New York Legalizes Recycling Human Corpses As Compost For Nature

What happens to us after we pass on from this life is a big question mark we’ll have to address at some point. While many will opt for traditional methods such as cremation or a burial, the state of New York is now offering the chance for your dead body to give life to nature and be turned into compost.
 
The bill passed in 2022 when governor Kathy Hochul signed Assembly Bill A382 into law to allow natural organic reduction or human composting.
 
Traditional methods of honoring the dead often have detrimental effects on the environment. For example, cremating a corpse takes up a lot of energy and generates about 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.

In addition, burying a single body uses around three gallons of formaldehyde, methanol, and ethanol to preserve the corpse. These chemicals eventually seep into their surrounding environment and can lead to groundwater.
 
That said, natural organic reduction can significantly reduce the carbon footprint death has on the environment.
 
In order for the remains to be prepped for composting, they are first cured with wood chips, alfalfa, and straw for several weeks, where microbes can break them down into mulch. Each corpse can produce a cubic yard of soil—36 bags of soil to be exact—which the deceased’s family can use in the garden or outdoors to bring new life from death.
 
It is estimated that this organic process of bidding farewell to loved ones can save up to one metric ton of CO2 per body.
 
However, not all institutions are on board with the idea of literally returning to the Earth in this manner. The New York State Catholic Conference has urged Catholics to oppose Hochul on the bill citing that bodies are not meant to be used as “household waste.”
 
This has not stopped the bill from passing nor swayed other states from following suit. New York was the third state behind California and Vermont to legalize the process in 2022. And this follows Washington in 2019 as the first state to do so, with Colorado and Oregon trailing behind in 2021. Other places in the US, such as Delaware, Hawai’i, and Maine, have also submitted similar proposals.
 
 
 
[via Gizmodo and Associated Press News, Photo 89857884 © Lauraganz | Dreamstime.com]