Human compost funerals.
A US firm has given scientific details of its "human composting" process for environmentally friendly funerals.
A pilot study on deceased volunteers showed that soft tissue broke down safely and completely within 30 days.
The firm, Recompose, claims that its process saves more than a tonne of carbon, compared to cremation or traditional burial.
It says that it will offer the world's first human composting service in Washington state from next February.
The process involves laying the body in a closed vessel with woodchips, alfalfa and straw grass. The body is slowly rotated to allow microbes to break it down.
Thirty days later the remains are available to relatives to scatter on plants or a tree.
Although the process is straightforward, it has taken four years of scientific research to perfect the technique. Ms Spade asked soil scientist Prof Lynne Carpenter Boggs to undertake the work.
Composting livestock is a well-established practice in Washington state. Prof Carpenter Boggs's task was to adapt it for human subjects and ensure that the remains were environmentally safe.
She carried out pilot studies with six volunteers who had given their enthusiastic consent to the research prior to their deaths. She told me that the work took an emotional toll on her and her team.
"We all kept checking in on each other. My physiology felt different, I wasn't sleeping well for a few nights, I wasn't hungry - it was a distress response."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51389084Interesting. The way forward for disposing of our remains? My first thought is in a big city the facility would have to be huge.