Returning to dust
In 2019, Washington became the first and, so far, the only state to legalize composting human bodies indoors. Starting next month, a company called Recompose plans to offer, according to its delicate phrasing, “natural organic reduction.”
The process involves putting a body inside an 8-by-4-foot steel cylinder with wood chips, straw, and alfalfa for 30 days while microbes break down the remains. The organic material then goes into a curing bin to cool and dry out, resulting in about a cubic yard of fertile soil.
The company touts its new service as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burial or cremation, claiming each body composted keeps 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and requires one-eighth of the energy.
“People want their deaths to mean something. They want their bodies to be useful in some way,” Nora Menkin, executive director of the People’s Memorial Association, a Seattle-based funeral home, told the internet publication One Zero.
Doug Potter, a professor at the Southern Evangelical Bible Seminary & Bible College, noted the process may raise concerns for Christians, who believe it’s important to treat the human body with respect. Though composting, like cremation, is not inherently sinful, he said, traditional burial “preserves the sanctity of the body and symbolizes our hope of resurrection.” —J.B.
Comments
NEWS2ME
Posted: Thu, 10/08/2020 05:18 pm"Returning to Dust"
I can see that becoming mandatory when DEMS decide it should be part of our zero carbon footprint. Then it will be part of the taxes taken out of a person's paycheck.
Some of us won't be driving in the future because we can't afford an elec. vehicle. Ques: When you plug in an elec. vehicle, does the electricity come from a source that is not produced by oil? Where do the elec. batteries go after used up?
And, if EVERYONE who owns a house must put solar panels on their roofs, how much collective heat will they produce to contribute to Global Warming?
I know I'm not supposed to be wondering about stuff like that, but I'm sure in the future the thought police will be preventing any such thoughts being released into social media, just like now, but worse. Will they be called the Social Police?
MikeD
Posted: Thu, 10/08/2020 06:53 pmOh, THAT Amazon...
Evie
Posted: Thu, 10/08/2020 07:18 pmHa! THAT Amazon was not my first thought either. Thanks for the smile, MikeD.
weinpaul
Posted: Thu, 10/08/2020 08:44 pmI would like to hear more from theolgians on returning to dust. I know there are illiistraions about fire that deal with Hell and punishmnet, but likewise thre are examples of fire being good. I wonder what the Christian moral implications are of decomposing soooner than later. In Jesus' day, I think after about eight years, the loved ones would gather the bones and put them into a "tomb" that looked like a rectangular box with other family members. P.S. To Newsme: I think electric cars run on coal more often than oil.
DH
Posted: Fri, 10/09/2020 02:03 pmI recognized the "Mysterious red blob" immediately as a dead, decomposing sun star. It is a large red starfish with many arms.https://www.google.com/search?q=sun+star+pacific+northwest&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjDyvWJjKjsAhUPnZ4KHWKKBOcQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=sun+star+pacific+northwest&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECAAQQzoCCAA6BggAEAgQHjoECAAQGFDZWVicgwFggIcBaABwAHgBgAGvAYgB5wmSAQQxNS4zmAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=waWAX4PmJI-6-gTilJK4Dg&bih=863&biw=1920&client=firefox-b-1-d&safe=active#imgrc=DZuXzCf7F7mrFM