For generations, Americans have generally thought about what happens to our bodies after death as a choice between burial, cremation or body donation.
That may be changing.
Originating in Washington state, natural organic reduction, sometimes called human composting, is a controlled process through which a body, with help of added plant material, undergoes decomposition in a matter of weeks or months. While the idea is still unfamiliar to many people, growing consumer interest and expanding legalization suggests that it is becoming another choice. It may not remain an “alternative” choice for long.
The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western Massachusetts believes consumers should know about this developing alternative that is now legal in 14 states.
The process goes like this: A body is placed in a specially designed vessel with organic materials such as straw, alfalfa, and wood chips. Naturally occurring microorganisms break down the body while temperature, airflow, and moisture are carefully monitored in accordance with industry standards and individual state regulations.
After approximately 30 days, the body has fully decomposed and is indistinguishable from soil. This soil then undergoes an additional resting or curing period of about a month. Medical implants and other non-organic materials are removed, and remaining bone is reduced to a fine mineral material and returned to the soil.
The result is approximately half a cubic yard of soil that can be returned to the family. It may be used to plant trees, nourish flower gardens, or can be placed in other meaningful locations. Soil may also be donated for appropriate uses such as conservation or reforestation.
For some families, natural organic reduction creates opportunities for participation and ritual. But perhaps the larger attraction is something simpler: it gives people another way for their choices at death to reflect the values by which they lived.
That is particularly relevant environmentally.
Conventional burial can involve embalming chemicals, manufactured caskets, granite tombstones, metal plaques, concrete burial vaults, cemetery land and ongoing maintenance. Flame cremation eliminates many of those impacts, but the cremation machines do require energy to run and produce greenhouse gas emissions. Composting offers another approach by using a managed biological process to return the body's organic material to the earth.
And it is not the only emerging choice. Water cremation, also known as alkaline hydrolysis or aquamation, uses water, heat and an alkaline solution rather than flame to accelerate the natural decomposition of the body. Green burial, which avoids embalming and uses biodegradable materials, is another eco-friendly option attracting greater interest as well.
Research from Wake Forest University suggests Americans may be considerably more open to these choices than their current use would indicate. In a 2024 study, 9.6% of respondents selected natural organic reduction as their first choice for body disposition, nearly one-quarter, 24.5%, ranked it either first or second, and 48.8% said they would consider it for themselves.
Those numbers are striking for a disposition method that remains unfamiliar to many Americans and is not yet legal or readily available everywhere. The study also found greater first-choice interest among younger adults: 11.6% of Gen Z respondents and 12.2% of millennials selected natural Organic Reduction as their first choice.
Water cremation showed meaningful consumer interest as well. More than 4 in 10 respondents said they would consider it for themselves, further suggesting that consumers are open to choices beyond conventional burial and flame cremation.
The comparison with conventional cremation is particularly interesting. More recent Wake Forest research found that only about one-third of respondents ranked cremation as their first choice. Once an unconventional choice in America, cremation is now the most common form of disposition chosen by 60%.
That raises an important question: How much are our choices after death determined by what we actually prefer, what we know about what is available, and what has become familiar?
Cremation itself was once an unconventional choice in America. Today it is the most common form of disposition. Composting, water cremation and other emerging choices are at a much earlier stage. No one knows how widely they will ultimately be adopted, but the research suggests substantial consumer openness to alternatives.
Helping consumers understand choices like these is part of the mission of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western Massachusetts. Our role isn't to advocate for one form of disposition over another. It is to help people understand their range of options so they can make informed decisions consistent with their own values, beliefs and priorities.
On Oct. 4, a free public presentation about Natural Organic Reduction will be held in Northampton, Massachusetts by the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western Massachusetts as part of their annual meeting.
Burial and cremation aren’t disappearing. But Americans are beginning to recognize that those don’t have to be the only choices. What we call alternative today may simply become another choice tomorrow.
The free program will run from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Society of Northampton & Florence on 220 Main Street. To register, email fcawmass@gmail.com with your name and contact information, or call our phone line 413-376-4747 and leave a message by Oct. 1. For more information, see: https://funeralconsumerswmass.org.
Jim Couchon is the current president and a trustee of the FCAWM, an all volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to protecting a consumer's right to choose dignified, meaningful and affordable final arrangements. The FCAWM is not affiliated with the funeral industry and is funded solely by donations from the public.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.