Human Composting: A Sustainable Revolution in the Funeral Industry

Did the idea of making compost from human bodies ever occur to you? Me neither! But five years ago, Katrina Spade, then a graduate student of architecture, was thinking along these lines. At that time, she composted her first human body and invented a system to compost human bodies. Currently, human composting is in the talks for its sustainable advantage compared to traditional burial methods. Recently, California passed a law to legalize human composting. The hype is building, and it’s not for no reason. So let’s talk about it!

Currently, in the U.S, cremation is the preferred choice, with the number of people choosing cremation increasing from 5% in 1970 to over 56% in 2020. By 2025, this value is expected to reach between 64.1%, and 80% by 2035. It’s a staggering shift for the funeral industry, where traditional burial has long been the preferred funeral option for families, costing around $7,000 – $10,000. 

Cremation is cheaper than ground burials where prices will undoubtedly rise with the increasing demand for land use. However, cost alone could not have caused such a rapid shift in cultural practices. A second major factor is environmental concerns related to a conventional interment, in which a body is placed in a casket and the casket is buried or entombed.

Cremation has its environmental costs too, and it might not be that good a replacement for the casket burial method. As the name suggests (Latin cremare = to burn by fire), cremation involves the use of flame and heat to reduce human remains to bone fragments which are pulverized in a cremator to the consistency of ashes. This results in toxic emissions, including many persistent pollutants such as volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, co-planar polychlorinated biphenyls (co-PCBs), and heavy metals. The health of crematory workers is at risk if exposed to the toxins. 

Also, cremation requires a significant amount of fuel, and estimates say that its responsible for emitting over 6.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually worldwide. Ashes, what remains after the cremation process, are given to loved ones upon request and sometimes are scattered in spots that were symbolic of the deceased. However, the Cremation Society discourages the scattering of ashes on mountaintops, rivers, and near places where people bathe or fish as it can cause adverse environmental and health effects. Likewise, some families decide to bury the ashes in a casket, which contradicts the environmental benefits of cremation such as land preservation and habitat protection.

A similar option is alkaline hydrolysis (also known as hydro, water, flameless, bio cremation, or aquamation). This is perceived as slightly less harmful to the environment and has a smaller carbon footprint because it does not release emissions in the cremation process. Instead, it reduces human remains through a water-based dissolution process that uses alkaline chemicals, heat, agitation, and pressure. Alkaline hydrolysis requires more water but less fuel and produces a byproduct that can be used as fertilizer.  It is a newer and more limitedly available process, however, and it is slightly more expensive than flame cremation. 

Conventional ground burials use large amounts of raw materials. Each year, US cemeteries bury over 30 million board feet of hardwood and 90,000 tons of steel in caskets, 17,000 tons of steel and copper in vaults, and 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete in vaults. What’s more, millions of gallons of embalming fluid are also used every year to prevent decomposition in bodies after death and the formaldehyde it contains is a respiratory irritant and known carcinogen. Consequently, funeral home workers are exposed to it routinely. 

A sustainable alternative to conventional ground burial is the green burial method in which the body is placed in a biodegradable coffin or shroud and interred without a concrete burial vault. It is neither cremated nor prepared with chemicals such as embalming fluids. The grave site is allowed to return to nature while the body turns to soil. Currently, there are some 166 natural burial cemeteries in the US and over 270 in the UK. However, finding land to house green burial sites is becoming increasingly difficult, especially in urban areas. 

Here’s where human composting offers a different approach to cremation and casket burials. 

Firstly, “human composting” could sound a little creepy; the idea is wild! So here are a few alternative names for the concept: “above-ground decomposition” or “natural organic reduction (NOR).” The process, though, is surprisingly not creepy at all. It starts with laying the body in a vessel surrounded by wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. Over the next 30 days, microbes act on the molecular level, resulting in the formation of nutrient-dense soil. Each body creates one cubic yard of soil amendment, which is then removed from the vessel and allowed to cure for two to six weeks. After curing, the soil can be used to enrich natural or preserved landscapes, forests, and gardens. Loved ones can also choose to keep the soil for individual purposes such as planting a memorial garden or tree or a lush bed or roses. 

Life gives way to life. 

The real reason why human composting is becoming so alluring is because of its clear

sustainability advantage over cremation and traditional casket burials. The process doesn’t use fossil fuels like cremation, does not require raw materials for a casket, is cheaper than traditional methods, and absorbs carbon dioxide once in its final form. 

According to a scientific model developed by the expert Dr. Troy Hottle, human composting and green burial perform far better than cremation or conventional burial at reducing carbon. The research showed that over a metric ton of carbon dioxide would be saved for every human body composted. This means if every Washington resident chose recomposition as their after-death preference, within 10 years, it would save the same energy required to power 54,000 homes for a year.

Our global population is set to reach 8.5 billion by 2030. Reconfiguring how land is used to feed a growing world is a topic discussed at all levels of government. We are running out of land to house cemeteries. For instance, it is estimated that London’s cemeteries will be full within the next 20-30 years. Human composting can reduce the amount of land used for traditional burial and produce nutrient-rich soil that can be used for agricultural purposes. 

Progress is being made for human composting in the United States. In 2021, Washington became the first state in the US to legally approve composting as an alternative to burying or cremating human remains. The same legislation was followed by Colorado, Vermont, and Oregon. In Sept 2021, California joined the league by passing laws that allow human composting, or natural organic reduction, a method that advocates say will slash the carbon footprint of funerals. 

What’s more, a promising figure shows that 50% of Americans are interested in green-burial options. While this type of burial is sure to become controversial, it’s important to point out that just because the burial process can change does not mean that the traditional western funeral or mourning processes will. Recompose, the company providing human composting services in the U.S. offers a ceremony called the Laying In before the natural organic reduction happens. Family members and friends are involved in this unique celebration of the deceased life and the ceremony is performed in the way the person would have liked it. 

Even though "cemeteries" and "burials" are words that society tends to shy away from, death on the other hand is inevitable, and having conversations about the way we want to leave this planet is important. Leaving the planet better than how you found it and ensuring that life will continue to prosper after you are gone is what recomposition is really about.