Cremation ashes are usually stored in cremation urns for final disposition. The urns can be simple yet elegant, or aesthetic and artistically designed, depending on your choice.

If you are planning to eventually bury the ashes or float them in water, you can opt for a biodegradable cremation urn prepared from sustainable materials.

However, in case you are considering about storing the cremation ashes, you can display the urn containing the cremated remains of a loved one on a mantle or shelf at your home.

Given below are some other alternatives for storing cremation ashes or cremains:

• Placing the cremation urn permanently in a Columbarium. It is a room or simply a freestanding structure, usually located in a cemetery or church, wherein there are niches (recessed compartments) for placing urns containing cremation ashes.

  Thus, it provides a place of remembrance to visit and memorialize a deceased loved one, thereby helping the healing process of recovering from the loss.

  You may also include photographs, mementos, etc. to personalize the niche and commemorate the life of your loved one. Storage of cremated remains serves as a record for future generations, too.

  Apart from church grounds and cemeteries, columbaria may often be housed within mausoleums. Besides, they may be built either indoors or outdoors.

   

• The cremation remains may also be entombed in a crypt in a mausoleum. A mausoleum is a place where human remains are entombed. This procedure, however, requires more space and is costlier than inurnment in a Columbarium. The Roman Catholics mostly prefer this method.

   

• You may choose to bury the ashes in a cremation plot or simply a regular plot. There may not be any additional cost if you choose to bury or entomb the remains in the burial plot of another family member.

   

• Holding the remains in a cremation memorial in the form of a cremation bench, memorial rock, or grave marker with an integrated repository is another popular idea. These memorials can be placed in a cemetery.

   

• Human ashes can be converted into glass or diamonds, too. The ashes are converted to glass using glass blowing techniques by fusing a small portion of cremated remains along with molten glass.

  Similarly, the ashes or even hair of the deceased can be used to create memorial diamonds that are often known as synthetic, cultured or laboratory-grown diamonds.

  This method is gaining popularity in the US, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, and various other countries as it is a unique and timeless way to memorialize a loved one. The process makes use of the carbon obtained from the cremated remains in a particulate or gaseous form.

Besides, another popular option is to dispose of the cremated remains on land, air, or water and keep a portion of the ashes in cremation jewelry such as a cremation bracelet, necklace, locket, ring, pendant, etc.

As for scattering of the ashes, you can scatter the ashes over land at a public park (if the state law allows it) or a place that your loved one preferred.

Alternatively, you can consider scattering the cremated remains from air by plane, or floating them in sea. Moreover, water and garden scattering services are offered at certain cremation facilities as well.