Six Ideas for Celebrating and Honoring Loved Ones More Sustainably
1. Skip the Balloons & Sky Lanterns
Balloon and sky lantern releases can hurt wildlife and farm animals. They can break, look like food, cords can wrap around animals, and sky lanterns can potentially cause fires. Sky lantern releases are prohibited in Erie County. See link to a PDF of this statute.
2. Send Bubble Messages
Bubbles can be used to remember our happiest and saddest moments. They are given to participants at weddings to celebrate the new couple and at remembrance services to send wishes upward.
3. Luminarias at Dusk
Luminarias are paper bags that are decorated by participants with names, personal messages, or drawings. They are then filled with a small amount of sand and a votive candle or a battery operated candle. The bags are placed in a line or circle with the lit candles inside. Participants walk silently around the luminaria reading the messages and reflecting on their loved ones.
4. Burning Incense
Incense has been used for thousands of years in many cultures to send wishes, thoughts, and prayers upward. Fill a large container with several inches of fine sand. Have individuals solemnly light incense sticks and then place them in the container as they silently express their desires.
5. Prayer Stones
Handling prayer stones or worry stones is an ancient practice in many cultures. Give a smooth stone to each person as they arrive. Invite them to hold the stone and rub messages into it. Each stone represents prayers for people or situations. As music plays, invite people to take the stone to a central location and leave it, as well as the problem, question, or request there.
6. Burning Messages
Through writing messages — and burning them — we can release pain and unfulfilled dreams. Write down the private thoughts, disappointments, anger, and then set them on fire. For a group, hand out scraps of paper and pens. Individually, people can go up to a fireproof container filled with sand and a lit candle and set their paper on fire.