Recompose, the world’s first funeral home dedicated to composting human remains will open in Seattle, Washington.
Funeral home, or ‘Deathcare’ company as they call themselves, Recompose has marketed their process as a natural alternative to cremation. Founded by Katrina Spade in 2017, their goal is to connect death rituals back with nature by converting bodies of the deceased into soil that can be used in place of traditional soil. The process will be able to convert the deceased into a cubic yard of soil, weighing between 2000 and 3,000 pounds, using only one-eighth of the energy of cremation.
Family members will be able to visit their loved ones and hold memorial services on-site at the facility before the composting process begins. As a part of the process, each body will be wrapped in breathable sheets and enclosed in a bathtub shaped tube. Over the course of just a few weeks, the temperature-controlled ‘death bed’ is rotated to oxygenate the contents and allow natural bacteria to complete the process. Once the composting is fully complete, families will be able to collect the soil or donate it to agricultural efforts. The facility will be able to hold 75 deceased persons at a time.
The idea began to come to fruition once Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed SB-5001 this past May. The state became the first to recognize “natural organic reduction” as an alternative to cremation or burial. The law will go into effect on May 1st, 2020. The decision was met with criticism from many people, who referred to the human composting process as “undignified” and “disgusting.”
Despite opposition, the first site will open in 2021, though an exact date has not been revealed.
