Howard is an investor who lives north of New York City. He would like his remains to be broken down and composted into rich soil.
His remains could be planted outside the family home in Vermont, or they could be returned to the earth somewhere else. It is up to my family to decide what to do with the compost.
His family knows that he is going to compost his body. It would be great if it happened in New York, where I live.
New York became the sixth state in the nation to allow human composting when Kathy Hochul signed legislation on Saturday.
Washington state became the first state to allow human composting in 2019.
The alternative, green method of burial is in line with the philosophy of the man.
The dead person's body is placed into a vessel with plant material in it. The organic mix makes it easy for naturally occurring microbes to break down the body in about a month.
A heaping yard of soil amendment, the equivalent of about 36 bags of soil, can be used to plant trees or improve forests.
It can be seen as an attractive burial alternative for areas with limited land.
The manager of Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve said the facility would consider the alternative method.
She said it is more in line with what they do.
Natural, green burials are offered at the nature preserve cemetery which is nestled between protected forest land.
She said that "every single thing we can do to turn people away from concrete liners and fancy caskets and embalming, we need to do and be supportive of."
Not everyone is on board with the idea.
The bill has been opposed by the New York State Catholic Conference, a group that represents the state's bishops.
Dennis Poust, executive director of the organization, said in a statement that a process that is appropriate for returning vegetable scraps to the earth is not appropriate for human bodies.
He said that the process does not meet the standard of reverent treatment of our earthly remains.
The founder of Recompose, a full-service green funeral home in Seattle that offers human composting, said it offers an alternative for people wanting to align the disposition of their remains with their lifestyles.
She said it felt like a movement among the environmentalists.
Cremation and burials use fossil fuels and have a carbon footprint. It's pretty significant for a lot of people to be turned into soil that can be turned into a garden or tree.
That's right.
Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press. A program called Report for America places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Maysoon Khan has a verified account on the social networking site, twitter.com.
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