Would You Consider Becoming Compost?

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Come 2027, Californians will have a new post-death option: to become human compost. A law signed by Governor Newsom this month made California the fifth state to legalize “natural organic reduction,” which lets human bodies decompose into a cubic yard of soil. While green burials — the process of wrapping the deceased in a shroud and placing them in the ground — are already legal, composting doesn’t require a dedicated portion of land. And though it’s more expensive than cremation, it’s also less carbon-intensive. We’ll talk about the new law and hear whether you’d want to become human compost. Guests: Courtney Applewhite, doctoral candidate studying environmental disposition ("eco-funerals"), UC Santa Barbara Cristina Garcia, assembly member, representing California's 58th Assembly District Katrina Spade, founder and CEO, Recompose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for KikiWED podcasts comes from Rancho LaPuerta, boated the number one wellness resort and spa by readers of travel and leisure magazine. In August, three or four people sharing a casita enjoy special vacation packages. Rancho LaPuerta.com. Switch to Comcast Business Mobile and save hundreds a year in your wireless bill. Comcast business powering possibilities.
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0:32.1	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Nina Kim.
0:51.7	Coming up on forum, human composting. It'll be another option in
0:57.0	California for what to do with a body after death. Governor Newsom signed it into law this month,
1:03.0	and the practice is appealing to those seeking more climate-friendly alternatives to burial and cremation.
1:09.0	But not everyone loves it, and it is pretty expensive.
1:12.6	This hour will learn all about the process of reducing humans to soil.
1:18.6	And we want to hear from you.
1:19.6	Would you choose composting over a traditional burial or cremation?
1:23.6	Tell us after this news.
1:41.9	Welcome to Forum. I'm Nina Kim. After death, cremation has been more popular than traditional burials in California for more than a decade.
1:45.2	But come 2027, Californians will have another option, becoming human compost.
1:52.7	An assembly bill signed into law by Governor Newsom this month made California the fifth state
1:58.2	to legalize what's known as natural organic reduction.
2:02.6	That's after Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Vermont.
2:07.2	And joining me now is the bill's author, Assembly Member Christina Garcia, who represents
2:11.7	Bell Gardens and surrounding areas. Welcome to Forum, Assembly Member Garcia.
	...

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