While the Post Office is most often the least expensive option for delivery, not everyone is comfortable with shipping a loved one through the mail. We frequently are asked to personally pick up the remains at a funeral home, crematory, or at a location convenient to our clients. We usually are able to honor such requests for the cost of travel.

For clients near us in the Twin Cities, you are also welcome to deliver cremains to our location in Scandia or make arrangements that are convenient for you. Please call ahead for directions to our location and to confirm hours and availability.

We are not aware of any state laws or cemetery rules that require 100% of the cremains to be buried at a single site. It is common for people to divide cremains into two or more portions. In fact, some folks keep a portion for personal jewelry and scatter the remainder in one or more places of significance, cemeteries or otherwise.

The bottom line is, it's pretty much up to you what you want to do. There should be no problem as far as we are aware to put cremains into different cemeteries (or non-cemetery locations) as long as it is permitted there. (How would they even know if it were 100% of the ashes or not?)

We do recommend, however, if you scatter the cremains yourself that you record each location for posterity. In fact, there are some states that do require filing of scatter location(s). This type of reporting, as well as researching the permit process, are among the documenting tasks Dad's Ashes will complete when hired to perform a scattering.

The pages listed below keep a fairly comprehensive list of cemeteries and obituaries. Some of these are international, some are specific to certain groups:  

For burial listings, worldwide: 
https://www.deathindexes.com/cemeteries.html

For obituary listings in the US:  
https://www.deathindexes.com/obituaries.html

Several sites keep a listing of current views of different religions on cremation and scattering. Here are a few.

World religions:

• cremation.com 
• oneworldmemorials.com

• nanations.com
• deathreference.com

A little discussed aspect of cremation is that the process, regardless of which type of cremation used, results in remains that are very alkaline (high pH). This alkaline material can be harmful to plant growth, especially when concentrated in a small area and especially around young plants and saplings.

If the cremains are not made plant friendly (a more neutral pH), they can burn young vegetation. Bio-urns and trenching are examples of remains concentrated near young plants. Untreated, concentrated alkaline cremains can interfere with the growth of a seed in a trench or bio-urn, preventing successful plant growth.

To avoid these problems, Dads Ashes does 3 things before scattering (or trenching):

1. We lower the pH of the cremated remains
2. We convert the harmful salts to beneficial plant nutrients
3. We add probiotics (microbial soil amendment) to adjust harmful material to beneficial material

Dad's Ashes strives for environmentally conscious methods. We do not want your last act (or that of your loved one) to be one of harm. We do not fundamentally change your loved one; we help their remains to be more environmentally friendly.