A New Kind of Legacy
Scattering ashes is traditional, but today families are looking for more creative, eco-friendly ways to honour loved ones. Travel provides an opportunity to take these innovations global, turning farewells into acts of renewal.
Biodegradable Urns That Grow Into Life
Biodegradable urns, often designed to be buried with a seed, allow ashes to nourish a new plant or tree.
- Where you can do it: Cherry blossom groves in Japan, olive orchards in Italy, or even vineyards in France.*
- Why it matters: Instead of leaving behind a static marker, you create something that grows, changes, and can be revisited for generations.
Traveling to plant such a tree means you’re not just honoring the past, you’re investing in the future.
*Every country has their own rules. What may be possible may not be legal.
Ocean Reefs: Resting Among Coral
Ashes can also be transformed into “reef balls” concrete structures that restore damaged coral reefs.
- Destinations: Florida, Mexico, Bermuda, and other coastal regions.*
- Experience: Families participate in the reef placement, sometimes snorkeling or diving to see their loved one’s memorial firsthand.
- Impact: This choice not only honors memory but contributes to marine conservation.
*Every country has their own rules. What may be possible may not be legal.
Creating a Global Legacy Through Travel
Think about it: instead of a single headstone in one cemetery, your loved one could live on in multiple places around the world. A tree in Tuscany. A coral reef in the Caribbean. A biodegradable urn released into the Amazon River. Each trip becomes an opportunity to expand their story.
Travel + Memorial = Healing
These eco-memorials transform grief into action. They remind us that endings can also be beginnings. Travelling to these sites provides families with touchpoints for future visits, turning sorrow into an ongoing legacy of life.
