‘Human composting’ should be legal

Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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It’s not often that someone who has died is among those advocating for a bill at a Minnesota legislative committee meeting. But had technology cooperated last Thursday, the Senate’s Committee on Health and Human Services would have heard from Steve Wheeler, a Lake Elmo resident who passed away in September at the age of 53.

Wheeler battled both cancer and multiple sclerosis. As his life came to a close, he became a passionate advocate for Natural Organic Reduction (NOR), which is a new but not-yet-legal-in-Minnesota alternative to traditional burial or cremation. In a video recorded before his death, Wheeler spoke movingly of why he embraced this environmentally friendly innovation.

“I can take this one action, this final action, and make some good, leave the world a better place than when I found it,” Wheeler said. “And to find out that Minnesota doesn’t have this option, why not? ... Why wouldn’t it be something that people can choose?”

A glitch kept the Senate committee from hearing Wheeler’s recorded remarks, available on YouTube at tinyurl.com/SteveWheelerMN. Fortunately, other advocates — including Mueller Memorial Funeral Home and Cremation, the St. Paul funeral provider that helped Wheeler find an out-of-state NOR service to realize his last wish — are making a strong argument for why Minnesota should legalize NOR this session. The Star Tribune Editorial Board agrees and urges legislators to do so with care but without delay.

Consumers deserve more choices, particularly more affordable choices in their end-of-life planning. The same is true for those facing the unexpected death of a loved one.

There also would be comfort for many families in knowing that this more natural process doesn’t require embalming chemicals or land to be permanently set aside for a resting place. Nor does it require the energy or emissions cremation does. For those concerned about climate change and pollution, this is a way to honor these personal principles even after they’ve taken their last breath.

NOR is currently legal in seven states — Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, California, New York and Nevada, according to Recompose, a Seattle-based NOR provider and pioneer. Minnesota is one of 17 states where legalization legislation has been introduced.

NOR is sometimes referred to as “human composting,” because that’s what it is. It involves putting a body into a vessel with alfalfa, wood chips and straw, then allowing the bacteria occurring naturally on the body to break it down. The entire process takes between eight and 12 weeks, and the result is top soil that can be donated or returned to a family. At Recompose, “customers have used their person’s soil to create groves of trees, nourish rose gardens tended by their person while they were alive, or scattered in a favorite natural area. In Washington State, the law for scattering human composting soil is the same for cremated remains — you must have permission of the landowner.”

Nature centers in states where it’s legal may also take donated soil. As one expert testified this week in St. Paul, there is no DNA in the end product, and the soil is “not visually, chemical or microbiologically recognized as human remains.” Temperatures reached during the process also eliminate pathogens, though one exception is prions, which cause a rare condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The Minnesota legislation’s lead authors are Rep. John Huot, DFL-Rosemount, and Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville. Opponents include the Minnesota Catholic Conference, which stated in written testimony that the process is “disrespectful” to the body. The Minnesota Funeral Directors Association has also testified against the bill, with concerns focusing mainly on who would be authorized to perform NOR. The trade organization has also urged lawmakers to wait until a state health department report comes out in 2025.

Marty told an editorial writer that other states have legalized NOR without problems and said advocates are working to accommodate the funeral directors’ concerns. State regulators could also adjust as necessary once the report comes out, he added. There’s no reason to delay making comfort and choice available in Minnesota when death occurs. Said Marty: “If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. But don’t stop anybody else from doing so.”