What You Can Do with Cremains

After Greenbelt, MD cremations, the family often wonders what to do with the cremains of their loved one. There are many traditional options available.

One traditional option is to simply store the cremains in a decorative urn to display at home. Families who choose this option usually take turns storing the cremains at each family member’s home if they all live near each other. Otherwise a spouse or child will keep it at the main family home.

Another traditional choice is to store an urn with the cremains in a columbarium (a building that contains niches for urns) and marked with a gravestone. A third traditional choice is burying the cremains near a spouse in a cemetery plot or burying the cremains in an urn garden (a designated section in a cemetery just for burial of urns).

More personalized choices, though, are available as well.

Scattering the cremains is highly personalized because the location where the cremains are scattered is significant. It may have been the deceased’s favorite place in the world. It might be the place where an engagement or another important event took place. Sometimes cremains are scattered in a family garden or on family land. It’s important, though, to make sure that it is permissible to scatter cremains in the designated location. For state and national parks, a permit may need to be obtained.

Cremation jewelry (also known as memorial jewelry) is becoming a very popular choice for using a loved one’s cremains. These wearable items contain a small portion of the cremains, either stored in them or infused in them. They can be rings, pendants, bracelets, or necklaces. They keep the loved one near at all times, and this can often give family members comfort and consolation in the aftermath of death.

Another way to personalize the use of cremains is taking the loved one on a final trip. This is not a vacation, but a purposeful trip to destinations that were important to the deceased. Cremains are scattered either in meaningful places on the trip here in the United States or taking the cremains to an international location (either significant in travel or perhaps country of origin or where the deceased’s family lived) to be scattered. Taking cremains on an airplane requires adherence to TSA and airline regulations, but it is a fairly easy process to complete. If cremains is being taken internationally to be scattered, it’s best to check with that country’s embassy to find out what regulations exist and what protocols must be followed.

A fourth personalized way to use cremains is to make a living urn. Cremains are put into a biodegradable container along with seeds for plants or flowers. The container can be planted in a spot where friends and family can come to visit.

A very unusual personalized way to use cremains is as fireworks. The cremains are mixed with fireworks (there are companies that do this). The ensuing fireworks show both memorialize the deceased and scatter the ashes in an amazing way.

A final personalized way to use cremains is to mix a small portion of the cremains with tattoo ink and get a tattoo done with the ink. This option is not for the fainthearted, but it definitely ranks high in uniqueness.

For more ideas about what to do with cremains after Greenbelt, MD cremations you can talk with our expert staff at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A. You can drop by our funeral home at 4400 Powder Mill Rd., Beltsville, MD, 20705, or you can contact us today at (301) 937-1707.