Recompose

Do you work in hospice or another capacity that puts you in community with dying folks? Do you work in social services with people who are experiencing financial need at the end of life? Are you a death doula?

We’d like to tell you about Recompose’s Community Fund, which helps make our care accessible to people who would not otherwise be able to afford it. We’ve recently increased this program’s impact, and we’re excited to help you share this resource with your communities.

Please DM for more information.

Spade’s own experiences around death had betrayed the inadequacy of traditional funerary practices. When her grandmothers passed she felt “a void of meaning.” Both were cremated and her family held memorial services, but there were no rituals that measured up to the moment. The deaths of her brother-in-law and mother-in-law, both of which were accompanied by home funerals, revealed to her the power of spending time with a person’s body and responding naturally to their passing.

In the background of Spade’s quest for funerary alternatives, the climate crisis was careering ever forward. In this new light, the carbon emissions of so many cremations and the ecological consequences of formaldehyde-based embalming fluids looked all the more unseemly. When friend and fellow Ford Kate Stephenson ‘00 called to ask if she’d heard about livestock composting, everything clicked into place. “If you can compost a whole cow, you can certainly compost a human,” she says.

In her 2013 master’s thesis, “Of Dirt and Decomposition: Proposing a Place for the Urban Dead,” Spade described a vision for death that contained ceremony and resolution, threshold and metamorphosis. “A deep connection to the cycles of nature is critical in order for the dead to rest peacefully, and for the living to properly grieve,” she wrote.

When Spade embarked on her journey, she thought the climate crisis would be the main motivator for people to choose composting over the alternatives. But there’s more to it than our carbon footprint, she now realizes. Instead, people are often called by the thought of returning to nature and fueling new life. And having a meaningful alternative inspires profound discussions not just about death and how it’s marked, but also about life itself.

Read the full article at the link in bio.

Thank you to Haverford College for the excellent profile on Recompose founder and CEO Katrina Spade

🌱Written by Ben Seal
🌱Photos of Katrina by Theodora Teodosiadis | Food & Product Photographer
🌱Featuring Tanya Marsh and Alan Maskin of Olson Kundig

At Recompose, you’ll be taken care of by some of the finest people in death care, like Emily, one of our funeral directors. Caring, thoughtful, and skilled - our team is expert in human composting because we created the category. But more importantly? From our people to our spaces to the ceremonies we offer, we put intention into everything we do, so that your end-of-life experience is the best it can possibly be.

🔗 Link in bio to get in touch now, whether you expect a death soon or want to plan ahead.

Take a listen: founder and CEO Katrina Mogielnicki Spade was featured in GeekWire's new podcast, discussing the science of human composting and what it took to get this new death care option off the ground (so to speak). 🎋

Send a message to learn more

Human composting is a green funeral choice that resonates for different reasons for different people. We are deeply grateful to those families willing to share their experience with the world.

Whether a death is near or you are planning for something that may be far in the future, the Recompose team is here for you. Please see the link in bio to learn more.

Gooooo, Australia!

Big news for NSW 🌱 Sydney MP Alex Greenwich is introducing a bill to parliament today to make natural organic reduction (aka human composting or terramation) a legal end-of-life option here. Could be available as early as 2027 if passed!

The body is gently broken down into nutrient-rich soil over a couple of months. A choice that’s already happening in the US and Germany.

A huge shoutout to NDAN - Natural Death Advocacy Network, Tui Davidson from Earthly Remains, Teresa Russell, Jude Warren and all the other folk who have been awesome in their advocacy for human composting in NSW 🌿

Premier Chris Minns says he “felt a bit weird about it” and will “kick the tyres” on the proposed legislation. So what are your feelings and questions?

📷 Recompose, the Seattle facility leading the charge on human composting in the US and an inspiration for what’s possible here 💚