Human composting
Also called: natural organic reduction, terramation
The body is gently transformed into soil over several weeks inside a vessel with wood chips, straw, and alfalfa. Legal in a growing number of states, starting with Washington in 2020.
Also called natural organic reduction, human composting places the body in a reusable vessel with plant material. Microbial activity, warmth, and airflow break everything down — including bones, which are processed after — into roughly a cubic yard of soil over about 30 to 60 days. Families can take some or all of the soil; the rest is often used for land conservation.
It costs roughly $5,000–$7,000, comparable to a modest burial and well below a traditional funeral. As of the mid-2020s it is legal in a slowly expanding list of states; families outside those states sometimes ship the body to a licensed facility.
- Green burial— Burial without embalming, without a metal or hardwood casket, and without a concrete vault — designed to let the body decompose into the soil naturally.
- Aquamation— An alternative to flame cremation that uses heated water and lye to break the body down to bone fragments. Same result as cremation, less energy, no emissions.
- Cremated remains— What is returned after cremation: dry, ground bone fragments weighing roughly 3 to 9 pounds. Despite the nickname, they are not ash in the everyday sense.
This definition is general consumer information, not legal, medical, or financial advice. Industry practices and regulations change occasionally; verify before relying on anything here for a specific decision.
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