First Human Composting Facility Opens on East Coast: 'It's a Gentle, Natural Process'

First human composting facility opens on East Coast: 'It's a gentle, natural process'

A new option for end-of-life planning has arrived on the East Coast, and it could reshape how some families think about funerals. Earth Funeral has opened a human composting facility in Elkridge, Maryland, offering what it describes as a lower-impact alternative to burial and cremation. WBAL-TV 11 News reported that the county is now home to the East Coast's first human composting facility. Earth Funeral said its new 37,000-square-foot site is t…

Largest 'human composting' facility in the country aims to return our bodies to nature when we die

A funeral is no one’s idea of a good time, but there’s more to dislike about traditional burial ceremonies than just the grief. There’s the outrageous, almost predatory, expense—with a funeral in many states costing anywhere from $6-12,000. The use of millions of gallons of embalming fluid annually is bad for vegetation, soil, water quality, and critical ecosystems. Not to mention, coffins that never decay permanently occupy a finite amount of l…