A Consistent Place of Healing

In our modern society, people aren't given enough time to grieve their losses. The
pressures of work, even the simple emotional need to ‘be busy,’ often bring the
bereaved back into the ‘real’ world far too soon.
Also, many families are choosing to scatter the cremated remains of their loved one
in a favorite place; the ocean, or even in the skies above. While that may seem fitting
at the time, it means that you do not have a consistent place to connect with the
memories of the person you loved so dearly.
Having such permanent place - in a cemetery, mausoleum, or cremation garden -
that can be visited regularly by family and friends is an essential part of the time
following a death. It becomes a focal point of memorialization, and gives everyone a
special place to go to remember your loved one, or to commemorate important
occasions. It can help to make a birthday or anniversary less painful.
A permanent place to reflect on your loved one becomes a way of connecting to a
family's past. Visiting the resting place of grandparents or great-grandparents may
provide children with an anchor to their personal history. It is a connection to the
past, to love shared. It truly honors the relationship you still have – and will always
have – with that person.

Criteria and Characteristics of Green Burial

There is great debate over the use of the word "green" when discussing burial. Hybrid, natural,
and conservation cemeteries choosing to follow the basic guidelines of green burial fall under the
general category of green cemeteries, as opposed to conventional-lawn cemeteries that require
concrete or plastic vaults or liners, allow embalmed bodies, and allow exotic wood or metal
caskets.

Natural burial grounds, cemeteries, and preserves all seek to bury without impediment. That
means no embalming, no liners or vaults, and using biodegradable containers, whether caskets,
shrouds or nothing at all. These cemeteries are operated by a variety of owners: municipal
governments, religious groups, individuals, nonprofits, for-profits, and others. Often these burial
grounds are designated natural because they may not be directly affiliated with or in partnership
with a land trust or other conservation entity; but they most likely are committed to following
conservation best practices nonetheless. Natural burial cemeteries strive to provide rich
experiences for families and friends amidst careful restoration and maintenance of the land and its
inhabitants, both above and below ground. To drill down to the specific requirements for
qualifying as a green burial provider, please visit our Our Standards.

GBC's Green Burial Ground Criteria

  Caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of
natural resources
 Reduction of carbon emissions
 Protection of worker health
 Restoration and/or preservation of habitat

Green Burial Cemetery Characteristics

 Foregoes toxic embalming

 Does away with vaults
 Chooses biodegradable containers, caskets, shrouds, and urns
 Discontinues herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers
 Encourages sustainable management practices
 May use GPS units or non-native stone markers to mark grave sites
 May support land conservation efforts

Human composting
6 languages

 Article
 Talk
 Read
 Edit
 View history
Tools


 


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jurisdictions in the United States that have legalized human composting

Human composting is a process for the final disposition of human remains in

which microbes convert a deceased body into compost. It is also called natural
organic reduction (NOR) or terramation.[1]

Although the natural decomposition of human corpses into soil is a long-standing

practice, a more rapid process that was developed in the early 21st century entails
encasing human corpses in wood chips, straw, and alfafa
until thermophile microbes decompose the body.[2] In this manner, the transformation
can be sped up to as little as 1–2 months.[2] The accelerated process is based in part
on techniques developed for the composting of livestock.[2]

Though human composting was common before modern burial practices and in
some religious traditions, contemporary society has tended to favor other disposition
methods. However, cultural attention to concerns like sustainability and
environmentally friendly burial has led to a resurgence in interest in direct
composting of human bodies.[2] Some religious and cultural communities have been
critical of this modern composting practice, even though it is in many ways a return
to more traditional practices. Human composting is legal in Sweden[3] and in multiple
US states, and natural burials without a casket or with a biodegradable container are
common practice in Muslim and Jewish traditions and are allowed in the UK, the US,
and many other locations throughout the world.[4][5]

Reception[edit]
Proponents say human composting is more economical, environmentally friendly,
and respectful of the body and the earth than the methods of disposal that are
typically practiced in technologically advanced societies. Cremation uses fossil
fuels or large amounts of wood for funeral pyres (both of which generate polluting
smoke and release large amounts of carbon), and conventional burial is land-
intensive, has a high carbon footprint, and frequently involves disposing of bodily
fluids and liquefied organs in the sewer and injecting the body with toxic embalming
chemicals. By contrast, human composting, like natural burial, is a natural process
and contributes ecological value by preserving the body's nutrient material.[6] Some
have argued that "natural organic reduction respects the human body and spirit,
supports rather than sullies the earth, and works with nature rather than against it." [7]

Critics say the rapid decomposition process is inappropriate for human bodies.
The Catholic Church in the United States, for example has argued that it does not
confer the respect due to bodily remains,[8][9][10] though other Catholics have maintained
that human composting "fulfill[s] in a more direct way the Biblical declaration that we
are dust and to dust we shall return (Genesis 3:19)."[11] Orthodox Jewish
interpretations of Halakha religious law oppose the sped-up composting process,
saying it lacks appropriate reverence for the dead, with the matter under debate in
other variations of Judaism.[12][13]

Muslim burial practices ordinarily involve natural burials without embalming or

cremation. They involve prompt washing of the corpse, wrapping it in a simple plain-
cloth shroud, and rapid burial without a casket, with some soil placed under the
body. Jewish burial practices are very similar. If a casket is used in a Jewish burial,
the casket is generally simple and made of unfinished wood, and strictly-observant
practice avoids all use of metal; the wood parts of the casket are joined by wood
dowels rather than nails. Caskets are not used in Israel.

Washington was the first U.S. state to allow the practice of human composting. [6][14]
[4]
Three burial businesses in the state of Washington offer human composting as of
December 2022.[12][5]

Legal status[edit]
Human composting is legal in Sweden[3] and multiple US states, and natural burials
without a casket or with a biodegradable container are allowed in the UK, the US,
and many other locations throughout the world.[4]

In the United States, rapid human composting has become legally allowed or
approved to become allowed in the future in seven states as of May 2023:[12][14]

 Washington (approved in May 2019, taking effect on May 1, 2020)[6][5][14][4]

 Colorado (approved in May 2021, taking effect on August 8, 2021)[6][5][15]
 Oregon (approved in June 2021, taking effect on January 1, 2022)[6][5][16]
 Vermont (approved in June 2022, taking effect on January 1, 2023)[5][17]
 California (approved on September 18, 2022, to take effect in 2027)[9][5][18]
 New York (approved on December 31, 2022, pending further regulatory action)[5][14]
 Nevada (approved in May 2023, taking effect on January 1, 2024)[19]