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Urban Death Project Aims To Rebuild Our Soil By Composting Corpses (inhabitat.com)

An anonymous reader writes: The Urban Death Project utilizes the process of composting to safely and gently turn our deceased into soil-building material, creating a meaningful, equitable and ecological urban alternative to existing options for the disposition of the dead," said Katrina Spade, a designer based in Seattle. "The project is a solution to the overcrowding of city cemeteries, a sustainable method of disposing of our dead, and a new ritual for laying our loved ones to rest."

3 of 197 comments (clear)

  1. Wood chipper by penguinoid · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just use a wood chipper to take care of the problem. I know it works cause I saw it on TV.

    --
    Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  2. Re:Pretty cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'd rather be cremated. Don't waste any valuable land on my remains, and if you can make use of the heat from my burning corpse feel free.

    Oooh, sorry, cremation is external application of heat, typically burning propane, but in some cases you can use oil or wood.

    The combustion of your body is minimal.

  3. Happening already by no-body · · Score: 4, Informative

    in cemetery - happy trees there.

    With this project though - the fact how bones are handled is totally left out. They sure won't compose any time soon.
    For composting, skull needs to be cracked open, bones ground up and soft body parts chopped into small pieces, like 2" dia, otherwise no composting, gets into stinky anaerobic process. A body, maybe 180 lbs > 60 % water, very challenging to compost, needs tons of carbon (wood) to compensate.

    In recycling organic waste, let's say from restaurants or supermarkets, the major problem to get this material composted is to offset the water content with wood.

    If reality kicks in with composting human bodies and gets public, people will be getting upset.

    Looks like a very loony project - scamming airheads.