Witness Cremation, Human Compost Bans, and Preneed Scandals

In this week’s episode, Tony Russo breaks down the latest shifts in the death care industry, from innovative “witness cremation” practices to legal battles over human composting. We also look at the collapse of a digital arrangement startup and the ongoing regulatory struggles involving pre-need funeral contracts.In This Episode:* Reframing Cremation in Tucson: How Bring’s Broadway Chapel is turning witness cremation into a “memorializable event” and why offering it as a standard part of the process is a game-changer.* Expansion: A South Carolina funeral home family buys a downtown event center to offer celebrations of life without the overhead of a traditional funeral home branch.* The Human Compost: Fresno County considers a ban on human compost as fertilizer following a “poorly managed crisis” and public pushback against Earth Funeral.* NIMBY vs. Conservation Burials: The Jefferson Land Trust in Washington tries a “door-to-door” education approach after zoning and neighbor complaints stalled their previous burial ground project.* The Preneed Problem: Licenses are suspended in Indiana and Missouri as investigators find over a million dollars in unfiled or unauthorized funeral contracts.* Tech Industry Exit: Why digital arrangement platform Repose.io shuttered in March despite strong funeral home adoption. Get full access to On Deathcare at ondeathcare.substack.com/subscribe