In the name of environmentally friendly efforts, someone thought of an alternative burial idea that turns human remains into compost. In this way, corpses are used to produce fertile soil.
Last April, a new facility was opened by a company called Return Home, in Seattle, Washington, United States (US). Return Home CEO Micah Truman claims his company's facility will be the world's largest composting facility for converting human remains into compost. He promised to process 10 bodies in a month.
Truman swerved from his previous banking job to a funeral-related industry in 2019, after learning that Washington was legalizing human remains as fertilizer.
The process of turning corpses into fertilizer
He came up with the idea to build a facility whose function is to pack dead human bodies into a container, mixed with crushing materials such as alfalfa, sawdust, and wood chips.
In addition, water, heat, and air are added to speed up the decomposition or process of decaying corpses. After 30 days, the soft tissues of the body will decompose, then the bone and tooth parts will be ground and added to the odor-free mixture.
Next, the mixture is put into a special sieving machine to screen out artificial materials such as metal screws or silicone implants. The compost is then rested for 30 days, before being returned to family members.
"This process is known as natural organic reduction, or terramation, which is an environmentally friendly way to dispose of human remains. This alternative burial method is predicted to be popular in the years to come. Previously, I have tested it on pig carcasses," he said as quoted from Metro, Tuesday (28/9/2021).
Families can include flowers or other organic materials, such as their loved ones' favorite foods, in a composting container, and will be charged USD 4,950 (approximately IDR 70 million) for the process. This is cheaper than paying $5,500 for most burial plots in Washington state, even before the embalming and coffin costs were calculated.
Alternative funeral
Truman said, this alternative way of burial is something that will change the world. According to him, now people can choose a very human and natural funeral process, which has actually been going on for years.
"We can stand next to our loved ones, and say goodbye to them, then cover it with organic ingredients of our own choosing," he said.
Truman also built a farewell area where families can say goodbye and last respects to their loved ones, complete with music and flower arrangements if they wish.
They will also be offered as much compost as they want. On average one corpse will produce about 200 kilograms of composted soil. The remainder, will be donated to local environmental initiatives to be used as compost.
Truman predicts this method of burial will be popular with farmers looking to "return to the land" of their own. According to him, in the future, burial will be one-fifth of funerals in a decade when people become accustomed to this idea.