Cremation or incineration, what’s the difference?
This is a valid question, given that both words mean the same thing: to reduce to ash. However, where incineration burns waste, detritus and objects, cremation reduces the body of a loved one to ashes, according to their last wishes. That’s a significant difference! It’s thus preferable and more respectful to say that a body is being cremated rather than incinerated.
During cremation, the body, placed in a coffin or rigid cardboard container, is reduced to ashes in a specialized oven at over 700 degrees Celsius.
This method of disposing of a body, rather than the traditional embalming and burial, has been gaining in popularity over the past 30 years. Certainly, the method’s lower cost can explain this in part, but offering only this explanation would minimize the importance of how society’s thoughts, beliefs and values have changed when it comes to death.
Some worry that in choosing cremation, the service they’ll get won’t be as considerate as if they were to do business with a funeral home. However, you simply need ask people who’ve experienced a cremation in their family to understand how caring, respectful and dignified the farewell ceremony is. The professionals who take care of the body take your well-being to heart and understand the emotional state you’re in. Each of their actions considers your needs and the last wishes of your departed loved one.
Before proceeding with a cremation, some verifications are made. The crematorium operator makes sure that they have the right body, as it is uniquely identified throughout the entire body transportation process. The employee then reads the death record and the cremation form signed by the responsible person. The body is placed on a hydraulic table, then on a conveyor, often manually operated, which will then safely bring it into the cremation chamber.
Grief is a complicated process and each person experiences it differently. A grieving family may choose to have a brief viewing for the deceased prior to cremation or to pay their respects in a private closed casket memorial service. After two to three hours of cremation, the ashes are ground to dust and placed in a pre-selected cinerary urn. Each deceased person can choose an urn that represents their personality: wooden urns, green urns, biodegradable urns, marble urns; rounded, rectangular, pyramid-shaped urns, etc. The ashes can even be scattered in nature if the regulations in the chosen location allow it.
How much does a cremation cost?
A person can be cremated in a dignified manner for less than $1,500, whereas the average cost of a traditional showing and casket burial can cost three times more than that on average. The difference is due to embalming fees, casket costs, ceremony and cemetery burial fees. Cremation is therefore an affordable and dignified way to pay your last respects to a deceased loved one.
