Innovative funeral services

15 Innovative Funeral Services That Depart from Tradition

Last updated on March 21st, 2024

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Funeral services are customarily solemn undertakings zeroed in on grieving the death toll. Notwithstanding, as mentalities shift toward more festival of life over grave recognition of death, creative burial service administrations are arising that withdraw from long-held shows. 

Traditional funeral services are becoming less common as more people seek alternative options. The following are 15 current options in contrast to customary funeral service rituals.

1. Green Burials

Green internments offer an eco-accommodating option in contrast to customary treating and vault or coffin burial. The body is put straightforwardly in the earth to deteriorate normally without harmful synthetic compounds or non-biodegradable holders impeding the disintegration cycle. 

A few green graveyards even plant trees or shrubberies over the entombment site so the departed in a real sense turns out to be important for the climate. Green memorial services permit friends and family to be let go in a manageable manner that praises the Earth. 

Green funerals and eco-friendly burial options are among the innovative funeral services growing in popularity.

2. Natural Organ Donation

Instead of conventional entire body gifts, some decide to give explicit organs, tissues or portions of their body. This can incorporate giving eyes to assist with reestablishing sight to the visually impaired, skin for consuming casualties, bone and tissue for reconstructive medical procedures, or veins for heart systems. Friends and family find solace knowing a piece of their relative lives on by further developing someone else’s personal satisfaction long in the afterlife.

3. Scatterings

For those who want to memorialize a loved one in a place with special meaning, scatterings allow remains to be scattered in locations like favorite vacation spots, parks or wooded areas. Scatterings provide a more intimate alternative to visitation of remains interred far away in a cemetery. Witnessing the final release and return to nature can bring closure.

4. Celebration of Life Parties

Rather than dreary funerals, celebration of life parties focus on commemorating fond memories in a joyous, party-like atmosphere. Events include favorite foods and drinks of the deceased, photos and video tributes, live music and dancing. Laughter and storytelling replace somber eulogies. Celebrities even host lavish celebrity memorial extravaganzas. Many funeral homes now offer both traditional and non-traditional funeral services to accommodate different families’ preferences.

5. Digital Memorialization

The internet allows virtual memorialization through online guestbooks, memorial websites, video tributes and Facebook memorial pages. Loved ones worldwide can pay respects and share remembrances anytime without geographical barriers. Time capsules of treasured photos, voice recordings and life documents offer future generations a digital glimpse into the life honored. 

6. Personalized Caskets

No longer are caskets limited to somber hues—now options run the entire color spectrum. Themes allow personalized expression with caskets fashioned as pirate chests, sports lockers or favorite vehicles. Unique designs reflect beloved hobbies, careers or personalities. Hand-painted portraits or favorite artwork can adorn lids. Custom caskets create a memorable way to lay loved ones to rest.

7. Unique Urns

Cremated remains no longer need reside only in basic urns. Keepsake jewelry, tree planting pods, seed paper prints and other eco-friendly containers transform ashes into living memorials. Customized urns shaped as passion items like guitars, sports balls or tools celebrate lives lived with gusto. Unusual scattered urns double as parting gifts in memorable ways.

8. Home Funerals

Rather than rely solely on funeral professionals, home funerals allow families to actively participate in all aspects of farewell from washing and dressing to casket-sitting vigils. Intimate services in private residences replace impersonal funeral parlors. Do-it-yourself memorialization helps foster healthier grieving through meaningful involvement.

9. Virtual Funerals

For those unable to attend due to distance, work or health, virtual attendance options expand access. Live-streaming and video archives allow participation from anywhere via computer or mobile device. 

Online guestbooks, photo-sharing and video chat provide virtual mourning alternatives. The tech revolution helps connect extended circles at final farewells. As technology advances, virtual attendance at funeral services allows more people to participate who cannot be there in person.

10. Eco-Coffins

Innovative eco-coffins made of naturally biodegradable materials like seagrass, bamboo, wool, paper or other renewable resources offer a green alternative to standard wooden caskets. Options continue decomposing to nourish soil without polluting the Earth. Novel designs shaped as tree pods or mushroom caps integrate coffins organically into the landscape. 

Eco-coffins represent the closing of life’s circle responsibly. As society moves toward more personalized, meaningful and eco-conscious farewells, new funeral innovations will continue diversifying options for commemorating lives well lived. Non-traditional services help reframe death as a natural part of living while still honoring individuality in memorialization. 

Families now have growing choices for celebrating legacies in creative, personalized and meaningful ways that truly reflect loved ones’ lives and values.

11. Natural Burials

With regular internments, the body is covered in a biodegradable cover or coffin with practically no synthetic compounds. This permits the body to disintegrate normally and return to the earth. Some normal cemeteries even plant local trees and blossoms over the internment destinations.

12. Commemoration reefs

For the individuals who cherished the sea, a remembrance reef permits incinerated still needs to be dispersed on a fake reef, giving new territory to marine life. The reef turns into a living remembrance submerged.

13. Space Burials

A few organizations currently offer “space internments”, where a little piece of incinerated remains are sent off into space and circle the earth.It provides a truly cosmic way to memorialize loved ones among the stars. 

14. Bio urns

Bio urns contain seeds that are mixed with ashes. When planted, a tree grows from the urn, literally allowing loved ones to live on through new life from the tree. It offers a natural memorial that provides beauty and environmental benefits. Memorialization through planting trees or reefs provides unique funeral services that celebrate life in a meaningful way.

15. Underwater pod burials

For scattering ashes at sea, some choose underwater pod burials. The ashes are placed inside an eco-friendly pod which is then lowered to the seabed where marine life can interact with it. Over time, the pod biodegrades while becoming part of the underwater world. 

In conclusion, as attitudes toward death continue to change, more families are seeking innovative funeral service options that provide meaningful ways to memorialize loved ones in a unique fashion. Organizations like Believ, are at the forefront of providing alternative funeral services that depart from tradition. 

They offer eco-friendly options like natural and green burials, burial pods and reefs, as well as personalized cremation containers and memorialization services. Through creative services, Believ helps grieving families celebrate the lives of those passed in ways that truly reflect their loved one’s spirit. 

As new ideas emerge, they will likely continue pushing the death care industry in new directions that provide deeper comfort, connection and remembrance for all those left to mourn. 

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About The Author

Madhu is an Entrepreneur, a Mentor, a Writer and an Aspiring Car Race Driver. He is Deeply passionate about leveraging Technology and Human Centred Design to make complex care and End of Life Planning easier. With the ultimate aim of Improving the quality of Life in the Twilight years. Madhu is highly educated and Alumni of IIM-Bangalore, Sikkim Manipal University and Bangalore University besides a Rich Industry Experience in the field of Product Management, Design, Supply chain, Finance, Commercial Management and Funeral Services.

Picture of Madhu

Madhu

An Entrepreneur, a Mentor, a Writer and an Aspiring Car Race Driver. He is Deeply passionate about leveraging Technology and Human Centred Design to make complex care and End of Life Planning easier. With the ultimate aim of Improving the quality of Life in the Twilight years. Madhu is highly educated and Alumni of IIM-Bangalore, Sikkim Manipal University and Bangalore University besides a Rich Industry Experience in the field of Product Management, Design, Supply chain, Finance, Commercial Management and Funeral Services.

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