Urns for Scattering Ashes | Cremation Solutions

When Your Earthly Remains Ride The Wind Into Eternity….

Scattering Ashes in Alaska — Places of Natural Beauty Are Often Selected

Scattering the ashes of a loved one following cremation provides a loving way to say good-bye that Americans and people worldwide are preferring as a final exit. Losing someone we care about is a right of passage, which everyone encounters at some point in life, but celebrating that life eases the transition between past and the present. When people are confronted with death many are drawn to nature and the innate instincts that we are born with. This feeling of wanting to once again “become one with the Earth” is one of the driving forces that naturally draws todays inhabitants to have their earthly remains scattered in beautiful and meaningful settings that connect us with our existence. Choosing a method for scattering ashes reflective of your loved one’s personality and the way they lived is the perfect way to pay homage and honor their memory. When survivors get together to set their loved ones ashes free, it can be a memorable experience that connects us with each others woven tapestry of life.

Ashes Mixed With Flower Petals The scattering experience compels many to choose cremation in the first place. And continues to become increasingly popular, with the majority of the U.S. population are NOW choosing this option, a number that has doubled during the past 15 years. The term to “Scatter Ashes” doesn’t always mean the same thing to all people. As they say There’s more then one way to skin a cat!) And today scattering comes in many new forms as well as traditional forms. Following cremation, human ashes are composed primarily of minerals that have been purified by fire and are ready to return to the earth. Although ashes are environmentally friendly, there are laws and some common sense that should be considered.

Traditionally, cremation ashes have been kept in an urn at home or are buried in a cemetery, sometimes divided and shared with family and friends in smaller urns called keepsake urns. At some point, descendants are left with the question of moving the urns and passing them down to new generations.

Scattering In Ocean — Surfer Scattering Ceremony

Today, scattering ashes as a part of a memorial service is becoming overwhelming choice for many. For some the scattering ceremony is the only gathering of friends and family at all! And in these cases may be the only time to join together in honor of a life lived. Planning a unique celebration reflective of your loved one, and those who remain, will create a memorable event. Gatherings along a riverbank, shoreline, the country club or in the home garden with a backyard barbecue packed with family and friends are typical. The location or locations are carefully thought out. Scattering ashes may be planned at the beginning, middle or end of the event, providing the opportunity to say good-bye while accompanied and supported by loved ones. It may also be planned as a private family affair at a different time or location.

Personalized and Meaningful Methods to Scatter Ashes

The location you plan to scatter in will often determine the method used to scatter the ashes, a scattering urn designed for each method is available (Here) and can add function as well dignity to the scattering ceremony. I personally like when multiple people are involved and allowed to be a part of the scattering. Jeff Staab, the owner of Cremation Solutions, has gathered information and methods to help family members scatter the ashes of loved ones in a manner that is meaningful and more personalized for their needs.

Biodegradable Urns For Water — Some Urns Are Biodegradable and Float Before They Descend and Dissolve Releasing The Ashes

Some Methods of Scattering Ashes

It is important to know the laws where you plan to scatter the ashes of a loved one, as they vary state to state. In most areas, you are allowed to disperse them on private property, but may have to get permits when planning to do so elsewhere.

Burial of an biodegradable urn is considered a style of scattering ashes and is allowed in most cemeteries for people who want to have a headstone and wish to lay the remains with other family members. Some cemetery’s have “scattering gardens” and offer memorials on site.
Scattering ashes from an airplane over land or water as friends and family watch from the ground is another option. If you choose this method, and plan to help yourself, it is important to ask the pilot for instructions, as more than one including me, has encountered a plane filled with ashes as the bag is opened.
Scattering urns are designed to easily disperse the ashes in any desired location and can be taken to different places. Birdhouse urns and scattering tubes are a popular choice for this method, as they replicate nature and add more dignity and ease. The birdhouse urns convert to an actual birdhouse and true living memorial!
There are many ways to scatter ashes in a body of water, including placing a biodegradable shell urn or an urn made out of solid Him
Ringing a Tree is One Way!

alayan salt melt into the sea. These urns will dissolve within hours, releasing the ashes back to the earth.
Loved One Launcher !

A hand held scattering urn canon dubbed “The Loved One Launcher” provides a celebratory launch into the air and lets you “Go Out With a Bang” Blasting you on your final journey to the four winds.
Trenching, ringing, and raking ashes return them directly back to the earth. Each of these methods can be personalized in location and by the ceremony you choose.

Regardless of the method you choose for scattering ashes of a loved one, it is important to reflect not only their life, but your own. Consider being able to visit the location in the future.

Scattering At Sea — Biodegradable Turtle Urn

You may wish to consider what your loved one would have wanted for their final resting place. Ranchers and farmers often ask family to scatter ashes over their land, people who enjoy hunting and fishing may prefer to be launched over a favorite lake, and gardeners may appreciate their ashes being worked into their soil. And its okay to scatter in multiple locations for when that is desired.

Whatever you choose to do with the earthly remains of a loved one when scattering ashes, do what makes you the most comfortable. If you plan on throwing a celebration of life memorial including a joyful send-off using a Loved One Launcher, make it a full-fledged event. Invite family and friends and seize the day!

Obama Scattering Ashes — Mr & Mrs Obama Scatter Grandmothers Ashes in Hawaii

Scattering Tubes to Scatter Ashes — Scattering Tubes Make it Easy

Alternatives to Flying Dead Cats

Turning dead cats into drones is all the rage these days…NOT! Though it is a really modern thing that freaks can do with their pets, I think that propellers are best reserved for planes and dunce caps. BUT we are going to discuss it anyway because Mommy let the geek squad out and they just love their dead pets. Cats and dogs just don’t live very long when compared to their humans, but you can bring them into their forever heavenly future by converting them into your special little flying friends. It doesn’t get anymore modern and ‘twenty-first century’ than flying drones, am I right? AKA “Cloud Cats,” not to be confused with the sail cats that are found on the road.

Bart Jansen is a rather confused Dutch artist who tragically lost his poor cat Orville to the horrors of a road accident, an all too familiar fate for cats on their tenth life everywhere. He had a truly innovative way of coping with the grief that he felt towards the loss of Orville. He worked with the freak geek and part time taxidermist/engineer Arjen Beltman to turn Orville into a flying drone, thus immortalizing him in a truly unique way.

He worked his taxidermy magic on Orville preserving and shaping him into an aerodynamic marvel. Cat bodies really don’t make the best construction materials but their skin is soft and fluffy. However once you skin and preserve them and attach them to the lightweight frame and install drone guts it makes purrrr..fect sense, and is really just taking the entire process to the logical conclusion. (Everybody knows that).

Did he do this out of some spiritual kinship he has with the Wright brothers, one of whom was named Orville Wright? Did he do this out of a desire to jump on the trend of drones in the world of the twenty-first century? Is Bart Jansen behaving in the manner of many artists, who are known for doing things like cutting off portions of their ears in order to express their emotions? The important thing is that Bart Jansen has started a trend, and you can now immortalize your pets in the exact same way! Or simply have your cat cremated and as an alternative use the ashes to make all kinds of cool stuff that was just too simple for Mr. Jansen.

Bart Jansen and his team are now turning all sorts of dead animals into flying drones. Obviously, most of them are just animals that they have picked up off of the street. The drivers who carelessly run over animals are no longer public threats – they are now inadvertently supporting a growing business! The animals that die in the street now get to be part of a new movement that turns animals into modern, state-of-the-art technology.

That's Another Story! — That’s Another Story!

However, there are some people who really don’t like to get all trendy with their pet funeral arrangements. Some people believe that grieving is best done in a way that has worked for hundreds of years, and jumping on the hip new way to grieve just won’t work for them. As much as they would love to turn their beloved pets into flying drones that would buzz around for the world to see, some people would rather symbolically return their pets to the Earth through cremation. And they do this by purchasing a beautiful cremation urn that will allow them to commemorate their pets in a way that is tried and true.

Pets-Cats-Dogs Cremation Jewelry Urns- all of these have been going hand in hand for a very long time now. People should try to focus on and stick with the basics. Having your poor deceased pet flying through the sky like a remote-controlled toy helicopter might be all right for some people, but others will have a hard time sacrificing the gentle and dark beauty of cremation jewelry and a cremation urn.

Some people will scatter the cremated ashes of their pets around a beautiful landscape, which is returning them to the air and the earth. Some would say that turning a pets body into a drone really is not much different from that. However, many other people care deeply about making mourning private, and turning a pet into a drone just brings the public into their grieving process.

After all, drones are getting popular so fast that lawmakers are having a hard time keeping up. Jansen learned the hard way when he was heavily fined by the FAA and forced to remove the red laser eyes that were a real blinding danger to the unsuspecting pilots that just couldn’t keep their eyes of his amazing flying feline. People are still very wary and quiet suspicious of the flying pet cemetery. Most people still don’t know what to make of the most basic drones, let alone the drones that look like a cute pet that normally just jumps for food or a treat before safely landing. Bart Jansen has created a trend that is nowhere close to becoming normalized, and every time he and his team creates a new propellor creature, it is on the international news! Go figure?

Most people don’t want their dead pets getting that much attention. They would rather privately weep and mourn, keeping their pets close to their hearts in a way that just doesn’t work with a drone…but you can’t resist teasing the neighborhood dogs with an always just out of reach cat treat!

Urns For Cats — Cat Urn Alternative (Click Here)

Of course, for some people, this is all about aesthetics. A flying drone that looks like a stretched and gutted cat just doesn’t coincide with the aesthetic sensibilities of a nice cat urn with a tasteful picture of their kitty on the side. Seeing something like Orval can cause nightmares for weeks and pet parents will just struggle to get the mental image out of their minds. You could say that these people are Luddites, or you could say that they should have more evolved aesthetic sensibilities. One way or another, they’re just not going to see the beauty that these Dutch freaks have created with their ever growing fleet of buzzing skinned dead creatures. As they say, let the ostriches keep their heads in the sand and their feet on the ground.

However, a lovely cremation necklace that allows you to wear some of your cat’s ashes around your neck is just the sort of symbolic gesture that many people love. A cremation urn that rests on the shelf with majesty and artistic perfection is hard to beat. These items will keep the ashes of a pet safe, preserving their remains for all eternity. It’s true that the urns and necklaces can’t fly, and flying does indeed make things cooler. But some people just can’t go for that fancy modern stuff. They’re okay with the drones that fly overhead and take pictures of celebrities and the big one’s that Obama is so found of, but they have other goals for the remains of their dearly departed pets.

Silver-Bone — Jewelry That Holds Pet Ashes

Cremation jewelry is timeless. Cremation urns are timeless. People use them to mourn their loved ones, whether they walk on four legs, two legs, or zero legs. If you want your cat to fly, use an ash scattering tube when the wind is just right. Eventually, people will be able to turn all of their relatives into flying drones after a tragic demise, and the people who stick with the old fashioned and traditional funeral services may have to defend their choices. However, for the time being, it seems that most people would prefer to keep their pets with them and not worry about the confused hunters trying shoot down their pets and completely destroying these marvelous flying machines that put no meat on the table. What a waste!

Cremation And The Scattering of Ashes

Scattering ashes outdoors on a piece of land with significance to the deceased is often selected by their families.

Nearly half of Americans are now choosing cremation over burial at the end of their life. It’s easy to see why. Cremation offers a number of benefits over a traditional cemetery burial. However, with cremation comes the decision over what to do with the ashes that remain. Far from being a chore, this task can be an opportunity to further honor the deceased and to leave his or her earthly remains in a place and in a vessel that has meaning, both to the deceased and to the friends and family who remain.

Why cremation makes sense today

The chief reason for choosing cremation today is cost. The average cost of end-of-life arrangements with cremation is around $6,078, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. That compares to an average cost of more than $8,500 for a funeral with a cemetery burial and vault. However, that price can be even less then $1000 if you opt not to have a viewing and you choose a simple, pine casket.

With cremation, you can skip many of the costs associated with a traditional funeral, things like an expensive casket, a vault, embalming services and, of course, the cost of the cemetery plot and headstone. However, cost is just one of many good reasons to consider cremation. Among reasons for choosing cremation for yourself or your loved ones include:

It’s kind to the environment. When you opt for cremation, you’re not tying up a piece of land for generations to come, land that potentially can be used for housing or to grow crops. Embalming chemicals can be cancerous and harm our water supply
It can make it easier on the family. Cremation can also make it easier on friends and family, especially if they live far away from where the funeral will be held. With cremation, there is no reason to have the service immediately, allowing friends and family to plan around work, community and other family obligations and shop for more economic travel arrangements.
It’s simpler. Having to make a lot of decisions in a short period of time can be stressful, especially when family and friends are grieving. Opting for cremation give us more time to carefully consider number of choices the family has to make and many of those decisions can be postponed for a few weeks or months.
It’s portable. When you choose cremation, you have a myriad of options about how to scatter or display your loved one’s ashes, many more options than if you had to purchase a cemetery plot.

A little bit about how cremation works

When you opt for cremation after a person dies, their body is transferred to the funeral home or crematorium. The person’s body is placed in a lightweight coffin and sent to a cremation chamber where it is heated to temperatures of 1,500 to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. This vaporizes the body and reduces it to ashes and bone fragments. These ashes are then transferred to a cremation vessel and given to the family. The average remains weight between three and six pounds, depending on the size of the person. Most states require a brief waiting period (of 24 to 48 hours) before a person’s remains can be cremated.

There are a number of ways to handle the ashes. Some people out for a decorative urn to hold the ashes and display them in their home. Others opt to house the ashes in a columbarium or cemetery. Still others have a piece of jewelry made from a portion of the ashes. However, scattering ashes is the most popular disposition of cremation ashes.

Creative ways to scatter ashes

30airAshesScattering Since scattering ashes is now the #1 disposition for cremation ashes, people are getting more and more creative with scattering locations and techniques. Using some type of scattering urns or vessel helps to make the occasion more solemn and dignified as well as making it easier to do. Below are just a few suggestions about what is available to help you be creative.

Use a scattering urn. Scattering urns are vessels that make it easier to return cremated remains to nature. With a scattering urn, you don’t have to worry about an untimely gust of wind or inclement weather marring your tribute. Scattering urns are designed to gradually release the ashes into the environment. Just a few of these urns include:

Birdhouse scattering urn. Wooden birdhouses can also be designed to hold cremated remains until they can be scattered in a favorite spot. After the scattering is complete, the birdhouse helps provide shelter for wildlife and acts as a memorial to the person who has died.
Birdhouse Urns

Birdhouse urns come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are usually made from fast-growing, sustainable woods.
Sand urn. A sand urn, as the name implies, are made of sand with a little gelatin added. They contain a biodegradeable pouch that contains the ashes and have holes drilled into the bottom of the vessel. These urns are designed to place on a favorite beach, where the rising and falling tides will quickly scatter the ashes.
Sand and gelatin urns. Sand and gelatin urns are not just for beaches. They come in a variety of shapes , colors and sizes. Like the birdhouse and sand urns, these vessels are designed to let the ashes disperse gradually as the urn dissolves over time. They can even be buried. In the ground, they will dissolve in about three months. In water, the process takes about three days.

Use a biodegradable pouch. Using a biodegradable pouch alone is another way to aid in scattering a loved one’s ashes. This decorative pouches can be buried, released at sea or kept closer to home.
Plant a tree with the ashes. Another good use of a biodegradable pouch is to combine it with a new sapling. By planting them together, the cremated remains of your loved one help to nurture the new tree for years to come. Plus, you’ll have a visual tribute to the person who died that will last for generations.
Use an ash scattering cannon.
Loved One Launcher!

This device makes it easy to launch cremated remains into the sea or the air at a site that was meaningful to the deceased, even in windy weather. The cannon creates velocity that sends the ashes more than 70 feet into the air. You can even load the cannon with biodegradable confetti and/or streamers for a more festive effect.

Where to scatter ashes

The number of places where you can scatter cremated ashes is limited largely by your imagination. While it’s important to seek permission to scatter ashes on property that you don’t own, a surprising number of public and private venues, including many national parks and sports fields, are open to the practice. CLICK HERE for Ceremonies For Scattering Ashes

National parks. Most of America’s natural parks, including Grand Canyon National Park, allow cremated remains to be “scattered” on park land with written permission from the head park ranger. Most parks require that the ashes be contained, as in a sand urn or a biodegradable pouch, so that they don’t pose a threat to wildlife in the park. They also require that you stay away from roads, any archeological digs and bodies of water.
Your own garden. Sometimes the best solution to where to scatter a loved one’s ashes is in your own back yard. If family members intend to stay in the house or other property that was important to the deceased, there are few better ways of honoring that person than by creating a memorable garden and scattering all or a portion of the ashes among the flowers, bushes and trees.
The beach and the ocean. Like parks, public beaches require permission before cremated ashes can be scattered on their property. However, if your family is lucky enough to own your own stretch of sand, you can use this property for scattering. In the United States, you are required to travel three nautical miles from land before you can scatter cremated remains.
A sports field. While most major stadiums prohibit the scattering of ashes (citing too much demand), many minor league ball parks or private sports fields are more amenable.
From the air. The Federal Aviation Association (FAA) has no restrictions on scattering cremated remains from the air, although most states have minimum altitude requirements. The wind at high altitudes can make scattering ashes from the air a challenge without some kind of assistance. (Ashes can, and have, blown back into the planes.) The scattering cannon can help make this process easier and more successful.

Cremation is a cost-effective, eco-friendly end of life decision. Honor the deceased life and memory by scattering his or her ashes in a place that had meaning in life. Using one of the newer scattering vessels and products can help make that process easier and more elegant.

To Learn About Techniques To Scatter Ashes CLICK HERE

Today is Tomb Sweeping Day in China And Burning Iphones and I Pads is “The Latest Tradition”!

In China, the traditional belief is that a person’s soul can only rest in peace if their body is buried underground in a coffin. Those that were cremated or opted for another method would have restless souls. However, as time moves on, more and more Chinese are finding this belief to be antiquated. The younger generation in particular believes that a soul may rest in peace regardless of what happens to their body, and that it’s more important to respect the wishes of the deceased than it is to follow tradition. This has lead to an increase in the amount of people who choose to have cremation services, followed by their friends and family scattering ashes.

Like In The USA Traditions Are Changing

Tomb Sweeping Day

Every April 4^th, the Chinese participate in the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day. During this festival, the relatives of the deceased gather around their grave and celebrate the life of the departed by leaving offerings of liquor, food, and burning fake money. The Chinese government made Tomb Sweeping Day an official holiday in 2008.

Tradition encourages them to remember their ancestors by laying out food at their grave sites, and burning paper replicas of daily necessities, such as clothes, money, cars, and houses. This year a few new items have been added to that list of necessities: the iPad and the iPhone.

IpaCremation Service — Dead Ancestors Catch Up With The Death Ap!

The tradition – which dates back thousands of years – dictates that the paper goods can be used by their ancestors in the afterlife, and the offerings have evolved to fit in with modern life. As such, paper replicas of iPhones and iPads – which are hugely popular in China – have become all the rage.

British broadsheet The Telegraph reports that paper replicas of Apple’s hugely popular iOS devices are selling “like hot cakes” in China, as millions of people prepare to honor their ancestors by burning paper goods that they believe can be used in the afterlife

Culture Shift

Cremations are becoming more popular in China as the culture changes. While traditionalists still hold to their desire for a more traditional coffin and burial, others see cremation as a way to help out future generations. Cemetery overcrowding is a growing concern, especially among the more developed areas near the coast. By holding cremation services and scattering ashes, the surviving relatives save money. Another benefit of cremation is that it’s much more environmentally friendly, as ashes are nothing more than minerals purified by the heat of fire. Regular caskets are left in the ground to erode over time and can potentially pose a health hazard if not cared for properly. Cremation has none of these risks.

The Chinese government encourages cremation in the form of subsidies offered to those who opt for cremation services. As cremation is an eco-friendly option, the government wants people – traditionalists and otherwise – to seriously consider it as a viable alternative to burial. While traditional burial has the potential to hurt others in the future, cremation leaves no impact.

The Decision

People are chooseing cremation over traditional burial for many reasons. The most common reason is that it’s the request the deceased left in their will – and no one wants to risk being haunted by an angry loved one. New trends like biodegradable urns make cremation more and more to the environmentally friendly, those concerned about the future of the planet like the low impact cremation has on the environment as compared to traditional burial. A third reason is the expense. By the time all is said and done in China, a traditional burial can cost a small fortune, leaving the surviving relatives with a hefty bill that they may struggle to pay off. Cremation costs much less, and in some places – like China – governments may even subsidize the cost of the both the urn and the cremation services.

New Traditions

Scattering Ceremony

A scattering ceremony has a lot in common with a traditional burial, but a lot of differences as well. As with a traditional funeral, loved ones will gather at a central location and share their memories of the deceased. A priest may or may not be in attendance, depending on the beliefs of the family and the deceased.

A location is chosen early in the process. This place may be requested in the will of the deceased, or it may hold some significance in their life. For example, someone who spent their entire life on a farm may choose to have their ashes scattered over their wheat field. A golfer may opt to have their ashes spread at their favorite golf course. Note that in certain circumstances (like the golf course), a permit will be required to hold the scattering ceremony.

After the ceremony is conducted, the ashes are released. A few final words may be spoken, then those gathered watch as the ashes fly into the breeze. Unfortunately, for those not prepared, the process can be quite messy. That’s where a scattering urn comes in.

Scattering Urns

Traditionally, those wanting to spread the ashes of a deceased loved one were forced to carry the ashes in a plastic box or a bag not too different from a garbage bag with a twist tie. Naturally, this removed some of the beauty from what should be a beautiful process. A scattering urn isn’t designed just to hold ashes, but to help spread them as well. Scattering urns can be symbolic – an avid bird watcher could find themselves with an urn for scattering ashes that converts into a bird house. Some urns are biodegradable and can be set out to sea or buried in one of the deceased’s favorite spots.

Scattering Services

There was nothing the deceased liked more than waking up before the sun did then heading out for a long day of sailing on the ocean. In their will, they’ve requested that their ashes be spread over the rolling waves of the Pacific. Unfortunately, their loved ones don’t have access to a boat. That’s where a scattering service comes into play. A scattering service will help the loved ones fulfill the wishes of the dearly departed. If the family of the deceased doesn’t have the means to complete the scattering request, they can hire a scattering service.They can do anything from helping with the whole ceremony to hiring a small plane to spread the ashes over a forest while loved ones watch from the ground.

Tomb sweeping day remains popular in China as a way of respecting and honoring the dead. It is much like Memorial Day in the U.S.A. Cremation services followed by a scattering of ashes continues to grow both in China and the United States as it becomes an increasingly popular method of memorializing the deceased. Join The Author Jeff Staab On Google Plus

What Really Makes A Funeral Home Green

I have been hearing a lot lately about the greening of the funeral industry. It’s usually some new product that someone has that will shine a bright green light on your funeral home. Green stationary, green caskets, biodegradable urns and scattering urns that turn into a birdhouse! ect.

natural birdhouse urn — Birdhouse Scattering Urn

These are all nice green funeral products and some of your customers will definitely buy into green alternatives. Innovative funeral homes are riding the green wave, but what really makes a funeral home more green. What is the most important thing a funeral business can do to be more green. The answer is decrease the size of it’s carbon footprint. Translation, burn less fuel and use less electric.
No matter how old your funeral home is, there is room for improvement when it comes to efficiency and reducing the energy that your funeral home consumes.

funeralhome1 — Big Energy Sucking Funeral Home

Many funeral homes are older stately styled buildings that can really be a drain on the budget. In these challenging times many are looking for way to reduce their overhead. With energy costs being what they are now, and just going higher, funeral home owners should take action to increase the efficiency of their buildings. Most of us can not afford to keep our heads in the sand and just keep paying higher and higher utility bills!

Turning down the thermostat helps, but giving up comfort to save fuel is not the solution.

The good news is that there is something you can do about it. Today’s home energy solutions bring today’s energy technology to yesteryear’s homes and is paid for by reducing tomorrow’s utility bills. On Average you can reduce your funeral home’s energy consumption 35%. A bank could not offer you that kind of a return on your investment. Here is a way to do that. It’s also green, the right thing to do, has a positive effect on your public image and good for national security of our entire country!.

The Energy Audit

The best way to learn where and how your funeral home is losing energy is with a complete home energy audit. Use a company that is an energy star contractor or certified by the building performance Institute (B.P.I). Fixing energy draining areas in your funeral home can really have a dramatic effect and get the 20 – 50% reduction you have heard is possible. Your contractor will must look at the way the entire building is functioning and take what is called a “whole house approach”. It will be a combination of fixes that will add up to substantial savings and increased comfort. Funeral home operators don’t always have the budget to fix every little problem, it is important to pinpoint the areas that when corrected will give us the best energy reduction for the cost.

Information You Can Use

energy home — Shows Potential Air Sealing Areas

The information gathered during the energy audit is analyzed using specialized software to produce a comprehensive Home Energy Report. The Report shows which energy-efficiency improvements would reduce energy costs and make the home more comfortable. The analysis takes into account regional variables such as local weather, implementation costs, and fuel prices. The Report contains estimates of the savings, costs and payback for each energy-efficiency recommendation.

Formulating Your Plan

After the audit you will have identified where your funeral home is losing energy. Now you can work with your contractor to assign priorities that will give you the best return on your energy saving dollars. (Go for the best buys first) Often it will be the cheapest, easiest projects that make the biggest dents in you utility bills.

Some guiding questions are:
• How much money do you spend on energy?

• Where are your greatest energy losses?

• How long will it take for an investment in energy efficiency to pay for itself in energy cost savings?

• Do the energy saving measures provide additional benefits that are important to you (for example), increased comfort from simple weatherization of your windows and doors.

• How long do you plan to own your funeral home?

Tools of the trade

Blower Door Tests
Professional energy auditors use blower door tests to help determine a funeral home’s air tightness.

These are some reasons for establishing the proper building tightness:

Reducing energy consumption due to air leakage
Avoiding moisture condensation problems
Avoiding uncomfortable drafts caused by cold air leaking in

How They Work
A blower door is a powerful fan that mounts into the frame of an exterior door. The fan pulls air out of the house, lowering the air pressure inside. The higher outside air pressure then flows in through all unsealed cracks and openings. The auditors may use a smoke pencil to detect air leaks. These tests determine the air infiltration rate of a building.

Blower doors consist of a frame and flexible panel that you can place in a doorway, a variable-speed fan, a pressure gauge to measure the pressure differences inside and outside the home, and an airflow manometer and hoses for measuring airflow.

There are two types of blower doors: calibrated and uncalibrated. It is important that auditors use a calibrated door. This type of blower door has several gauges that measure the amount of air pulled out of the house by the fan. Uncalibrated blower doors can only locate leaks in homes. They provide no method for determining the overall tightness of a building. The calibrated blower door’s data allows the auditor to quantify the amount of air leakage and the effectiveness of any air-sealing job

Infrared Scans

An infrared scanner will display differences in temperature when pointed at a surface. The scans work best when there is a difference of 20 degrees or more from the interior to the outdoors, this is why the winter is the ideal time to conduct an energy audit of your funeral home. An infrared scan conducted from inside the house will reveal not only the areas of cold air infiltration, but areas of walls and floors that are warmer or colder than adjoining areas. We can see heat ducts, water pipes, even the studs in the wall. The infrared scan will most importantly also reveal areas of inadequate or nonexistent insulation. Energy Wise Homes auditors use infrared scanning to detect thermal defects in building envelopes.
How They Work
The infrared camera measures light that is in the heat spectrum. Images on the film record the temperature variations of the building’s skin, ranging from white for warm regions to black for cooler areas. The resulting images help the auditor determine whether insulation is needed. They also serve as a quality control tool, to ensure that insulation has been installed correctly.
A thermographic inspection is either an interior or exterior survey. The energy auditor decides which method would give the best results under certain weather conditions. Interior scans are more common, because warm air escaping from a building does not always move through the walls in a straight line. Heat loss detected in one area of the outside wall might originate at some other location on the inside of the wall. Also, it is harder to detect temperature differences on the outside surface of the building during windy weather. Because of this difficulty, interior surveys are generally more accurate because they benefit from reduced air movement.
Thermographic scans are also commonly used with a blower door test running. The blower door helps exaggerate air leaking through defects in the building shell. Such air leaks appear as black streaks in the infrared camera’s viewfinder.
Energy auditors use these images as a tool to help detect heat losses and air leakage in building envelopes. Infrared scanning also allows energy auditors to check the effectiveness of insulation a building’s construction. The resulting thermograms help auditors determine whether a building needs insulation and where in the building it should go. Because wet insulation conducts heat faster than dry insulation, thermographic scans of roofs can often detect roof leaks.

When looking at a building to determine where our money is best spent, we always look first at the top and bottom of the structure. The top and bottom of the house are the areas where air infiltration and heat loss are most pronounced because there are actual pressures forcing outside air into the house at the low points and conditioned air being forced by pressures out of the top of the house. About halfway up the house is what is known as the neutral zone, where air is neither forced in or out. These differences in pressure are created by what is known as the stack effect.

Stack effect is the movement of air into and out of buildings or other containers, and is driven by buoyancy. Buoyancy occurs due to a difference in indoor-to-outdoor air density resulting from temperature and moisture differences. The result is either a positive or negative buoyancy force. The greater the thermal difference and the height of the structure, the greater the buoyancy force, and thus the stack effect. The stack effect is also referred to as the “chimney effect”, and it helps drive natural ventilation or infiltration

No matter how well we insulate the natural forces of the stack effect will still be present. This is why sealing off the thermal envelope by what is called air-sealing is so important. In fact any B.P.I certified home performance contractor will not insulate your funeral home until they have done their best to first air-seal the thermal envelope from the energy draining forces of the stack effect. The thermal envelope is the area of the house that you
live in and heat in the winter or cool in the summer. It is the barrier that keeps
the outside air out and the inside air in!

The old way of thinking was that buildings needed to “Breathe” and that they needed this natural uncontrolled ventilation. It is true that houses need ventilation, but energy efficient homes address this by sealing the envelope as tight as possible and then ventilate as needed with controlled ventilation.

Air sealing is a crucial part of building a healthy, energy-efficient home. Below is a checklist of items to use to ensure proper air sealing when building or renovating a conventional stick-frame home. A leaky home will decrease the R-value of your insulation, create unwanted drafts and comfort issues, and bring moisture and pollutants into the home. As the saying goes, “Seal it tight and insulate it right!”

Insulation and How it Works
You need insulation in your funeral home to provide resistance to heat flow. The more heat flow resistance your insulation provides, the lower your heating and cooling costs.
Heat flows naturally from a warmer to a cooler space. In the winter, this heat flow moves directly from all heated living spaces to adjacent unheated attics, garages, basements, and even to the outdoors. Heat flow can also move indirectly through interior ceilings, walls, and floors—wherever there is a difference in temperature. During the cooling season, heat flows from the outdoors to the interior of a house.

To maintain comfort, the heat lost in the winter must be replaced by your heating system and the heat gained in the summer must be removed by your cooling system. Properly insulating your home will decrease this heat flow by providing an effective resistance to the flow of heat. These days the insulation of choice is closed or open cell spray foam insulation and cellulose blown insulation. Fiberglass insulation is no longer recommended and if the fiberglass in your attic of your funeral home is in bad shape your contractor will want to remove it.

We hope the information we have given you here today will help you with your funeral homes energy solutions. Remember the first step to improving the performance of any house is an Home Energy Audit. A energy audit will give you the information needed to get the best value for your energy saving dollars.

By Jeff Staab
Owner of Cremation Solutions, The Life Tree Farm and
Former owner of Energy Wise Homes

Join The Author Jeff Staab On Google Plus

Scattering Ashes is No Longer The Exception

We hear it a lot these days. “Just scatter my ashes and have a big party”.

Well that sounds pretty easy and parties are fun, right? It should be easy, but without some thoughtful planning, survivors are faced with many unanswered questions. Often the scattering is put off because of all the questions and the ashes often end up on the top shelf in the hallway closet indefinitely.

Helping people learn how to have a creative and meaningful scattering ceremony is a large part of the reason that Cremation Solutions exist. Families are grateful to learn that they can create a meaningful event and still follow the persons request to “just scatter me”. Scattering ashes is often the final act of love survivors can participate in. Scattering is nothing less than a committal service, it is an event that should contain ceremony and ritual. It is important for family and friends to experience a meaningful and memorable final tribute. In some cases it is the only tribute, so let’s do our best. People who choose to have their ashes scattered do not consider scattering to be any less respectful or meaningful than any other disposition option. In fact, families that have scattered are experiencing a higher level of satisfaction. They consider scattering to be a more natural way to return to the earth. Scattering also allows families the flexibility of choosing a site that is personable and has special meaning to the deceased and the survivors. Sites with natural beauty are also often selected.

Scattering a friends ashes — Some Take Turns Scattering a Friends Ashes

The decision to scatter ashes is no longer unique. With more than half of all cremated Americans and Canadians as well choosing the scattering of ashes, scattering is NOW the #1 disposition of cremated remains in the United States and Canada and continues to grow. Funeral professionals are the only ones that aren’t catching on. Most funeral professionals consider scattering a dirty and unprofitable choice of final disposition. They will help you get buried or interred. They will help you create funeral and memorial events, but when the choice is to scatter, they will help you as far as the door! Some of the more progressive funeral homes now offer special urns for families that choose to scatter the ashes, but that’s about as far as it goes. Cremation Solutions was started when our founder, a funeral director for over twenty years noticed how those who choose to scatter have been neglected by the funeral professionals in general. Cremation Solutions has grown to become the #1 resource for those choosing to scatter.

Here are some things to consider when planning a scattering ceremony. Hopefully a funeral or memorial event will take place before the scattering ceremony. Planning these events are what funeral professionals are really good at. Even if you’re not having public viewing and or visitation, you should still give survivors the chance to gather and celebrate the life that was lived. This helps survivors not only with the healing process but also to continue important relationships with each other and to support those who really need it. Now for the scattering ceremony you should consider first if you want a public ceremony or will it just be the family gathering. For a public ceremony, you might want the scattering to follow the memorial event, just like when a procession follows to the cemetery for committal services. Will more than one person scatter the ashes or will there be a chance to share in the scattering of ashes. Will the gathering be at the place of the scattering or somewhere else, either before or after? Will they do more than one scattering if there are relatives or friends in another part of the country? If people know the date and time the scattering will occur, they can then take that time to honor the memory of the deceased in their own way.

Because of the popularity of scattering ashes, suppliers to the funeral industry have been inventive and prolific in providing ways to remember. Three popular product types that relate specifically to families that desire to scatter are scattering urns, keepsakes, and keepsake jewelry. Scattering style cremation urns can be displayed at services, creating a focal point and sense of reality. They allow the cremated remains to be easily disbursed while adding dignity to the process. The location of the ash scattering sometimes determines the style of scattering urn to be used. The most popular location is over water and there are many water soluble urns that are specifically designed for this purpose. The second most popular location is on the family property. Birdhouse memorial scattering urns are a great option for these families because they are scattering urns that will convert into a memorial birdhouse, providing comfort for the years to come. Some scattering urns can be kept as an art piece or provide a place to keep mementos of the deceased or be used as a vase. Because scattering is irreversible, keeping portions of the ashes is even more important to the family that chooses to scatter. If families relocate, they can be left with feelings of abandonment. Keepsake urns and jewelry help provide the comforting knowledge that part of the earthly remains can always be kept close. They come in many sizes and styles and often match the style of the scattering urn. Keepsakes can be used to contain the ashes as well as jewelry, hair or other mementos of the deceased.

Scattering is nothing new, it has been happening for over a thousand years, but it has lost much of its ritual, most of which never made its way into modern times. Research tells us that today’s families still want meaningful celebrations of life with ceremony and personal memorable tributes. The people of today just won’t settle for the cookie cutter, insert name here funeral service anymore. Many are hiring or consulting with funeral celebrants to help create and a more meaningful and memorable event.

Funeral celebrants are ceremony specialists who have a sound background in the history of ritual, ceremony and funeral traditions in many cultures and religions. Funeral Celebrants have been drawn to this work by a strong realization that every life has meaning and deserves to be celebrated and celebrated well. Many have experienced grief themselves. All are convinced that funerals can be a valuable source of healing. Nothing can take away the grief, but a genuine, well prepared tribute may ease the pain. Whether your family is secular, religious, spiritual or interfaith, or if you simply wish to express yourself in a manner of your own, choosing a Celebrant can help to create a meaningful, memorable, fitting end of life tribute.

As a response for so many wanting to scatter in the perfect location, a new company has risen from the ashes. You can now hire a professional ash scattering service that will scatter the ashes in the holiest of all locations. In their private memorial scattering garden Holyland Ash Scattering will scatter your ashes on the land where Jesus lived and taught his followers. Now anyone can follow Jesus for all eternity by arranging their final tribute in this very special location. This service is available through any funeral home. Survivors will even receive a video of the actual scattering in Israel. To have final rest where our spiritual roots were set in the beginning is to be truly blessed.

Join The Author Jeff Staab On Google Plus

What to do with Unclaimed Ashes

Whether it’s in a basement, a storage closet, or lined up on a shelf, every funeral home has them – unclaimed ashes.

Cremation Ashes in Storage — Are You in the Business of Storing Ashes

It’s estimated that approximately one percent of cremation ashes are not claimed. As the number of cremations performed each year increases, those numbers can start to add up. For funeral homes it can mean storing the remains in a climate-controlled room for decades.

There are many reasons cremated remains are not picked up. Before prepaid funerals, some families didn’t have the money to pay the funeral home’s bill and therefore were reluctant to come by the funeral home. Some families aren’t especially close and no one family member wants to take responsibility for their relative. In some instances, the survivors simply don’t know what to do with the remains, so they do nothing. Their mostly just uninformed of all the options. Many don’t even know about scattering urns and cremation jewelry.

Holy Land Ash Scattering can assist in decreasing funeral home’s inventories of ashes and remove the liability of storing ashes indefinitely. Holyland Ash Scattering has developed a private memorial scattering garden in the Holyland. The company will take care of all of the details to arrange safe and secure shipping of the ashes to their office in Israel. The ashes will then be scattered in the most spiritual place in the world. Overlooking the Sea of Galilee, in the hills where Jesus lived and taught, their private memorial garden is a sacred place for a secure, final disposition for all time.

To further commemorate the sacred scattering ceremony, the company professionally videotapes and preserves this event on DVD as well as a YouTube download, to give client families added piece of mind, and as keepsake to watch and share with friends and family. A handsome framed certificate of scattering is also included as an heirloom gift to give the family.

Funeral professionals seeking to learn more about ash scattering in the Holyland can contact the company direct to become a partner in providing a special, sensible and uniquely holy final resting place for their families departed loved ones.

About Holyland Ash Scattering Service

A division of Ash Scattering Society LLC, Holyland Ash Scattering (HAS) specializes in scattering the cremated remains of loved ones in a private memorial garden in the Holyland in Israel. The company provides packaging for shipping remains, covers the cost of transporting the ashes, a professional scattering service and a personalized video tribute of the service, as well as a tribute certificate. Funeral professionals seeking more information about ash scattering, or that want to become a representative, can visit the company’s website at holylandashscattering.com/funeraldirectors or call 888-720-1961.

Join The Author Jeff Staab On Google Plus

Questions About Scattering Ashes and Scattering Urns and Keepsakes

“Just scatter my ashes and have a big party” We hear it a lot these days. Such celebrations of life are easy and parties are fun, right? It should be easy, but without some thoughtful planning, survivors are faced with many unanswered questions.

Often the scattering may be put off because of all the unanswered questions (“Do I need a scattering urn?”, “What’s the best way to scatter ashes?”, etc.)and the ashes can end up on that top shelf in the hallway closet indefinitely. Helping people learn how to have a creative and meaningful scattering ceremony is a large part of the reason that Cremation Solutions exists.

Scattering Ashes Outdoors — Scattering ashes outdoors is on a piece of land with significance to the deceased is often selected by their families.

Families are grateful to learn that they can create a meaningful event and still follow the persons request to “just scatter me”. Scattering ashes is often the final act of love that survivors can participate in. Scattering is nothing less than a committal service, it is an event that should contain ceremony and ritual. It is important for family and friends to experience a meaningful and memorable final tribute.

People who choose to have their ashes scattered do not consider scattering to be any less respectful or meaningful than any other disposition option. In fact, families that have scattered are experiencing a higher level of satisfaction. They consider scattering to be a more natural way to return loved ones to the earth. Scattering also allows families the flexibility of choosing a site that is personable and has special meaning to the deceased and the survivors. Sites with natural beauty or familial significance are also often selected.

Ash scattering is becoming fairly common in North America with more than half of all cremated Americans and Canadians choosing the scattering of ashes. In fact scattering is now the most common disposition of cremated remains in the United States and Canada. And the number of people selecting cremation continues to grow, not only in North America, but also internationally in such areas as Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

However, funeral professionals are the only ones that aren’t catching on. Most funeral professionals consider scattering a dirty and unprofitable choice of final disposition. They will eagerly help with a burial, an interment, or the planning and creation of funeral and memorial events, but when the choice is to scatter, they will help you as far as the door!

Some of the more progressive funeral homes now offer special urns for families that choose to scatter the ashes, but that’s about as far as it goes. Cremation Solutions was started when our founder, a funeral director for over twenty years noticed how those who choose to scatter have been so neglected by the funeral professionals in general. He created Cremation Solutions to be an informative and authoritative source of information for those choosing to scatter.

For the scattering ceremony you should consider first if you want a public ceremony or will it just be the family gathering. For a public ceremony, you might want the scattering to follow the memorial event, just like when a procession follows to the cemetery for committal services.

Will more than one person scatter the ashes or will there be a chance to share in the scattering of ashes?
Will the gathering be at the place of the scattering or somewhere else, either before or after?
Will there be more than one scattering if there are relatives or friends in another part of the country? If people know the date and time the scattering will occur, they can then take that time to honor the memory of the deceased in their own way.

As the popularity of scattering ashes has grown, new options for remembrance have been created. Three popular product types that relate specifically to families that desire to scatter are scattering urns, keepsakes, and keepsake jewelry.

Scattering over water — Families often scatter ashes over water during scattering ceremonies.

Scattering urns can be displayed at services, creating a focal point and sense of reality. Urns allow the cremated remains to be easily disbursed while adding dignity to the process. The location of the scattering sometimes determines the style of scattering urn to be used. The most popular location is over water and there are many water soluble urns that are specifically designed for this purpose.

The second most popular location is on the family property. Birdhouse memorial urns are a great option for these families because they are scattering urns that will convert into a memorial birdhouse, providing comfort for the years to come. Some scattering urns can be kept as an art piece or provide a place to keep mementos of the deceased or be used as a vase.

Because scattering is irreversible, keeping some of the ashes can be very important to the family that chooses to scatter. If families relocate, they can be left with feelings of abandonment. Keepsake urns and jewelry help provide the comforting knowledge that part of the earthly remains can always be kept close. They come in many sizes and styles and can usually be ordered match the style of the scattering urn. Keepsakes can be used to contain the ashes as well as jewelry, hair or other mementos of the deceased.

Scattering is not new a new practice: it has been happening for over a thousand years, but it has lost much of its ritual, most of which never made its way into modern times. Research tells us that today’s families still want meaningful celebrations of life with ceremony and personal memorable tributes.

Many families are hiring or consulting with funeral celebrants to help create and a more meaningful and memorable event. Funeral celebrants are ceremony specialists who have a sound background in the history of ritual, ceremony and funeral traditions in many cultures and religions. Funeral Celebrants have been drawn to this work by a strong realization that every life has meaning and deserves to be celebrated and celebrated well. Many have experienced grief themselves. All are convinced that funerals can be a valuable source of healing. Nothing can take away the grief, but a genuine, well prepared tribute may ease the pain. Whether your family is secular, religious, spiritual or interfaith, or if you simply wish to express yourself in a manner of your own, choosing a Celebrant can help to create a meaningful, memorable, fitting end of life tribute.

If you have any question about scattering ashes, cremation urns, scattering urns, or anything else, please feel free to contact Cremation Solutions for further info.

Join The Author Jeff Staab On Google Plus