Recently, Martha Stewart indicated her end-of life preferences, which involve human composting. Human composting is an alternative to a traditional burial.
In a recent “50+ & Unfiltered with Shawn Killinger” podcast interview, Martha Stewart was asked if she wanted to be buried or cremated. She responded that she would like to be composted. She explained, “When one of my horses dies, we dig a giant hole, really deep, in one of my fields... and the horse is wrapped in a clean white linen sheet and very carefully dropped down into this giant lovely grave. I want to go there.”
What Is Human Composting?
Human composting is the process of turning the human body into organic material.
In most states, the only legal options for your body when you die are burial, cremation, or donation. However, composting human remains is now legal in 14 states: Arizona, California (to take effect in 2027), Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Washington state was the first to pass legislation in 2019. In April 2021, the world's first large-scale human composting facility opened south of Seattle, and lawmakers in other states are currently introducing bills to legalize human composting.
Why Is Human Composting Becoming Popular?
The “green burial” movement has gained traction in the last few years as consumers look for less costly and more environmentally friendly ways to handle their remains. It may also be a consequence of the movement toward more organic consumer behaviors.
People interested in human composting want to avoid the often-exorbitant expense of traditional funerals. They also want to avoid the less-expensive option of cremation, with its significant environmental cost.
Too often, though, state laws are an impediment. While most states do not explicitly prohibit green burials, many have laws and regulations requiring paved roads, fencing, and endowments that create obstacles. Additionally, local ordinances often make green burials difficult. A few states such as California, Indiana, Washington and the District of Columbia do not allow backyard burials.
Say hello, then, to human composting.
How Does Human Composting Work?
There's nothing new about composting, of course. Humans have been creating and using compost for thousands of years. The mulch that results when you pile together organic matter like food scraps and leaves fertilizes plants and enriches the soil. These days, many people maintain backyard compost heaps for that purpose.
As its name implies, human composting or “natural organic reduction,” means applying that same process to human remains.
Recompose, one of the human composting service companies now operating in Washington, describes the composting process this way: The body is placed in a cradle surrounded by wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. It is then placed into a vessel and covered with more plant material. The vessel remains unopened and monitored by proprietary technology, which will periodically rotate the contents for 30 days while microbes naturally break down and convert the contents into nutrient-rich soil. Each body creates about one cubic yard of material that can then be used to enrich gardens, forests, or conservation lands, nourishing new life.
Recompose was the first company to announce its intention to begin operation, but others have emerged. Herland Forest, a nonprofit natural burial cemetery (no embalming or caskets), provides the service entirely outdoors, relying on manpower instead of technology to monitor and rotate the vessels. A third is Return Home, which has trademarked the name “Terramation" to describe what they do.
A Look at the Price Tags
The prices for these services include the process of transforming the body into soil, as well as other services, including transportation, a video of the "laying in," filing of death certificates, and obituaries. They range from around $3,000 at Herland Forest, which has fewer frills, to $4,950 at Return Home and $5,500 at Recompose.
Return Home and Recompose feature several add-ons of the type you'd expect from a funeral home. Recompose, for instance, offers “the opportunity for a virtual ceremony facilitated by the Recompose staff," the filing of the death certificate, transportation, shipping, and “empathetic handling of the body."
How do these prices compare with other options? According to the National Funeral Home Directors Association, in 2023, the national median cost for an adult funeral with viewing and burial is $8,300. When a vault is included, it rises to $9,995. The average cost of a funeral with cremation is a bit lower, $6,280.
There are also green burial sites, whose numbers are rapidly expanding. These are cemeteries where bodies are buried in shallow graves without headstones to decompose naturally. Prices for green burials vary widely, depending on many factors, but an article in Pew Stateline says that a burial in the White Eagle Memorial Preserve in southern Washington costs a little over $3,000.
With its goal of a green conclusion to life, human composting is similar, but it differs in that it gives families the freedom to do with the remains of their loved one as they wish. In that sense, human composting is similar to cremation, where families may spread the ashes in, say, a cherished geographic location. The difference is that compost has a biological value that cremated remains do not.
Another difference is that the compost comes with a much lighter environmental cost. The Green Burial Council estimates that cremation, which involves heating a furnace to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours, produces the same emissions as driving 500 miles in a car. (GBC also says that traditional funerals result in 4 million gallons of embalming fluid and 64,000 tons of steel going into the ground each year.)
How to Plan for Human Composting
If you are interested in this latest green burial option for yourself or for a loved one who has expressed a desire, it may be wise to start planning for it now. Estate-planning attorney Alison J. Warden wrote in the Puget Sound Business Journal that in Washington, people have the right to "give explicit, written directions on how to dispose of (their) remains." They also have the right to name an agent to execute their wishes, such as an estate-planning attorney or a death care services provider.
You may also want to check if your religion has prohibitions on this type of burial. For example, the Catholic Church considers human composting akin to alkaline hydrolysis, (known as water cremation). They prohibit this practice because it conflicts with the reverence for the body. The Catholic Church does allow for burial and cremation (as long as the remains are buried in a sacred place).
For now, the options for human composting are geographically limited. But if the concept spreads, more and more Americans may have an opportunity to think about having a different, more life-giving end to their days.
Like the idea or hate it, human composting is now a thing. According to Martha Stewart, being able to compost your remains may also be a “good thing.”
Related Resources:
- Discrimination After Death: Funeral Home Sued for Refusing to Cremate Gay Man (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Can I Sue for Mortuary or Funeral Home Negligence? (FindLaw's Injured)
- Who Pays Funeral Costs After a Relative's Death? (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
