This is a good idea for the environment. "Human bodies make great worm food."

Microbes can break down organic matter — including human bodies — into soil.

Science News for Students

ENVIRONMENT

Greener than burial? Turning human bodies into worm food

Composting bodies may be better for the Earth than burial or cremation, new data suggest.

By Laura Sanders

April 3, 2020

SEATTLE, Wash. — Human bodies make great worm food. That’s the conclusion of an early test with six dead bodies. They were allowed to break down among wood chips and other organic matter.

This technique is known as composting. And it appears to offer a greener way to handle dead bodies. A researcher described her team’s new findings February 16 at the annual meeting, here, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS.

Disposing of human bodies can be a real environmental problem. Embalming of bodies that will be buried in caskets uses large amounts of a toxic fluid. Cremation releases lots of carbon dioxide. But letting Mother Nature break down the bodies creates new, rich soil. Jennifer DeBruyn calls it “a fabulous option.” She is an environmental microbiologist who wasn’t involved in the study. She works at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Last year, Washington state made it legal to compost human bodies. It is the first U.S. state to do so. A Seattle-based company called Recompose expects to start accepting bodies for composting soon.