California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill this week making it legal to use human remains as compost, starting in 2027. Human composting is an eco-friendly alternative to cremation which, in the US, generates 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. From SFGate:
The process of composting a cadaver, already legalized in Washington, Colorado and Oregon, involves placing the body in a reusable container, surrounding it with wood chips and aerating it to let microbes and bacteria grow. After about a month, the remains will decompose and be fully transformed into soil. Companies such as Recompose in Washington offer the service at a natural organic reduction facility[…]
The California bill bans the combining of multiple peoples' remains, unless they are family, but unlike Colorado, California is not explicitly banning the sale of the soil or its use growing food for human consumption.
The process has met opposition in California from the Catholic Church, which say the process "reduces the human body to simply a disposable commodity."
