Affordable Alternatives to the Traditional Funeral and Burial

Have you thought about alternative methods to traditional burials and funerals? There are alternatives that can reduce costs as well offer benefits, such as helping the environment or medical research.

Some alternatives to consider:

• Green burials: In a green burial, the body is not embalmed. It is simply buried in a biodegradable casket or shroud and is left to return to the earth in a naturally clean way. Green burials help the environment while helping to reduce costs by forgoing embalming and expensive coffins.
• Donating the body: Donating the body helps medical research while greatly reducing costs. If you are in Minnesota, follow the procedures at https://www.med.umn.edu/research/anatomy-bequest-program/how-donate.
• Cremation: Cremation has become a very popular alternative - nearly one out of every 2 funerals now involve cremation. And, costs are reduced since you can forgo the costs of embalming and burial.
• Turn cremation ashes into a tree. If you choose cremation, you might want to think about getting a special urn that will decompose the ashes over time. When buried then,a tree will emerge from your loved one's ashes.
• Home funeral: You might choose to have a home funeral, where you arrange the funeral yourself. This can be more personal while saving money.

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