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Colorado may soon join Washington as the second state in the nation to legalize human composting,<\/p>\n
According to The<\/em> Denver Post<\/em>, a bill has already passed one Colorado legislative chamber and is only a few votes and one signature away from allowing people to turn their bodies into soil after death.<\/p>\n The measure, which is sponsored by two Democrats and a Republican, does not allow the soil to be sold or used to grow food for human consumption. Combining the soil of multiple people is also prohibited under the bill.<\/p>\n According to Recompose, a human-composting company already in use in Washington, the process "requires one-eighth of the energy used in conventional burial or cremation" and saves "one metric ton of carbon dioxide per person."<\/p>\n The company's accelerated procedure costs about as much as cremation but is thought to be more environmentally friendly. One body can create a few hundred pounds of soil, according to Recompose.<\/p>\n To begin the process, a body is placed into a "cradle" and then transferred into a vessel filled with wood chips, alfalfa and straw. The body is then covered with more of that material and the vessels get stacked on top of one another.<\/p>\n Katrina Spade, the founder and CEO of Recompose, said she thinks of the process as a "hotel for the dead." The bodies stay in a greenhouse-like facility for about 30 days where non-organic materials are sorted and screened as the body is transformed into soil, according to the Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n Never miss a story — sign up for<\/em><\/strong>PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter<\/em><\/strong> to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n After this step, the soil is moved to a finishing container where it dries out for two to four weeks.<\/p>\n "It's an innovative idea in a state that prides itself on natural beauty and opportunities," Sen. Robert Rodriguez, a Democratic sponsor on the bill, said of human composting.<\/p>\n Denver resident Wendy Deboskey told the Post <\/em>she was excited about the bill as the idea of human composting appeals to her as an environmentalist. <\/p>\n "It just seems like a really kind of natural and gentle way to be completely returned to the earth, only on an expedited basis," she said.<\/p>\n The other sponsors on the bill, Democratic Rep. Brianna Titone and Republican Rep. Matt Soper, said they have also heard that others are looking forward to the option.<\/p>\n Such procedures aren't entirely uncommon.<\/p>\n When actor Luke Perry died in March 2019, he was buried in a special eco-friendly mushroom suit instead of a traditional casket, similar to the idea of human composting. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/imagesvc.meredithcorp.io\/v3\/mm\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F20%2F2021%2F04%2F12%2Frecompose-3.jpg\")
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