Return Your beloved Pet to Nature with Biodegradable Urns
Pets are intimate and loved members of our family, and when they pass away, we want a perfect tribute to honor our cherished furry friend. While some people may choose a traditional casket burial for their deceased pet, most pet owners tend to decide pet cremation as a choice, as there are many wooden memorial urns options to pay tribute to them.
When choosing cremation for your deceased pets, the next thing you need to consider is how to deal with your pet’s cremated ashes. Some people may choose to keep the pet ashes with them at home to honor their cherished ones, while others opt for eco-friendly death care solutions by returning their pet ashes to mother nature.
The latter one is often referred to as water burial, ground burial or scattering ashes. If you intend to send back your pet's ashes to nature, a biodegradable pet urn is an ideal option to help you celebrate your beloved companion’s life in a special and meaningful way.
Biodegradable pet urns are those urns that can decompose in the earth or water. With the environment in mind, biodegradable pet urns are usually made from eco-friendly or sustainable natural substances, meaning that they do not contain metals or plastics that can not or are hard to break down. Besides, they will not release toxins into the environment. In other words, biodegradable pet urns have few environmental footprints.
This article will shed light on biodegradable pet urns that can help you pay tribute to your loyal animal companions while respecting nature.
What are popular materials for biodegradable pet urns?
Biodegradable pet urns are a great way to help you return the cremated ashes of your deceased pet to nature.
For earth burial, biodegradable pet urns are designed to naturally break down in soil over a period of time when buried under the earth, so that the pet ashes inside will release into the soil, becoming part of nature in a sustainable manner.
image source: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2677869/faulkner-and-pernell-cemetery
For water burial, there are biodegrade pet urns which can break apart in the water, and release pet ashes into the water. The pet urns will eventually dissolve in the water.
image source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/inthelighturns/peacefulpetalwaterburial/prweb12178730.htm
A variety of materials can be used to make biodegradable pet urns, which are mostly natural, recycled or sustainable materials. Some of the most common material. options are as follows:
* vegetables
* natural fabric
* leaves
* tree barks
* seagrass
* recycled paper
* sand
* gelatin
* rock salte
* coconut shells
* sunflower seeds
* cotton
* clay
* rice husk
* bamboo
* wood
Despite that there are plenty of biodegradable materials that can be used for pet urns, all those biodegradable materials share one thing in common, that is they all can be consumed by organisms and bacteria, and help nurture the soil where they are planted.
How long do biodegradable pet urns last?
The rate of degradation for biodegradable pets depends on various factors, such as the material of pet urns, climate, soil conditions, the size or volume of pet urns, and so on. For example, some materials like wood or bamboo take much longer to decompose than other organic materials such as vegetables and paper.
When buried in the ground or exposed to water, biodegradable pet urns take anywhere from several minutes, weeks, months or even years to decompose. Generally speaking, the material used for water burial decomposes more quickly than that for ground burial.
If you are not yet ready to return your pet’s ashes to nature, you can choose a durable biodegradable pet urn, such as a bamboo urns or a wood pet urn, which are both suitable for indoors and outdoors memorials. For example, a bamboo pet urn will not decompose until it is buried in the ground, so that you can keep it for as long as you wish.
Once you are ready, or choose the right date to hold the ceremony, you can bury the pet urn to the ground, which will naturally decompose over time.
By the way, if you want to honor the spot of your pet’s ashes, you can mark the place with a memorial marker, a stone or a plant, so that you can return to the place to feel the connection with your pet.
How do biodegradable pet urns compare with traditional ones?
For pet owners who want to keep their pet’s cremated ashes at home or a mausoleum, they tend to choose traditional pet urns. So, how do biodegradable pet urns compare with traditional pet urns?
As mentioned above, biodegradable pet urns are meant to become part of nature, so they use natural materials that can easily break down. By contrast, traditional pet urns usually use more durable and long lasting materials. They employ such materials as ceramics, metal, bamboo, woods, stones and so on. Simply put, traditional pet urns are designed to be kept somewhere safe and secure.
It can be seen that some traditional pet urns also use eco-friendly or biodegradable materials. For instance, bamboo and woods are not only biodegradable, but are also renewable and sustainable natural resources, especially bamboo, which is an essential fast-growing and renewable resource. These durable biodegradable and substantial pet urns are not only used to keep the pet cremated ashes indoor but are also used for ground burial.
With regards to cost, as biodegradable pet urns are usually made of natural or recycled materials, they are more affordable options compared with traditional pet urns, which use more expensive material like metal and marble.
When it comes to style, color, design, size and shape, biodegradable pet urns offer a wide range of options, which is similar to traditional pet urns.
Like traditional pet urns, biodegradable pet urns can also be customized to a certain extent, with photos or engravings of your pet’s name, important dates or messages to honor your beloved pet in a more special and personal manner.
In one word, traditional pet urns are great option for pet owners who want to keep their pet’s ashes securely, so they need to be intact and durable, while biodegradable pet urns are an ideal tribute for eco-friendly pet owners who want to return their pet’s ashes to the nature and need to be biodegradable. What memorial option to decide upon is up to your preference and is your own dignified way to say that last tribute to your beloved pet.
