California Lawmaker Introduces Bill That Would Allow Human Body Composting
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would make it easier for people to have their bodies composted after they die.
AB 2592 was introduced by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) on Tuesday. The after-death method called Natural Organic Reduction is the process of turning remains into clean soil to be put back into the ground.
The bill would amend existing law to allow people to have the option of putting their bodies in a specialized composting vessel. The bodies would then be allowed to naturally turn into a nutrient-dense soil.
According to the pioneer company, "Recompose," the technique is a more environmentally friendly option than your traditional funeral arrangements, i.e. cremation & burial. If passed, the method could potentially save California 2.5 million metric tons of CO2 over 10 years. Families would then get that soil back and have the option of a more environmentally-friendly burial.
"With climate change and sea-level rise as very real threats to our environment, this is an alternative method of final disposition that won't contribute emissions into our atmosphere," Asem. Garcia said in a statement about the bill's introduction.
According to National Funeral Directors Association statistics, about two-thirds of Californians choose cremation over a traditional burial – a process that, while conserving cemetery space, also releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Asem. Garcia said one company, Recompose, is looking to make body composting available to Californians by as soon as 2021.
Should California pass the bill, they would join only Washington State in offering Natural Organic Reduction as an after-death option.
