Elkridge Facility Offers New Funeral Alternative

Elkridge facility offers new funeral alternative

For most people, end-of-life planning comes down to two choices: burial or cremation. But a company in Elkridge, Maryland, is offering a third option through what it said is the first human composting facility on the East Coast. Earth Funeral specializes in a process known as natural organic reduction, which transforms human remains into soil. “This is the closest that is available, available for people to purchase, to actually becoming a tree a…

Maryland's first 'human composting' facility is open for business

Earth Funeral CEO Tom Harries displays a natural organic reduction vessel, full of mulch, wood chips, flowers and other natural materials, at the company's new "human composting" facility in Elkridge, Maryland, on June 30, 2026. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters)Tucked into a nondescript warehouse development in Howard County, along winding roads lined with semi trucks, sits a facility dedicated to the dead. It offers a newly legal se…