personal and natural methods of disposition. Whether you are seeking a completely organic, ecologically- friendly earth burial, or a simple cremation, arranging to do-it-yourself gives you complete autonomy over the death care ritual.

How does a green burial save money?

An average funeral in the US today costs around $7,775 (according the NFDA 2012), yet much of this cost is spent on professional fees and elaborate merchandise, and it does not include any cemetery fees. A simple natural burial in a green cemetery is likely to cost a family something in the region of $1,000, especially if the family direct their own preparation of the deceased and opt for a basic wooden coffin.

There are a number of ‘green’ natural cemeteries across the US where you can bury your dead in a green reserve where they are naturally returned to nature. Many of these sites even operate as non-profit organizations where a donation is requested in lieu of a burial plot.

The $1,000 Family Farewell

Yes, you can probably do-it-yourself for the cost of $1,000, an inexpensive family send-off. Many green burial sites charge a basic fee and around $500 should get you a single burial plot. If the family undertakes all the funeral preparation themselves, then a simple but dignified burial can be achieved for $1,000 in many areas of the US.

A basic cremation is the other alternative that can facilitate a simple low cost family funeral. A direct cremation can be obtained in most metro areas in the US now for $500 – $800. Cremation has long been a disposition method in many faiths and cultures, and considered by some to be a more ‘natural and spiritual way to dispose of our earthly body. In this way cremation can facilitate a natural DIY option for the family. Once the family has the cremated remains, a private family memorial service can be held.

Resources for Family-directed funerals:

Home Funeral Directory – http://homefuneraldirectory.com/

National Home Funeral Alliance – http://homefuneralalliance.org/

Natural Burial Co-operative – http://naturalburial.coop/USA/

DFS Memorials – Locate your nearest low cost cremation provider