Eco-friendly dirt naps? California mulls HUMAN COMPOSTING as ‘green death care’ option
The decomposed remains of Californians could soon be used to provide nourishment to the state’s plant life, under proposed legislation that seeks to legalize human composting as an ‘eco-friendly’ burial alternative.
A bill currently making its way through the state legislature would give the green light to “natural organic reduction,” or in layman’s terms: turning dead bodies into compost.
Currently, there are only three legal ways to dispose of a human body in California: traditional burial, cremation by fire and cremation by water – a less well-known option that basically involves dissolving a corpse in a giant vat of potassium hydroxide.
The legislation would allow certified “reduction facilities” to store dead bodies in special containers, where they would be “mixed together with organic materials and warm air” and “periodically turned” until eventually “reduced to a soil material.” The process, which takes between four to six weeks, creates “two wheelbarrows full” of soil.
Before being administered as plant food, the soil is inspected for non-organic materials such as “titanium hips, pacemakers or dental work.” Retrieved items “typically get recycled,” according to local outlet CalMatters.
The practice is already allowed in Washington state, which legalized “organic reduction” in 2020. The resulting human-based soil can be placed in a forest or given to a family. Colorado has ratified similar legislation. Both states prohibit the soil from being used to grow crops that people will eat.
Democratic assembly member Cristina Garcia, who sponsored the bill, argued that with the state facing the “very real threats” posed by climate change, turning Californians into human compost would be an environmentally friendly burial method that “won’t contribute emissions to our atmosphere.”
Although introduced back in February, the draft law has recently caught the attention of environmental groups and eco-crusading media outlets. The so-called ‘green death care alternative’ has reportedly been endorsed by Californians Against Waste and the Northern California Recycling Association.
The California Catholic Conference came out against the proposal in June, claiming that it would “create an unfortunate spiritual, emotional, and psychological distancing from the deceased.” According to Garcia, the group later changed its tune and is now “neutral” on the matter.
In its own write-up of the budding initiative, The Guardian gushed about the human compost plan, arguing that it was a way for people to atone for the “irreversible” damage that they’ve caused to the Earth’s climate, creating “pollution that continues even in death.”
The British paper pointed to the growing popularity of Recompose, a Seattle-based company that kickstarted the human composting industry in the United States.
“The natural organic reduction allows a literal return to the earth,” Anna Swenson, an outreach manager with the firm, said in an interview. “Some people like the idea of being in a forest when they die. That’s what I’ve chosen for myself.”
The unorthodox burial method seems to have received mostly positive reviews on social media, with some theorizing that it would be “cool” to become nourishment for trees and plants.
Others worried about what would happen if California’s infamous amounts of “silicon implants and botox fillers” were used as compost.
Me too, maybe used as the base of a plant or tree. Return to base nitrogen and having my body aid the planet would be cool.
— Uncanny (@UncannyAllan) August 12, 2021
Several commenters were repulsed by the idea, describing it as “disgusting.”
The ‘green’ movement has embraced a number of somewhat taboo tactics in a bid to shield the environment from harm. Last month, India’s government announced its support for a project which aims to process cow dung as paint, hailing the recycling scheme as an environmentally friendly job creator.
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