EP14: Converting human remains into soil - Recompose
FUN FACT
Recompose estimates that a metric ton of CO2 will be saved each time someone chooses organic reduction over cremation or conventional burial.
FOUNDERS
Katrina Spade
FLAGSHIP PRODUCTs
LAUNCHED
2018
Funding
The Problem
Each year, 2.7 million people die in the U.S., and most are buried in a conventional cemetery or cremated, emitting carbon dioxide and particulates into the atmosphere. These practices consume valuable urban land, pollute the air and soil, and contribute to climate change.
The Solution
By converting human remains into soil, Recompose minimizes waste, avoids polluting groundwater with embalming fluid, and prevents the emission of CO2 from cremation and from the manufacturing of caskets, headstones, and grave liners.
By allowing organic processes to transform our bodies and those of our loved ones into a useful soil amendment, we help to strengthen our relationship to the natural cycles while enriching the earth.
Episode Brief
Katrina Spade, Founder and CEO of Recompose, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
Founding Recompose and the eureka moment
R&D on human cadavers
Pioneering a new end-of-life ritual
The environmental and psychological implications
The future of death care
Lightning Round:
What’s your favorite podcast and why?
Interested in demystifying the art of lobbying. To many, it’s unclear what it is and what it entails. Given your recent success in helping usher in new legislation in Washington, what does it take to run a successful lobbying effort?
In one article, your quoted saying: “So our goal with recomposition is just to add more choice when it comes to death of a loved one....in my vision, we have a dozen options for disposition in the next 10 years or so.” What other options might we see?
If you weren’t working on Recompose, what problem area would you be exploring?
Credits
HOST
Peter Levin
PRODUCTION
Dan Mahoney
MUSIC
Eddie Knuckles