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| Human Composting Legalized in Washington State as Cemeteries Fill Up | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Urban cemeteries are filling up. Cremation releases greenhouse gases. Now, Washington has legalized a third option: human composting. | Urban cemeteries are filling up. Cremation releases greenhouse gases. Now, Washington has legalized a third option: human composting. |
| Legislation allowing the practice of “aboveground decomposition” to begin next May was signed into law on Tuesday by Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, making the state the first place in the nation — and probably the world, legal experts said — to explicitly allow human remains to become compost. | Legislation allowing the practice of “aboveground decomposition” to begin next May was signed into law on Tuesday by Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, making the state the first place in the nation — and probably the world, legal experts said — to explicitly allow human remains to become compost. |
| The bill will allow bodies to be placed in a receptacle with organic material like wood chips to help speed up the natural transition to soil. | The bill will allow bodies to be placed in a receptacle with organic material like wood chips to help speed up the natural transition to soil. |
| After several weeks, families will be allowed to keep the soil to spread, just as they save the cremated ashes of their loved ones. | After several weeks, families will be allowed to keep the soil to spread, just as they save the cremated ashes of their loved ones. |
| Washington seems an apt place to renew an ancient alternative to burial: A larger percentage of its residents are cremated than in any other state. And only California and New York have more “green cemeteries,” which bury people without embalming, caskets and headstones and leave land wild rather than landscaped. | Washington seems an apt place to renew an ancient alternative to burial: A larger percentage of its residents are cremated than in any other state. And only California and New York have more “green cemeteries,” which bury people without embalming, caskets and headstones and leave land wild rather than landscaped. |
| Mr. Inslee, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, has made environmental issues a focus of his campaign. | Mr. Inslee, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, has made environmental issues a focus of his campaign. |
| Aboveground decomposition, its advocates say, is attractive for environmental and financial reasons. | Aboveground decomposition, its advocates say, is attractive for environmental and financial reasons. |
| There is no coffin, no chemicals, and none of the fossil fuels necessary for cremation. There is not a need for a pricey cemetery plot. Some religious traditions also favor ideas of simplicity and of earth returning to earth. | There is no coffin, no chemicals, and none of the fossil fuels necessary for cremation. There is not a need for a pricey cemetery plot. Some religious traditions also favor ideas of simplicity and of earth returning to earth. |
| Preliminary estimates suggest that the cost for human composting could be at least $5,000 — less than many burial services, but more than the most basic cremation. | Preliminary estimates suggest that the cost for human composting could be at least $5,000 — less than many burial services, but more than the most basic cremation. |
| “It gives meaning and use to what happens to our bodies after death,” Nora Menkin, executive director of the Seattle-based People’s Memorial Association, told The Associated Press. | “It gives meaning and use to what happens to our bodies after death,” Nora Menkin, executive director of the Seattle-based People’s Memorial Association, told The Associated Press. |