In 2021, a Seattle Washington funeral company is set to open its doors and begin accepting customers in a first of a kind human composting site.
US 'deathcare' company Recompose will be able to turn the deceased into a cubic yard of soil over a period of as little as 30 days, using one-eighth of the energy of cremation and saving as much as a metric ton of carbon dioxide from being produced compared to other forms of burial.
The company will be able to service up to 75 individuals at once.
the process sees bodies placed in reusable vessels covered in woodchips, alfalfa and hay, and sealed away in hexagonal tubes.
There the corpse's temperature is regulated while its surroundings are aerated, allowing naturally occurring bacteria to break down the body over the course of four to seven weeks.
The deceased is then returned to their loved ones as compost, limiting the carbon footprint from cremations and traditional burials while cutting out the embalming fluid chemicals which can leach into the soil and can pollute groundwater.
If desired, the dearly departed dirt can also be donated to
a land soil project to provide a forest on the state's Bell Mountain with additional nutrients, with one person creating 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of soil.
Previous Coverage Here, Here, and Here
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Muad'Dave on Tuesday December 10 2019, @12:03PM (2 children)
I'm still concerned about prions infecting the resulting 'humulch' (I think I'll trademark that) and getting into the environment. From their FAQ:
How can Recompose be sure that their customers are prion-disease free? One misdiagnosis (or missed diagnosis, for that matter) of CJD, CWD, Alzheimers, or another prion disease (perhaps one we haven't recognized yet) and you put the recipients of the 'humulch' and anyone downstream in the hydrological cycle in danger of infection.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 10 2019, @04:25PM
Well still better than the soylentgreen idea
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=19/09/07/0111254 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Tuesday December 10 2019, @09:36PM
I'm not sure but alkaline hydrolysis [wikipedia.org], otherwise known as 'liquid cremation' may be a sufficiently rigorous process to denature human prion proteins. It is used to dispose of animal carcases that are infected with transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
According to Wikipedia: