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Listen: How Does Human Composting Work? Does Your State Allow It?
October 24, 2022/
California Healthline senior correspondent Bernard J. Wolfson appeared on KMOX, a St. Louis radio station, in mid-October to discuss a new California law that will allow “human composting” as an alternative to burial and cremation.
Human composting, also known as “natural organic reduction,” can be appealing to those who worry about the health of the environment. Cremation leaves a big carbon footprint, while the toxic chemicals used to embalm bodies before burial can leach into the soil.
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Human composting
The body is placed in a vessel along with wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. Over a month, microbes work to break the body down into a cubic yard of soil, which can then be used in a loved one’s garden, or anywhere else. Washington became the first state to legalize so-called “human composting” in 2019.
