Colorado Considers Making Human Composting Legal

Turning the human remains of loved ones into soil to be resued, also known as human composting, could soon be legal in the state of Colorado, reports KOAA NEWS5.

Colorado lawmakers are considering a bill that would give people a new alternative to burial and cremation.

The bill previously came up in 2020, but didn't go anywhere due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports KOAA.

Human composting was legalized in Washington back in 2019, the governor signing a bill into law that stated dead human bodies could be buried, cremated, or "recomposed."

A study done by the Washington State University's Soil Science proved that it was possible to rapidly convert "human remains to soil-like material" in a safe way. Actually, the process is even deemed as an environmentally friendly alternative.

"Every time it's [human composting] in the news we have someone calling us saying, I want to become compost do you guys do that?" Lauren Carroll, Funeral Director and Manager of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, told KOAA.

While the funeral home doesn't have plans to offer the service, other Colorado funeral homes might if the bipartisan Human Remains Natural Reduction Soil bill passes.

If the bill does pass, it would mean certain activities in relation to human composting would become crimes including performing natural reduction without permission or selling the soil.

You can read the full text of the bill here.

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