Citizens of the state of California (United States) will be able to choose whether or not their remains will be composted, as is the case with organ donation.
Human compost to fight climate change
The “recomposition” or composting of human corpses is initially promoted by the American company Recompose , which achieved that human composting was considered a post-mortem treatment. The State of Washington was the first to legalize this funeral method in 2019. And now the State of California has done so.
Human composting is based on a burial of the human body that, instead of ashes, results in humus made from wood chips, flowers and straw next to the body and corpse, which allows microbes and bacteria to decompose the remains, whose transformation into fertile humus will be suitable for composting once all the recomposition processes have finished.
About a month later , the remains will completely decompose and turn into soil. This post-mortem treatment is also ecological and environmentally friendly, since the composting process consumes only 10% of the footprint of conventional burial.
new bill
The bill, known as natural organic reduction (NOR), would be an option for residents who do not want to be buried or cremated after their death, starting in 2027. Mind you, the bill prohibits the combining of remains. from multiple people unless they are related.
“AB 351 will provide an additional option for California residents that is more environmentally friendly and will give them another option for burial,” Cristina Garcia, author of the bill, said in a statement.
“With climate change and sea level rise being very real threats to our environment, this is an alternative disposal method that will not contribute emissions to our atmosphere. I hope to continue my legacy of fighting for clean air by using my reduced remains to plant a tree,” Garcia said.
The Catholic Church is against this bill.
What do you think of human compost?
