Composting of human bodies now legal in Washington state

[GOYABEAN]

Ashes to ashes, guts to dirt.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation Tuesday making Washington the first state to approve composting as an alternative to burying or cremating human remains.
It allows licensed facilities to offer "natural organic reduction," which turns a body, mixed with substances such as wood chips and straw, into about two wheelbarrows' worth of soil in a span of several weeks.

Loved ones are allowed to keep the soil to spread, just as they might spread the ashes of someone who has been cremated — or even use it to plant vegetables or a tree.

"It gives meaning and use to what happens to our bodies after death," said Nora Menkin, executive director of the Seattle-based People's Memorial Association, which helps people plan for funerals.

Supporters say the method is an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation, which releases carbon dioxide and particulates into the air, and conventional burial, in which people are drained of their blood, pumped full of formaldehyde and other chemicals that can pollute groundwater, and placed in a nearly indestructible coffin, taking up land.

those tomatoes are going to be huge

Composting of human bodies now legal in Washington state

 

[fresch]

Dirt it's people!
I mean soylint green, it's people!

 

[togmaster]

Man that must stink.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

In.ter.es.ting...can't say I'm against it, just don't know if I'm for it. But I will say, it's neat in the sense that you could have your deceased loved one turned into soil and you could plant a tree or some shit that your loved one breaths life into..a living memory if you will.

 

[S&W Fan]

I heard about this on the Bob & Tom show on the way to work this morning.
People who drove past me must have though that I was off my rocker
I was laughing so hard.

 

[Darth]

Why is this news?

 

[Podmonkey]

Yeah, I don't have a problem with this at all. I even think it's a good way to go. I always thought I'd like to be buried and have a tree planted on top of my corpse so whatever is left of me becomes part of the tree.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

Yeah, I don't have a problem with this at all. I even think it's a good way to go. I always though I'd like to be buried and have a tree planted on top of my corpse so whatever is left of me becomes part of the tree.

My only wish, is that whatever tree grows on top of me grows guns and ammo.

 

[prambo]

Yeah, I don't have a problem with this at all. I even think it's a good way to go. I always though I'd like to be buried and have a tree planted on top of my corpse so whatever is left of me becomes part of the tree.

Have to agree with that sentiment. I'd just want the tree planted in a free state...if there are still any left.

My favorite option would be to have my ashes scattered in Kenya at the base of either Ololokwe or Nzaui.

 

[Acer-m14]

Supporters say the method is an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation, which releases carbon dioxide and particulates into the air,

don't they keep screaming that CO2 is causing global warming .. calling AOC to confirm ..

 

[GOPerfect]

I think this is a fantastic idea. Families should be able to do what they wish with a family members dead body.

I want to be burned on a tall bonfire.

 

[Calculon]

I’ve always wanted a Viking funeral. How great would it be to have your friends and relatives shoot flaming arrows to ignite your pyre on a wooden boat on a lake somewhere?

 

[Deplorable Me]

I’ve always wanted a Viking funeral. How great would it be to have your friends and relatives shoot flaming arrows to ignite your pyre on a wooden boat on a lake somewhere?

Make sure they understand you're supposed to be dead first.

 

[Deplorable Me]

don't they keep screaming that CO2 is causing global warming .. calling AOC to confirm ..

Composting creates CO2 as well.

 

[GOYABEAN]

 

[togmaster]

I’ve always wanted a Viking funeral. How great would it be to have your friends and relatives shoot flaming arrows to ignite your pyre on a wooden boat on a lake somewhere?

I've said the same thing to my family. The only thing I would do differently is having it in a crowded harbor full of expensive yachts.

 

[1911guy]

I guess the people who bury their victims in the back yard to rot are doing us a favor after all.

 

[BDinPutnam]

Why is this news?

I'm just glad to see an article that isn't about politics.

 

[Darth]

I'm just glad to see an article that isn't about politics.

It's still about rotting human corpses, so it's still pretty similar.

 

[subsonic]

Yeah, I don't have a problem with this at all. I even think it's a good way to go. I always thought I'd like to be buried and have a tree planted on top of my corpse so whatever is left of me becomes part of the tree.

You can already do this with a traditional burial. Lots of old family cemeteries in the country, or the new "green/natural" burial cemeteries, and I like that notion. I don't see the advantage of being processed in a compost heap in a warehouse; way too soylent for me. But if they want to sell this and someone wants to buy it then if they are honest I don't see why they shouldn't be have that right.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

Bad idea. Humans tend to be riddled with parasites by the time they die. You would also be susceptible to many diseases. You don't wanna grow stuff out of human remains. Not to eat at least. And don't step on the stuff if you're only growing a tree.

 

[subsonic]

Bad idea. Humans tend to be riddled with parasites by the time they die. You would also be susceptible to many diseases. You don't wanna grow stuff out of human remains. Not to eat at least. And don't step on the stuff if you're only growing a tree.

High-temperature composting kills the bad stuff. They already distribute composted sewage sludge, and you're not advised to put it on your veggies, but it shouldn't have any disease.

After all, in nature everything dies and eventually turns into soil.

I'm sure they'll tell people not to put this on food plants too, and I'm sure some hippies will ignore that as well. But it's more just being conservative and avoiding disgust, rather than any significant health risk if it's done remotely correctly.

The only thing I can imagine could be risky would be prions if someone had CJD/kuru/mad cow. That shit survives just about anything. Supposedly not composting though.

 

[Uzi]

Worms and grubs don't discriminate between human remians when you feed your deceased loved ones to them. The thought is warming and loving anyways. Ground human also sounds good for burger patties too if they're fresher. I'm getting hungry just thinking about all the possibilities now.

 

[Podmonkey]

You can already do this with a traditional burial. Lots of old family cemeteries in the country, or the new "green/natural" burial cemeteries, and I like that notion. I don't see the advantage of being processed in a compost heap in a warehouse; way too soylent for me. But if they want to sell this and someone wants to buy it then if they are honest I don't see why they shouldn't be have that right.

Traditional burial means your are locked up in a casket and sealed into a concrete underground vault. I wanna be right up in the tree roots.
Since I'll be dead though I don't really care that much, but becoming part of a tree seems cool.

 

[Acer-m14]

Traditional burial means your are locked up in a casket and sealed into a concrete underground vault. I wanna be right up in the tree roots.
Since I'll be dead though I don't really care that much, but becoming part of a tree seems cool.

and this would Podmonkey's tree lol ..

 

[Podmonkey]

and this would Podmonkey's tree lol ..

Yes, that would be awesome.

 

[MothMan]

I want to be cremated and my ashes spread on a wet kettle hole, marsh, on my property that is the start of a tributary that feeds Oneida Lake. I figure in a few eons I will be everywhere!!

No effin cemeteries for me.

 

[BDinPutnam]

My wife is very much aware of how I wish to be handled after death.

How she's going to manage to build a 60 foot high replica of the great pyramids on the back of our property is her problem.

 

[Catskillkid]

Worms and grubs don't discriminate between human remians when you feed your deceased loved ones to them. The thought is warming and loving anyways. Ground human also sounds good for burger patties too if they're fresher. I'm getting hungry just thinking about all the possibilities now.

"A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm."
-Hamlet

 

[Podmonkey]

I am very pleased with how we disposed of my Father's remains, I'm positive he would have been also.
He was cremated and spent a 2 years in my brother's home with his grandchildren then last summer we took his ashes to Beaverdam Lake in Wisconsin, the town and lake of his childhood summers. We went out on my Cousin's husband's boat (real good guy) and spread his ashes just offshore from the lakeside cottage he and his family spent their summers in. We all said a few words, told some funny Dad stories but the best tribute by far was spending the next few days boating, waterskiing, cooking brats, drinking beer and just generally having a really fun time with family. My Father would have appreciated that.
When I grew up we had a boat and my family did all that same stuff on our summers, just as he did in his childhood. I suppose I myself wouldn't mind having my ashes spread over lake Erie in remembrance of those happy times.