Washington State Weighs New Option After Death: Human Composting.

[Cattledog]

By Kirk Johnson
Jan. 26, 2019

SEATTLE — Leslie Christian recently added unusual language to her living will: After death, she hoped her remains would be reduced to soil and spread around to help out some flowers, or a tree. In essence, compost.

“It seems really gentle,” said Ms. Christian, 71, a financial adviser. “Comforting and natural.”

A bill before the Washington State Legislature would make this state the first in the nation — and probably the world, legal experts said — to explicitly allow human remains to be disposed of and reduced to soil through composting, or what the bill calls recomposition.

The prospect has drawn no public opponents in the state capital as yet, but it is a concept that sometimes raises eyebrows. Funeral directors say a common reaction to the idea, which has been explored and tested in recent scientific studies, is to cringe.

“There’s almost a revulsion at times, when you talk about human composting,” said Brian Flowers, the managing funeral director at Moles Farewell Tributes, a company north of Seattle that supports the bill.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/us/death-human-compost.html

[GemDigger]

1. I see nothing wrong with it. I want to be food chain material.

My son keeps looking at me like I am nuts. I am serious.

[defacto7]

2. Great idea. I'd do it.

Which sounds worse:

Being composted and recycled into the earth..

Or,

Have your organs pulverized and blood removed and disposed of in the sewer then replaced with embalming fluid, put what's left in a box, then into a concrete vault in the ground to lay there uselessly for 500 years.

Or,

Use massive amounts of carbon based fuel or electricity to be cremated which is not a very earth friendly process. And it's not cheep.

I rest my... case.

[Duppers]

5. Exactly!

Thank you!

[dameatball]

3. We already do it with ashes. I believe in letting every human make his or her final decision.

My beloved 17 year old beagle/basset mix was euthanized last March. He is now nurturing a pear tree locally. He nurtured me in life for close to 18 years. I don't draw a big distinction between humans and animals, other than perhaps some simple sanitary precautions.

[mitch96]

4. My friend did this with his Mom

Put her in a card board box six feet under and planted a tree on top.. I thought that was neat.. Circle of life...
m

[Duppers]

6. Green Burial Council Org providers...

Last edited Sat Jan 26, 2019, 10:26 PM - Edit history (1)

http://greenburialcouncil.org/find-a-provider/

We all should be doing this.

🌲🌲🌲🌲

WHAT IS GREEN BURIAL?

We believe burial is “green” only when it furthers legitimate environmental and societal aims such as protecting worker health, reducing carbon emissions, conserving natural resources, and preserving habitat.
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