Photo: Olson Kundig
The 18,500-square-foot facility is a light-filled open space decorated with an abundance of greenery that can be moved around. The space is comprised of 75 hexagonal-shaped vessels where bodies are stored for decomposition. All the vessels are stacked, looking a little like a beehive, around a gathering space meant for ceremonies.
Photo: Olson Kundig
Human composting is believed to be significantly more environmentally friendly than traditional methods of burial or cremation. Recompose’s patent-pending method involves placing bodies in one of the moisture- and temperature-controlled vessels filled with wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. In just 30 days of microbial activity, the body breaks down into soil. Recompose’s human composting consumes just one eighth of the energy required for cremation.
The human composting process generates around a cubic yard of soil from the human body. Mourners can choose to keep the resulting soil or Recompose can use it to help reforest land in southern Washington. 