Human composting is now legal and Washington has become the first US state to legalise it. The new law that was signed by governor jay Inslee, gives a person the option to choose whether to turn his or her body into soil or to take to the burial ground.
After composting, it is handed over to the relatives or the loved ones, which they can use for planting. The process of human composting is known as recomposition, which is considered to be an alternative to funeral or burial or even embalming.
Noting that it was completely a natural process to get back to the soil and help to keep memories alive, Katrina Spade, who had fought for the new law, said that this would help in reducing land usage and carbon emissions. It is likely that Spade’s company recompose is likely to get the offer of this service that will be starting from May 2020.
She was quoted as saying that the process of recompose was simple. The body is kept in a steel container that is hexagonal in shape. The container is filled with straw and wood chips and left for 30 days by which the body would be turned into soil.
She developed the mechanism with the help of Washington Street University. She had even done clinical trials to see if recompose was actually happening. IT was found that bones and teeth were all turned into soil, which is said to be due to thermophilic.