At Cremation.Green we’ve been outspoken advocates for modernizing the Texas funeral industry for over a decade. We’ve worked with legislators and been a source of information for consumers that want better funeral services for themselves and the environment all while offering eco-friendly funeral services.
Year-by-year our efforts have been paying off. We’re proud to say in the last few months a lot of progress has been made, and in the coming year we should see even more change for the better. Here’s a look back at some notable events in 2025 that are setting the stage for a more modern funeral industry in Texas.
Still Hope For Natural Organic Reduction to Become a Legal Form of Cremation as Texans Embrace Alternatives
As more and more states legalize new forms of disposition, the states that are holding back fall further behind. That is the case with natural organic reduction in Texas, but there’s hope that things will change in the near future.
It seems that state legislators got the memo that Texas is one of the states where the “close to the land” disposition concept has really caught on. They also probably saw the survey from Choose Mutual that showed natural burial and natural organic reduction are gaining a lot of interest. Over 1 in 5 Americans would now choose NOR as an alternative to traditional burial. In Texas, the most popular alternative is green burial, and more people are inquiring about the ability to use it in a family cemetery where they have even more control over the process.
House Bill 2200 was introduced to legalize natural organic reduction earlier this year, and it progressed through the state legislation before failing to pass in the House. Although it ultimately didn’t pass, the positive takeaway is that it did make progress and it began creating a framework for legalizing natural organic reduction. The bill also called for working NOR into the existing regulations for cremation in order to fast track the process.
There is also now greater support for funeral homes like Cremation.Green that are coordinating with service providers in states where NOR is legal to help give Texans that option. We’re proud to say that because of our advocacy we’re currently considered a key information source for Texans that want to know more about natural organic reduction services.
Texas Funeral Service Commission’s Rulemaking Authority Gets Questioned
Earlier this year, Texas became the nation-wide example of how not to regulate the funeral industry. There were several scandals that called into question how effective and fair the Texas Funeral Service Commission (TFSC) has been in their oversight of funeral homes, crematories, embalmers and body donation programs.
In one case there appeared to be gross misuse of bodies for research purposes. Another incident involved what has been perceived as anti-Islamic sentiment on the part of the Commission. And there’s also been an open dispute within the Commission after the acting executive director was fired then sued alleging that Commission members were putting their personal interests over that of the public.
All this has led to consumers questioning whether the TFSC should be regulating the state’s funeral industry at all. Even their ability to license funeral directors was questionable when it was discovered that a funeral home director in Houston had used another person’s information in order to illegally gain a license.
We expect in the coming months that consumers may be appeased with more legislation that better defines the role of the Texas Funeral Services Commission and even possibly diminishes some of its authority. While the TFSC is surely not going anywhere, there is sure to be closer attention to how the Commission is run and clearer directives on how it operates.
Tighter Compliance, Accountability and Criminal Penalties For Body Donation Violators
Texans can rest easier in life and in death knowing that funeral service providers are being held to an even higher standard in the state. Another result of the aforementioned scandals has been a move toward tightening death care regulations.
One example of this is Senate Bill 2721, which was sent to a House Committee for approval after passing in the Texas Senate. The bill proposes changes that would overhaul how the state regulates donated and unclaimed human bodies that are used for educational, research or forensic training purposes. A key change would be required licensing for anyone who handles the human remains in order to better protect the rights of donors and their families.
The TFSC will regulate body donation programs more tightly by creating clearer rules for informed consent, extending the holding period for unclaimed bodies and using ID numbers to better track donated bodies. To make sure the rules are being followed, the TFSC can now regularly inspect those who are licensed, penalize those who aren’t following the rules and criminally charge serious offenders.
SB 2721 also creates a new licensing and enforcement framework, with the aim of protecting donor and family rights and preventing misuse of bodies. The bill does this by spelling out exactly how the Commission should oversee body donations so there’s less room for interpretation. It’s a move that will hopefully help the TSFC regain some of the trust it lost with the public over the last year.
Cremation.Green is continuing to lead the way in 2026 by helping Texans arrange any type of eco-friendly funeral service, even if it means coordinating with professionals out of state. We’re fully committed to modernizing the Texas funeral industry and promise to keep advocating for consumers in the coming years until all safe forms of disposition are legalized in the Lone Star State.