As someone approaches death, they usually have only two final alternatives: Burial or cremation.
But now – for the first time in Colorado – people have another choice: Becoming human fertilizer.
On March 20 – the first day of Spring – a family in Fremont County gathered in the hills outside town to spread the remains of a family member upon the soil.
The remains had gone through a process called “human composting,” and with the March 20 ceremony Colorado became the second state in the nation to legally use the process.
Washington was the first, and two more states – New York and Oregon – are considering it.
The process takes about six months for a body to completely break down in a closed container containing wood chips, alfalfa and straw into a “soil” – mixed with flower and natural grass seeds – that can be incorporated into the Earth.
And while laws prevent the soil from being used to grow food, it can be used to grow flowers, trees and plants.
"It will nourish the land that’s here,” said Seth Viddal, owner of The Natural Funeral, the company that conducted the event. “It will be a foundation for the seeds that we’re mixing into that soil today.
"It’ll be the foundation of life here forever."
"The cycle of life is truly going to continue as a result of what is happening today," Viddal said in a news story.
"We’re doing a conversion process that brings (the) body back to something that the Earth can accept and use," Viddal told an interviewer. "People who are environmentally-minded or agriculturally-minded are clamoring for an option that respects the Earth the way that they do."
What happens to our bodies after we die is perhaps the most deeply personal decision we -- or our surviving family members -- must make.
Burial is the longest-used method, going back to the Stone Age. The main advantage for burial is it gives survivors a place to come to throughout their lives to remember the departed.
Cremation is a more modern alternative to burial – much less expensive and allows for the ashes to be divided among the departed’s survivors and spread in a place that was special to the deceased.
But now there is also human composting in the states that allow it.
For many families, cost is unfortunately one of the big issues when dealing with the loss of a loved one.
While funeral costs vary widely across America, my research shows me that human composting – also called “natural reduction” – runs around $6,000 in Colorado.
That’s certainly cheaper than a full burial service – which can run from about $7,600 on up – but is more expensive than cremation, which is typically between $1,000 to $3,000.
I’ve always leaned toward cremation when my time comes – and it’s currently part of my Will.
But human composting just may become my new choice for when I must leave my body behind.
What about you?
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