Cremation is the hottest trend in the funeral industry

In 2011, the last year for which numbers are available, 42 percent were cremated, according to the funeral directors association. That's double the rate of just 15 years ago. In some states, largely in the West, the cremation rate tops 70 percent. In Washington, it's 72 percent; in Nevada, almost 74 percent. (The lowest rate of cremation, in case you need a great pick-up line, is Mississippi's, at 15.7 percent.)

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/cremation-hottest-trend-funeral-industry-1B8068228



• "Hottest" trend? Seriously?

• I don't know about 'hottest' or a trend, but the number of people who want cremation has gone way up. I always see cremations go up when the economy goes bad.

• Is cremation bad for the ozone layer?

• Funeral directors don't profit from "direct cremation" where the ashes goes into a small cardboard box. They promote two-day wakes, expensive caskets, and limos to cemeteries.

• Thanks for the hot tip, R4.

• People more than 300-pounds can't be cremated. Something about the fat catching fire.

• My grandmother's funeral was yesterday. Between the funeral director, casket, flowers, cemetery (just to open the grave--the plot had been paid for), and post-funeral luncheon, it cost about $16K. So, yeah, I'm not at all surprised in this economy that cremation is gaining in popularity.

• Cremation all the way. It's cleaner imo and the amount of land taken up for cemeteries is criminal. Some of them would make lovely parks. I do not want to spend eternity moldering in a casket and eaten by worms and other creepy crawlies. Just sprinkle me in the ocean.

• In NYC there are few plots available. Cemeteries are building large mausoleums for "above ground burials."

• I live in a region where funerals last a few days. They're grand stages for deep grief, joy, drama, laughter, tension, fights and reconcilations; real pass-me-the-popcorn-while-I-sit-back-and-watch stuff. They're great. In fact, from a attender/spectator standpoint, I'd rather take in a good tension filled funeral then a wedding anyday. Still, even here the ritual of everybody getting in thier cars after the Mass to go to the cemetary for burial is becoming rare. Now, after the mass, the body goes back to the crematorium.

  Della

• I noticed that signs on funeral homes are now listing them as "cremation service" instead of "funeral home."

• Where is that Della? I live in an area with a lot of Hispanics and they are big drama queens at funerals. Taking pictures of the family around the corpse, screaming and wailing, sometimes even a wife flinging herself on the coffin. This was told to me by a Hispanic friend, who said it's a huge social occasion and spectacle. The dramatics are expected and it would be huge disappointment to the attendees if they were calm and stoic. I'd love to see one up close.

• I mean, exactly how many fucking options are there? Bury the bitches or burn the bitches. I'm pretty sure that isn't a "hot trend". Besides, hello and duh, DEATH is the hottest trend in the funeral industry. (Well that and wearing black...)

• I live in rural Wisconsin, r12, in a region where, even to this day, some families (but by no means all) still, after embalming, bring the body into thier own homes for a few nights wake (open casket) before the funeral. Shakespeare couldn't create a more ripe stage for the dramas that take place. Those types of rituals, however, are fast becoming a thing of the past. Even a brief funeral, however, can be fodder for drama. It's true; moreso then any other ritual, funerals are social events for the living, not the dead.

  Della

• There's a crematorium, I believe in Manchester UK, that won an award for its energy reclamation scheme. Some of the heat from the burning corpses is captured to provide some of the buildings light and space conditioning. Makes sense -- a lot of wasted heat goes right up the stack from a typical crematorium.

• I heard it's tough on your skin.

• Bullshit R6.

• Yes, bullshit, R17. First off, a self-feeding fat fire would speed things up, and secondly, they could just use a meat saw, resulting two or three large hunks and then fire up the oven.

• When my Aunt died, they had a simple memorial service at the funeral home. She was already cremated and her ashes sat in an urn. Instead of a long--sermon? what is the word?? eulogy?--the priest made a fairly short, more positive speech about life and death. I thought it was great and it's exactly what I want when I die. A lot of my Italian Catholic family members blew their tops over this...they prefer three days of theatrics.

• R6, people over 300 lbs can be cremated, tho it's only been in the last 5-10 years that crematoriums have been retrofitted to be large enough to 'fit' and cremate XL bodies. Also,  over the past ten years cremation has become more and  more common for XL people since caskets for large people have become SO  much more expensive. $2,000 Vs $800 (funeral home cost) plus the cost of overnight shipping, since most funeral homes don't usually have them 'in stock', though more and more are starting to. R15 I'd read about that. I think it's a great idea. Story is at the link

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/8917633/A-dead-heat-crematorium-to-sell-power-for-National-Grid.html

  R2%20%28funeral%20director%29

• [quote]Something about the fat catching fire. I guess this is the ultimate way to "die in a grease fire."

• Thanks for the update r20, the weight maxiumum was told to me by an employee of a local SCI-owned establishment.

  R6

• Friend from Japan said that everyone is cremated due to lack of space. She was horrified at the concept of land or buildings set aside just to hold an expensive coffin. Is there an increase in the number of bodies donated to science as an alternative to cremation?

• I'd like to be buried standing up

• How would you like to be dissolved instead, R24?

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8237604/Crematorium-considers-dissolving-bodies.html

• Was just gonna mention that, R25. So gruesome , even if you are dead.

• um, r13, another option is the lasting memory that endures just as a diamond does, forever

  http://www.lifegem.com/

• I've thought about lifegem.. I'd have myself turned into a full set of jewelry, have my executor take it an estate sale, and spend the rest of my days lying either in a satin lined velvet box or going to swell parties. My concern is, it's a scam.

• Is Walt Disney still frozen?

• I'm set to become the first shish kaburial and to reduce costs even further, my finer cuts will be removed and served for a luncheon.

• What's that country somewhere in Asia where they place naked bodies on a big rock and let the vultures eat it? That's the most gruesome thing I've heard about dealing with remains.

• R31 So you've been to Burning Man?

• R23 I see more of specific organs donated to science, primarily brains. They are used by Alzheimer's research groups. Over the past several years there have started to be more donations of hearts, livers and kidneys for research. These donations are from people who have died of illness to these body parts. With most of the research groups they will cremate the donated organs after study and return to the families afterward if the families want them. Though the only ones that want their family member or loved one's cremains returned have been the heart donations. Whole bodies donated to science are always cremated after they are done being used and the cremains are sent back to the family if they wish. Full body body donation used for tissue donation (most major bones, ribs, iliac crest, hip joints, tendon, fascia and skin) are cremated and returned to the family or loved ones. R31 I believe that practice has been primarily in China, Tibet and India. I believe it is a custom of the Buddhist religion and not  practiced much anymore and not outside of their country.

• R33, Thanks for your update. Rather that my then useless body can be put to good use rather than waste money for no valid purpose.

  R33

• I really wonder if you get back your loved ones actual ashes.

• Yes, they allow you to have a taste test,

• [quote]Cremation is the hottest trend in the funeral industry This sounds like one of those funny headlines they do on the Tonight Show like, "Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge" or "Marijuana Issue Sent to a Joint Committee."

• R15 sounds like the Matrix.

• Makes no sense to me why anyone would choose anything other than to be cremated or natural burial. Land is for the living. To think of all the land wasted on the dead.

• I told friends I would like my body fed to sharks but no one is biting.

  POSTmortem