Turning human bodies into compost works, a small trial suggests
SEATTLE — Human bodies make great worm food. That’s the conclusion of pilot experiments with six dead bodies that were allowed to decompose among wood chips and other organic material. The results, presented February 16 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, suggest that composting, also called natural organic reduction, is a way to handle dead bodies that’s easy on the Earth. Disposing of dead human bodies can be a real environmental problem. Embalming relies on large quantities of toxic fluid, and cremation throws off lots of carbon dioxide. But composting, in which microbes break down the bodies into soil, “is a fabulous option,” says Jennifer DeBruyn, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville who wasn’t involved in the study. In 2019, Washington became the first state to legalize natural organic reduction as a post-life option. A Seattle-based company called Recompose expects to start accepting bodies for composting soon. In a news briefing, soil scientist Lynne...