I was today years old when I first discovered the term “Natural Organic Reduction.” In a nutshell, it’s a variety of human cremation where a body is turned into nutrient rich soil via a popular method you’ve probably heard of: composting.
The carbon neutral process is made possible by a company in Auburn, Washington called “Earth Funeral” who has partnered with a local funeral home in Fort Collins.
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Goes Funeral Care has been operating in Fort Collins since 1996 and is now the first in the state to offer this option, adding it to the list of other eco-friendly methods of burial or cremation alternatives.
Basically, Natural Organic Reduction is a 45-day process that turns a body into soil via a process created by Earth Funeral, one where the planet gently transforms expired human bodies into nutrient rich soil, allowing our bodies to fuel the earth.
“Families choose how much soil they’d like returned – to scatter or plant – and the remainder is donated to local conservation projects for land restoration initiatives. The soil becomes a means to return nutrients from our bodies to the natural world. In turn, we restore forests, sequester carbon, and revitalize challenged ecosystems. – Earth Funeral website”
For their part, the Goes family in Fort Collins has been innovating the funeral and cremation process into more earth-friendly ways for decades. In 2023, they introduced “water cremation” services, which dramatically reduces the carbon footprint of the process, ensuring those who love the earth continue to look after it even after they’re gone…