The Funeral.com Journal

Resources to help you create tributes as unique as the people (and pets) you love. Learn how engraving, photos, colors, and symbols add meaning; discover scattering rituals and at-home memorial ideas. We focus on the details that matter—because small choices can carry a lifetime of comfort.

Scattering Urns vs. Scattering Tubes: Which Is Best for Spreading Ashes?

Scattering Urns vs. Scattering Tubes: Which Is Best for Spreading Ashes?

There are choices families expect to make after a death, and then there are choices that arrive quietly, almost as a surprise. If you have cremated remains in your care,...

Biodegradable Urns for Ashes: Types, Materials, and How Long They Last

Biodegradable Urns for Ashes: Types, Materials, and How Long They Last

There is a particular kind of quiet that can arrive after cremation. The urgent decisions have been made, the calls slow down, and what remains is both tangible and tender:...

Biodegradable Urns Explained

Biodegradable Urns Explained

When someone we love passes away, the decisions that follow often carry deep emotional weight. Families search for ways to honor a life while also staying true to personal values,...

Biodegradable Urns Explained: Eco-Friendly Materials, Water vs Ground Burial, and Buying Tips

Biodegradable Urns Explained: Eco-Friendly Materials, Water vs Ground Burial, and Buying Tips

When a family chooses cremation, there is often a quiet moment afterward when the practical questions finally arrive. The ashes are returned, condolences slow down, and someone asks, “So… what...

Biodegradable Cremation Urns Explained: Materials, Costs & Eco-Friendly Options

Biodegradable Cremation Urns Explained: Materials, Costs & Eco-Friendly Options

When a family chooses cremation, the next decisions often arrive faster than anyone expects. There’s the immediate question of what to do with ashes, and then the quieter, longer question...

Biodegradable Urns: Materials, How They Work, and When to Choose a Green Urn

Biodegradable Urns: Materials, How They Work, and When to Choose a Green Urn

When families choose cremation, the practical questions often arrive right alongside the emotional ones. What happens next? Where should the ashes go? Should you keep them at home for a...

Eternal Reef Balls: Turning Ashes Into Coral Habitat (How Memorial Reefs Work)

Eternal Reef Balls: Turning Ashes Into Coral Habitat (How Memorial Reefs Work)

The first time a family asks about an ocean memorial, it often starts the same way: with a container on a kitchen table and a question that feels too big...

Ghana’s Fantasy Coffins: Meaning, Craftsmanship, and Sustainability Questions

Ghana’s Fantasy Coffins: Meaning, Craftsmanship, and Sustainability Questions

It can start with a single photo: an airplane-shaped coffin painted the bright blue of a clear sky, or a giant fish with shimmering scales, or a cocoa pod, or...

Shroud Burial: How Burial Without a Casket Works (and What to Know About Wrapping and Rules)

Shroud Burial: How Burial Without a Casket Works (and What to Know About Wrapping and Rules)

Most families don’t start funeral planning thinking, “Maybe we won’t use a casket.” They start with something simpler and more human: the wish to do right by someone they love....

The Mushroom Burial Suit: How It Works, What the Science Says, and Typical Costs

The Mushroom Burial Suit: How It Works, What the Science Says, and Typical Costs

If you’ve ever found yourself searching late at night for a greener way to say goodbye—something that feels gentle, meaningful, and less industrial than what you imagined funerals had to...

Eco Memorials: Eternal Reefs, Tree Planting, and Other Earth-Friendly Ways to Remember Someone

Eco Memorials: Eternal Reefs, Tree Planting, and Other Earth-Friendly Ways to Remember Someone

In the days after a death—or in the quieter months when grief shows up in unexpected ways—many families find themselves wanting two things at once: a way to keep someone...

Sky Lantern Memorials: How to Release Lanterns Safely (and Eco-Friendly Alternatives)

Sky Lantern Memorials: How to Release Lanterns Safely (and Eco-Friendly Alternatives)

There’s a reason people reach for light when words run out. After a death, families often want a moment that feels bigger than the room they’re sitting in—something that lifts,...

Releasing Butterflies or Doves: Meaning, Etiquette, and Humane Alternatives

Releasing Butterflies or Doves: Meaning, Etiquette, and Humane Alternatives

There’s a moment at some funerals and celebrations of life when words feel too small. The music fades, people shift in their seats, and a family wants a gesture that...

How to Pre-Plan a Green Funeral: Natural Burial Options, Materials, and Questions to Ask

How to Pre-Plan a Green Funeral: Natural Burial Options, Materials, and Questions to Ask

Most people don’t pre-plan a funeral because they want to think about death. They do it because they love their family, and they don’t want their family forced into rushed...

Scattering Urns Explained: Eco-Friendly Tubes, Water Urns, and How to Scatter Ashes Respectfully - Funeral.com, Inc.

Scattering Urns Explained: Eco-Friendly Tubes, Water Urns, and How to Scatter Ashes Respectfully

Most families don’t set out to become experts on cremation containers. You arrive here because you’re trying to do something tender and practical at the same time: create a goodbye...

Biodegradable Urns for Ashes: Types, How Long They Last, and How to Choose - Funeral.com, Inc.

Biodegradable Urns for Ashes: Types, How Long They Last, and How to Choose

If you are reading about biodegradable urns, chances are you are trying to make one of the most emotionally difficult decisions feel a little more grounded. For many families, choosing...