Human Composting Now a Burial Choice in Colorado

(16 Sep 2021) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4344371
Human composting is now a burial choice in Colorado.
On Sept. 7, Colorado became the second state after Washington to allow human body composting. Oregon will allow the practice beginning next July.
In Washington, the three businesses licensed to compost human remains have transformed at least 85 bodies since the law took effect in May 2020, and more than 900 people have signed up for the service as natural funerals become more popular.
"My dream with human composting is that it would become the default, like cremation is right now in the US, that that most of us would choose to return to the earth that way," said Katrina Spade, who founded the compost company Recompose and spearheaded the legalization of the practice in Washington.
Seth Viddal, who co-owns The Natural Funeral, is looking forward to launching his composting business. He and one of his employees have built a "vessel" they hope will usher in a more environmentally friendly era of mortuary science that includes the natural organic reduction of human remains, also known as body composting.
"We're not as stationary and anchored to a hometown as we used to be. We're global and mobile population, and so having a place for the children or the grandchildren to return to is less of a concern in a modern population," he said.
Viddal, who co-owns The Natural Funeral in Lafayette, lobbied the Colorado Legislature for the option and started building a prototype vessel in an industrial area soon after the bipartisan bill was signed into law.
Based on a design being used in Washington, the insulated wooden box is about 7 feet long (2 meters), 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep, lined with waterproof roofing material and packed with wood chips and straw. Two large spool wheels on either end allow it to be rolled across the floor, providing the oxygenation, agitation and absorption required for a body to compost.
After about three months, the vessel is opened and the "soil" is filtered for medical devices like prosthetics, pacemakers or joint replacements. The remaining large bones are then pulverized and returned to the vessel for another three months of composting. Teeth are removed to prevent contamination from mercury in fillings.
The vessel must reach 131 degrees Fahrenheit (55 Celsius) for 72 continuous hours to kill any bacteria and pathogens. The high temperature occurs naturally during the breakdown of the body in an enclosed box.
In six months, the body, wood chips and straw will transform into enough soil to fill the bed of a pickup truck. Family members can keep the soil to spread in their yards, but Colorado law forbids selling it and using it commercially to grow food for human consumption and only allows licensed funeral homes and crematories to compost human bodies.
The Natural Funeral charges $7,900 for body composting, compared with $2,200 for flame cremation, and Viddal notes that a traditional burial and service in the Denver area can run well north of $10,000. The company has not yet composted any bodies, but several people have signed up and paid for the service.
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[@waxworse]

Very telling how in the description it mentions the reason why the teeth have to be removed.

[@matthewst537]

In a sense when you die would you rather be dead maybe if you go to heaven sure dont know but if you do this you can then become something new like a plant it like that reincarnation thing but only for plants

[@ANDROLOMA]

I propose to name this method Soylent Manure.