The state of New York has given the green light to turn the bodies of those who want it into compost. Proponents of fertilization argue that this is an environmentally friendly method and will also solve the cemeteries problem in many cities.
The US state of New York has approved that human corpses can be turned into compost.
According to the news of the British public broadcaster BBC, it will be possible for those who want to turn their bodies into soil after they die in New York. This method is seen as more environmentally friendly than coffin burial and cremation.
In 2019, Washington became the first US state to allow the practice.
Fertilization is done by keeping the corpses in a container with wood chips, clover and grass for about a month. It is the activities of microbes that turn corpses into compost.
After the corpses are composted, they are heated to prevent any contamination and the resulting soil is given to the relatives of the dead. The US-based company Recompose reports that this service releases about 1 tonne less carbon than burial or cremation.
Fertilizer supporters argue that there is a shortage of cemeteries in many cities and that this method will also be a solution to this problem.
On the other hand, there are those who think that this land creates an ethical problem. It is reported that the Catholic bishops in New York are against this and that it is not correct to consider human corpses as “household waste”.
There are also those who find the cost of this process to be about 7 thousand dollars too much.
The Recompose company, which implemented the application, says that this is not a high service, considering that the average burial fee is 7,848 and the cremation fee is 6,971 in 2021.
