“…Sales of caskets have been declining for years as more people choose cremation. But the economic slump is compounding the industry’s woes as those who do pick caskets buy cheaper, more spartan accommodations for the hereafter.

In response, casket makers are diversifying, building less expensive models and expanding cremation offerings …

Part of the problem is people (who don’t) want a casket burial regardless of how strong the economy is (preferring cremation instead) …

Annual U.S. casket sales peaked by volume at 1.9 million caskets in 2000, according to the Casket and Funeral Supply Association of America. Since then they have drifted down as cremations, which cost less and are gaining broader acceptance, have risen.

For the 12 months through September 2009, U.S. casket sales totaled 1.69 million, down from 1.74 million a year earlier.

The average cost of a traditional burial is $7,200, compared with $1,400 for the crematory fee, some form of memorial service and an inexpensive urn, says John Ross, executive director of the Cremation Association of North America.”

Click this link to read the full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704511304575075811946202750.html?mod=WSJ_hp_editorsPicks

Excerpts:

“More Americans these days are scattering loved ones’ ashes widely, with great purpose and often without permission—an act known in the funeral industry as a “wildcat scattering.” It’s a reflection of both the marked rise in cremation and the growing desire by people to find their own ways to ritualize grief.”

“Scientists agree that there is no health or environmental hazard from the spread of human ashes. “It’s mineral-based and typically, with wind and rain, will melt into the soil within days,” says John Ross, executive director of the Cremation Association.

Despite this, theme parks, sports facilities and other public facilities often discourage the scattering of ashes or decline requests, though some stadiums, typically overseas, designate certain areas where it is permitted. “A stadium is for the celebration of baseball; you don’t want to think of it as a graveyard,” says Mr. Jokinen. “If someone runs a golf course, it seems unsavory to have people golfing over the remains of dead bodies. There’s a ghostly connotation.”"

Here is a link to the full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703422904575039280799336638.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLESecondNews

The legal documents needed to specify your wishes in this type of situation are called advance health care directives, which vary from state to state, but generally encompass a living will and medical power of attorney.

What would you want if something like what happened to Terri Schiavo happened to you?

Suppose you have not completed your advance health care directives and suppose something happened to you tonight.

Who are the people in the world you love more than anything? Gather them all together in your head for a moment, then divide them into two groups.

The first group believes with all its heart that the right thing to do is keep you alive at all costs, even if brain dead with virtually no hope of recovery. The second group believes with equal passion and conviction that you would never want to be kept alive by artificial means under such circumstances.

Would you want the people in each group to channel their grief and saddness into hatred toward the others and spend their entire life savings on legal fees, fighting to do what they guess you would have wanted?

If your answer is no, then use the free resource below (or other resource, such as an attorney) and complete your own advance health care documents tonight!

* FREE Advance Health Care Directive Forms and instructions are available for all states and the District of Columbia online or via U.S. mail through Caring Connections, a program of the 501(c)(3) non-profit NHPCO (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization).

They can be reached toll-free at (800) 658-8898 or on the Web at http://www.caringinfo.org/

Web link: http://www.caringinfo.org/stateaddownload

You may also reach them via their HelpLine at 800/658-8898 or email at caringinfo@nhpco.org

This links to a section of the website OrganDonor.gov, which is run by an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The material on has been Adapted from: Organ and Tissue Donation: A Reference Guide for Clergy, 1995.

These Web pages seem like a good point of departure for anyone considering becoming an organ donor (a wonderfully generous act that can save or improve the lives of as many as fifty people), but is concerned about how it might be viewed by their religion.