Decomposing HUMAN remains can legally be used as compost from 2027 thanks to new California law aimed at tackling climate change

[fatjay]

This is an interesting approach.

HUMAN remains can legally be used as compost in 2027 in California

California will begin offering the option of human composting after death thanks to a bill recently signed into law that aims to tackle climate change.

Human composting, also known as natural organic reduction (NOR), would be an option for residents who don't want to be buried or cremated upon their death - starting in 2027.

The process involves placing the body inside a long, reusable steel container along with wood chips and flowers to aerate it - allowing microbes and bacteria to do break down the remains.

Approximately one month later, the remains will fully decompose and be turned into soil.

Advocates for the bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday, have said that NOR is a more climate-friendly option.

California will begin offering the option of human composting after death thanks to a bill recently signed into law

Human composting, also known as natural organic reduction (NOR), would be an option for residents who don't want to be buried or cremated upon their death - starting in 2027

Cremation in the U.S. alone emits about 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to National Geographic.

The bill bans the combining of various peoples' remains unless they are related.

But it does not make it illegal to sell the soil that results from the process or use it to grow food for human consumption.

*AB 351 will provide an additional option for California residents that is more environmentally-friendly and gives them another choice for burial,* Democratic Assembly member Cristina Garcia, the author of the bill, said in a statement.

Advocates for the bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week, have said that NOR is a more climate-friendly option. Cremation in the U.S. alone emits about 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to National Geographic

*With climate change and sea-level rise as very real threats to our environment, this is an alternative method of final disposition that won*t contribute emissions into our atmosphere.

*I look forward to continuing my legacy to fight for clean air by using my reduced remains to plant a tree,* she wrote, noting that she herself may choose the method when she passes away.

Micah Truman, founder and CEO of Return Home, a funeral home in the Seattle area that specializes in human composting, said there's been growing demand for the practice in recent years.

'With cremation, instead of sitting with our person and saying goodbye, we are very divorced from the process,' he told The Guardian.

Advocates for the bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, have said NOR is a more climate-friendly option

Truman said when a body is composted by his facility, the resulting soil is returned to the family to do with it as they wish - some customers have planted trees or flowers, while others have spread it into the ocean.

The Catholic Church in the state is against the process.

*NOR uses essentially the same process as a home gardening composting system,* the executive director of the California Catholic Conference, Kathleen Domingo, said in a statement to SFGATE.

She added that the process was developed for livestock, not humans.

*These methods of disposal were used to lessen the possibility of disease being transmitted by the dead carcass,* Domingo said.

*Using these same methods for the *transformation* of human remains can create an unfortunate spiritual, emotional and psychological distancing from the deceased.'

Washington, Colorado and Oregon have all legalized the process of composting human remains. However, Colorado does not allow the soil to be sold or used to grow food for human consumption.

Under a bill recently passed by New York's state legislature, only cemeteries would be allowed to apply for a license to offer human composting - which the New York State Funeral Directors Association objects to.

'Funeral directors have always essentially prided themselves as being very responsive, fully responsive, to what a person deserves for their own funeral and burial - however they would like it,' Randy McCullough, deputy executive director of the organization, told NY1 News.

'And we still want to do that with this process. We're not opposed at all to the introduction of these alternative disposition processes, per se.'

 

[cqaigy2]

Looks interesting. I probably wouldn't mind once im done using this body.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

old idea.
Since beginning of time dead people have been placed below ground to compost (burials).
Livestock farmers have been doing it above ground for along time as well. Load dead pigs, horses, cows, etc... into one end of tube every day, tube rotates slowly like a cement mixer, a little wood chips added and the mess heats up and compost (and teeth) come out the other end.
Gross but been doing it for decades above ground for animals.... now they approve the tech for people.

now the bad guys have another option to get rid of their rivals while destroying all evidence (boo)

40' tube does about 3,500 pounds per week!!!

 

[/pine]

The ultimate prank on vegans...!...give them "organically" grown vegetables...!

 

[alexpops]

Wouldn't be surprised if they start making "Soylent Green" as a more profitable and faster processing technology. Start as dog food, then work up the food chain. New definition of mystery meat.

 

[5030]

Only on Kalofornia and only with Newsom.

 

[Oaktree]

Looks interesting. I probably wouldn't mind once im done using this body.

It does. Makes a lot more sense than preserving and burying a body in an expensive casket that no one is going to see after the funeral.

 

[ruffdog]

It does. Makes a lot more sense than preserving and burying a body in an expensive casket that no one is going to see after the funeral.

Agree, concrete vault, casket, embalming chemicals, fuel for cremation, rule$, rule$, rule$. It is great that people are looking at better options for end of life. Cultures have done this eons ago.

What Ashes to Ashes Dust to Dust Means. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust means that your body is made of elements of the earth and will return to earth's basic elements after passing away. In other words, you are made of dust and return to ashes and dust after passing away.

 

[ruffdog]

In the United States, human composting is legal in Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and California. Recompose is currently open in Washington State, and plans to open in Colorado in 2023, followed by California in 2027. We are also partnering with lawmakers to legalize human composting in more states.

Recompose — Our Model

 

[ruffdog]

A way greener way to go. The compost can then be given to the family just like ashes are and then used to (eg) plant a memorial tree. The compost can also be donated to a reforestation project.

https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/marsh/Documents/HB2574_Natural_Organic_Reduction.pdf?ID=43#:~:text=What%20is%20natural%20organic%20reduction,chips%2C%20and%20other%20natural%20materials.