Updates Blog

Video on Aquamation from Funeral Consumers Affiliate

Life after death? A wave of states move to legalize human composting.

More states are clearing the way for a burial process that turns dead bodies into soil that can be used to nurture plants and gardens.

Phaedra Trethan

Nina Schoen likes the idea of life (plant life) springing from death. Schoen has a close friend who chose to have her remains made into compost. The process of those remains being broken down into soil that can be used to nurture plants and trees reminded Schoen of the grieving process.

Schoen has a close friend who chose to have her remains made into compost. The process of those remains being broken down into soil that can be used to nurture plants and trees reminded Schoen of the grieving process. She wants the same thing to be done with her body after she dies. “I think what resonated with me is that it happens slowly,” said Schoen, who works in the tech industry. “Almost like grief happens slowly, and we transform, slowly over time, from one thing to another.”

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U.S. CONGRESS: The Funeral Coverage Act (H.R. 2436) would help grieving families manage funeral costs by expanding how Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can be used. The act would classify funeral and burial expenses as qualified HSA expenses, allowing individuals to use tax-free HSA funds to help cover final arrangements.

U.S. CONGRESS: The Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act (S. 1270/H.R. 2589) aims to bring federal oversight to the currently unregulated industry of whole-body donation. While donating a loved one’s body for scientific research is an admirable choice that can aid medical research and advancements, families have been devastated by unscrupulous body brokers who exploit their generosity. The bill grants the Department of Health and Human Services oversight of non-transplant tissue banks, requiring them to register, comply with informed consent protocols, and adhere to strict handling and tracking procedures. It also establishes penalties for violations, ensuring greater transparency and accountability.

Americans are going into debt over death. Here are affordability tips.

Daniel de Visé

More Americans are going into debt after a loved one’s death. 

That’s one finding from an annual survey by Debt.com, which examines how people finance end-of-life costs. The survey found that 37% of Americans have taken on debt after a loved one’s death, the highest figure in three recent years of polling. Of those who assumed debt, 59% used credit cards. The survey reached 1,000 Americans in October. “This one was a little shocking,” said Howard Dvorkin, chairman of Debt.com. “And it kind of makes sense.” Inflation has lifted consumer prices by at least 24% since early 2020, according to Bankrate, seeding recent talk of a national affordability crisis. In the Debt.com survey, 4 in 10 Americans said they couldn’t cover future funeral costs for a loved one without going into debt. Generation X is deepest in debt over death, with 43% reporting they have taken on debt for funerals and other expenses.

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Giving Our Bodies Back to the Earth: The Rise of Natural Burial

Words by John Christian Phifer (as told to Willow Defebaugh) Photographs by Arianna Lago

What if your body could nourish the land long after you’re gone? As the founder of Larkspur Conservation, a conservation burial site, John Christian Phifer is replanting our relationship to death.

I was born January 31 in a small town west of Nashville, along the Tennessee River and Kentucky Lake. The day that I came home from the hospital, my dad—he’s a quiet, sensitive man—took me to the wildlife refuge. It’s a refuge for waterfowl that are migrating. And Mom said that he held me up in the air so I could hear all the birds and feel the air. There were just birds, hundreds of birds making noise and flying.

Ever since I can remember, nature has been a constant in my life. We didn’t grow up super wealthy or of any real privilege other than the color of our skin. We grew up in a rural area with a lack of neighbors, not really any kids to play with other than family. Growing up on a small farm, playing outside with my brothers and cousins—we’d be gone for hours. My mother would scream from the back porch, “Boys!” and we’d come running back from the woods or the creek.

Being outside all the time, and raising animals, I saw a lot of death. I’d see it in the woods, or something hit by a car, or mostly insects. I collected them. They were magical. When they were dead, I could finally hold them in my hand and admire them like a treasure. I remember wrapping little insects in leaves and burying them. I had a hamster once that I buried under these low trees. I was completely by myself. I’d dig these little holes and bury these little treasures. I don’t know why. I don’t know what made me do that.

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