Washington has become the first state to make it legal to compost human remains. A bill, signed this month by Governor Jay Inslee, allows the process, called natural organic reduction, as well as another called water cremation. Human composting involves placing a body in a tubular vessel and covering it with natural materials like wood chips and straw. Over several weeks, microbial activity breaks down the body into about a cubic yard of soil. Recompose, a company that wants to offer the practice as an alternative to traditional methods, worked with Washington State University to test its safety for environmental and human health. Six people donated their bodies for the study. The method alleviates much of the carbon footprint associated with both cremation and traditional casket burial.

This article appears in the May 2019 issue of Natural Awakenings.