Human Composting is an increasingly popular and sustainable way to commemorate the life of a loved one. It is an environmentally friendly process that allows you to honor the circle of life and give back to the planet. Unlike traditional cremation, which releases harmful pollutants into the air, human composting involves a process of natural decomposition allowing the deceased body to return to the earth and fertilize the soil. This article will explore the process of human composting and the benefits that it offers.
Why Consider Human Composting?
Human Composting is an alternative way to honor the passing of a loved one and return their remains to the earth. It is a natural, eco-friendly approach that not only saves energy and resources, but also helps nourish the soil. It is a meaningful way to give back to nature, as well as honoring a person’s life and death.
The process of human composting is much less energy-intensive than cremation and does not release any harmful chemicals into the air, making it a more eco-friendly option. Human composting is faster and produces the same percentage of soil as traditional composting methods.
It is also more cost-effective in comparison to cremation services. Human composting is a respectful way to memorialize and celebrate a life.
In addition to its ecological benefits, it offers families a unique way to honor the deceased and bring closure to their death. It also provides a sense of connection to the natural environment and a reminder of the cycle of life and death.
The Process
Human composting is an eco-friendly alternative to traditional cremation or burial that can help reduce your carbon footprint. It is a three-step process that begins with using a specialized facility to break down the body using natural organic processes.
The organic material is then mixed with wood chips and covered with a layer of alfalfa, straw, or other carbon-rich material to help speed up the decomposition process. Once the decomposition process is complete, the resulting soil is safe to use in the garden or home landscaping. It’s important to note that the entire process takes approximately four to six weeks.
Human composting is also significantly cheaper than traditional cremation or burial, with most facilities charging a fraction of the cost.
It is also a much more sustainable option, as it requires significantly less energy and resources than cremation or burial. Due to the shorter decomposition process, the compost can be used more quickly than it would be if it were buried or cremated. With human composting, you can rest assured that you are doing your part to reduce your environmental impact and provide a meaningful way to honour your loved ones.
Cremation vs. Human Composting
When choosing between cremation and human composting, it’s important to consider the environmental impacts. While cremation does not lead to the release of toxins into the environment, it does consume energy and contributes to global warming.
Human composting is a much more sustainable option, as it uses the natural process of breaking down organic material to turn a human body into soil. This process uses significantly less energy and produces less carbon dioxide than cremation. In addition to the environmental benefits, human composting can also have strong emotional and spiritual benefits.
It can be seen as an act of love and respect to the deceased, and it also allows survivors to feel connected to the deceased in a tangible way by touching the soil that the body was transformed into. It also allows them to be comforted by the idea that the deceased was able to give something back to the planet, even after death.
The Three-Step Human Composting Process
Human Composting is an incredibly simple process that’s also incredibly beneficial to the environment. The method involves three steps: preparation, collection and composting. In the preparation step, a body is covered in a biodegradable material like a cotton sheet.
Once the body is prepped, it is placed in a container for collection and transferred to a composting facility. The composting facility is where the natural process of decomposition begins.
Bacteria and other organisms break down the body matter into soil over the course of a few weeks.
The soil is then used to nourish plants and aid in their growth. Human Composting is an earth-friendly way to honor the dead, and it’s increasingly becoming a popular alternative to traditional methods such as cremation. It is also more energy efficient and eliminates the need for expensive caskets, as well as avoiding the emission of harmful gases. It’s a great way to reduce your carbon footprint while providing a meaningful way to memorialize your loved one.
Benefits
Human composting offers a number of benefits for both the environment and for your health. If done correctly, it can help to reduce your environmental footprint significantly and may even save you money over traditional cremation methods. It is a way to give back to the planet and provide a natural and respectful way to honor those that have passed away.
Human composting is also a healthier option than traditional cremation. It has the potential to reduce the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere and help to promote healthy soil.
The process is also incredibly respectful of the deceased, as their body is broken down in a natural way, giving them one last gift to the environment. It is an option that allows for a more meaningful and respectful way to say goodbye to a loved one.
Environmental Benefits
Human composting is an environmentally friendly option for those looking for a more sustainable way to handle their end-of-life journey. By using the same composting principles that break down organic material, human composting helps reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the environment. Not only does human composting eliminate the traditional use of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, but it also removes the need for large amounts of energy and resources to cremate a body.
Human composting returns nutrients to the soil and helps create a years-long cycle of life, rather than a single-use cycle of death. Human composting also reduces the need for land and materials that are used to bury the dead.
Cemeteries take up millions of square feet of land and require large amounts of resources to maintain them, while human composting requires just one cubic yard of soil per person, dramatically reducing the amount of land used and resources consumed. Human composting ensures that the body is disposed of in a respectful manner, providing a dignified, natural method of honoring the deceased. With the ever-increasing population and competition for land, human composting is an increasingly attractive and environmentally sound choice for those who wish to leave as small of a carbon footprint as possible.
Health Benefits
Human composting has some great health benefits which makes it worth considering. Unlike cremation, there are no harmful by-products released into the atmosphere from human composting.
This means that the air you’re breathing is free from any toxins released from the body during the composting process. Human composting allows for the body to be returned to the earth in a natural, respectful way. It’s an environmentally-friendly option for those who wish for their remains to be returned to the planet in a way that doesn’t use resources or produce pollution.
Another great health benefit to human composting is that it uses natural processes to decompose the body.
This means that potentially harmful chemicals and preservatives found in traditional embalming methods aren’t used. This allows the body to be more naturally broken down over time, rather than using potentially dangerous chemicals to preserve the body.
Human composting is a great way to give back to the planet. By breaking down the body into soil, you can help provide nutrients to the soil for future generations. Human composting is an act of sustainability that can have a positive impact on the environment. It’s an eco-friendly solution for those who care about the planet and want to pass down their positive impact on the environment for future generations.
Conclusion
Human composting is an environmentally friendly, cost effective and hygienic way of returning human remains back to nature. It is also a meaningful and respectful way to honor the dead.
By choosing to human compost, you are giving a gift to the planet, and you can have peace of mind knowing your loved one’s remains have been returned to the Earth in the most natural and gentle way possible. Human composting is a relatively new concept, and its environmental and health benefits make it an attractive option to explore. It is important to note, however, that human composting is not currently legal in the US.
If you are interested in human composting, it is important to research the legal and logistical issues that may be involved. Choosing human composting is a personal decision, and one that can be a powerful and meaningful way to honor the deceased. It is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative to traditional burial and cremation, and it is an option to consider if you want to give back to the planet after your loved one’s passing.