These numbers move every time someone votes. Read them next to the research below, where 61.4%[1] of US consumers say they'd explore green funeral options, and you get a clearer picture than either gives alone.
How we count
Each poll records one vote per person per question. We don't collect names or emails, and results are shown only as percentages of everyone who has answered so far. The board below updates live, so the figures you see today may look different next month.
These are not scientific surveys. Only people who found this site and chose to answer are included, and they're more interested in bio urns and green aftercare than most pet owners. Treat the results as a conversation with other readers, not as facts about pet owners in general. You can still add your vote on the polls page.
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In context
The most useful way to read a live poll is beside a proper survey. Here's what national research says about the choices our polls ask about.
40.4% cremation; 34.9% home burial; 1.9% aquamation[2]
Asked their preferred future after-death care, 40.4% of US owners chose traditional flame cremation and 34.9% home burial; 10.7% chose cemetery burial and 1.9% alkaline hydrolysis (aquamation).
27% home burial; 2% burial elsewhere[3]
In the same CMA survey, 27% of UK owners buried their pet at home and 2% used a pet burial company elsewhere.
68%[4]
68% of respondents to NFDA's 2024 Consumer Awareness and Preferences Survey expressed interest in green funeral or natural burial options.
In a US study of dog and cat owners, very few named water cremation as their preferred future aftercare. The figure was just 1.9%, though many had never been offered it. For owners whose pet died recently, the UK competition regulator's survey found this burial split: 27% home burial; 2% burial elsewhere[3]. Home burial of a body and planting ashes aren't the same thing, but both show how many people want their pet close to home.
If our aquamation poll shows far more interest than 1.9%, that's likely a mix of two things: readers here care more about the environment, and more people now know the option exists. Our aftercare options comparison lets you weigh it for your own situation.
Reading between the numbers
One poll we watch closely asks whether readers knew pure ashes are too alkaline for young plants. If many didn't, it's a sign we need to keep explaining the soil side, which is why our soil-mix guide exists.
Before today, did you know pure pet ashes are too alkaline for most young plants?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What nobody has measured
Part of the reason we run polls at all is that some questions have never been properly studied. We couldn't find a large survey of how many pet owners plant ashes under a tree, how many of those trees survive, or how often people regret a water release. The honest answer to those questions is: nobody knows yet.
The environmental figures have a similar gap. The most detailed carbon comparison of flame and water cremation was done for human funerals in the Netherlands, not for pets, and pet-specific life-cycle studies are scarce. Soil research on cremated remains is mostly small-scale horticultural testing. We still use these sources, because they're the strongest evidence available, and we tell you where they come from.
Reader polls don't fill those gaps. They can, though, show which questions people are wrestling with, which helps us decide where to dig for better evidence. If you know of a study we've missed, let us know.
The wider trend
Interest in greener goodbyes is not only a reader quirk. In the US, 68%[4] of people in the NFDA's 2024 consumer survey said they were interested in green funeral or natural burial options for themselves. Pet aftercare tends to follow the same currents, often a few years behind.
There's a practical side too. As more pet crematories add water cremation, more readers can actually choose it. By our estimate, if just one in ten US pet cremations moved from flame to water, around 4,200 t CO2e/yr[5] would be avoided each year. That's a rough, low-confidence figure, and it's the kind of number we label clearly as our own. Our article on planning a green farewell explains what the evidence does and doesn't show.
From results to a plan
If the results made you lean toward a tree, try the memorial tree finder. If you're drawn to a water release, read up on local permission first. And if you'd like a person to look at your plans, send us a few details and we'll reply by email. You can also compare every kind of memorial on our bio urn options page, or check local notes on our location pages.
Who would you want with you at a planting or release?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Reader polls
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
If water cremation (aquamation) were offered near you, would you choose it?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Which living memorial feels most like your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What matters most to you in a greener goodbye?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Because the results are live. Every new vote shifts the totals slightly, and on a question with few answers so far, one vote can move a figure by several points. The more people answer, the steadier the numbers become.
Yes. Each result shows the total number of votes counted so far alongside the percentages, so you can judge how much weight to give it. A result based on a handful of answers is a hint, not a pattern.
We use them to decide what to explain more clearly, not to decide what's right. If many readers didn't know ashes affect soil pH, we write more about soil. Our advice itself rests on published research and horticultural guidance.
Because far more research exists on human funeral choices than on pet aftercare, and the two often move together. We label clearly when a figure comes from human data, so you can decide how much it applies to your pet.
Usually it's a split we didn't expect, such as readers dividing almost evenly between a place to visit and a water release. We don't report those splits as findings, but they tell us a choice is harder than it looks, so we write more to help people think it through.
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.
