Remember your grandma's dead body?
California has found a new use for her.
California has legalized the use of human remains for composting.
On Sunday, Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom signed AB-351, which will permit residents to select to have their remains composted after they die, beginning in 2027.
The method... incorporates putting the deceased body in a reusable vessel with wood chips around it. It is ventilated in order to allow microorganisms to grow. After around a month, the body decomposes and will become soil, according to SF Gate.
The method has not been met without controversy, specifically from the Catholic Church, which has said it “reduces the human body to simply a disposable commodity.”
“NOR uses essentially the same process as a home gardening composting system,” Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, said in a statement given to SF Gate. She noted that the practice was created for animals, not human beings.
“These methods of disposal were used to lessen the possibility of disease being transmitted by the dead carcass,” she said. “Using these same methods for the ‘transformation’ of human remains can create an unfortunate spiritual, emotional and psychological distancing from the deceased.”
The church also noted that the method “risks people treading over human remains without their knowledge while repeated dispersions in the same area are tantamount to a mass grave.”