Prompt Cast
The Green Death Movement: Human Composting as an Environmentally Friendly Alternative to Traditional Burial and Cremation
TLDR Human composting offers a greener and less chemically option for handling dead bodies, utilizing microbes and creating the right environment to turn bodies into soil in just a few months. This method, developed by Katrina Spade and her team at Washington State University, has successfully composted human bodies using a mixture of alfalfa, straw, and wood chips, and is seen as a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burial or cremation.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
A visit to a human composting facility where bodies are turned into soil in just a few months.
05:18
Today we're discussing the green death movement and the downsides of traditional methods of handling dead bodies, such as cremation and embalming.
10:09
Human composting is a greener and less chemically option for handling dead bodies, and it can be done in just a few months by utilizing microbes and creating the right environment with heat, moisture, oxygen, and the right balance of carbon and nitrogen.
14:40
Katrina Spade and her team at Washington State University developed a method of composting human bodies by placing them in individual vessels filled with a mix of alfalfa, straw, and wood chips, and in a pilot study in 2018, six people, including a woman named Darby, donated their bodies to be composted in this way.
19:09
Katrina Spade successfully composted human bodies using a mixture of alfalfa, straw, and wood chips, and after facing legal obstacles, she was able to change the laws in Washington State to make human composting legal.
23:36
Composting can kill pathogens, including viruses, because the microbes in the compost pile generate heat as they metabolize and break down organic matter.
28:29
Composting at high temperatures can kill a wide range of dangerous pathogens, but certain bacteria and prions can survive, so there are restrictions on composting people who have died from specific diseases and testing the compost for certain bacteria is required.
33:03
Human composting is seen as a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burial or cremation, and while some people may initially feel discomfort or hesitation, others have found comfort and acceptance in the process.
37:46
People have found comfort and acceptance in the process of human composting, and the remains can be used to create a beautiful garden.
