Image via Parting Stone
With more Americans choosing to cremate the remains of their loved ones than ever before, a new company has come up with the idea of turning ashes into personalized pebbles.
According to statistics from the Cremation Association of North America, the US cremation rate in 2019 was 54.6%, with the number expected to rise to 72.8% in 2030.
That’s where Parting Stone comes in, as more people look to preserve the memories of those they’ve lost in ways other than just storing their remains in an urn.
Image via Parting Stone
The company created a patent-pending technology of turning ashes into pebbles in partnership with Chris Chen, a ceramic engineer from the Los Angeles National Laboratory.
According to Fast Company, here’s how the process works. Following cremation, the entirety of the remains is milled into fine powder at the Parting Stone lab in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After which, water and a “glass-like binder” are added to turn the powder into a clay-like substance that can be shaped and fired in a kiln. The stones are then polished before being returned to the family.
Parting Stone founder Justin Crowe put it more simply: “All we do is take that material and compress it into solids.”
A family can expect to receive 40 to 60 stones after the process. The pebbles vary in size, some as small as a nail to ones as large as the size of a palm.
Image via Parting Stone
Interestingly, the colors of the stones are different too, with some sporting blue or light green hues, appearing white or brown, or even the odd lavender.
Crowe said the colors aren’t dyed, but occur completely naturally and aren’t affected by the firing process. He theorized that it could be due to different diets, lifestyles, or even medication people took over the course of their lives.
An experience with Parting Stone costs US$695 for adults, and US$300 for pets. While it may seem costly, these pebbles could provide a more meaningful and intimate connection than the usual route.
“The trend that is clear right now is that people want death to feel personalized,” explained Crowe.
For more information, check out the site here.
Image via Parting Stone
[via Fast Company, images via Parting Stone]