1st human composting facility on East Coast opens in Maryland

ELDRIDGE, Md. (7News) — The funeral provider Earth has opened the East Coast’s first composting facility.

The 37,000-square-foot facility, which has spaces to educate families and a private room to say goodbye, purports to be the largest of its kind in the world. The vessel room, where the soil transformation process is undergone, consists of 15,000 square feet and has the capacity for 126 vessels, cofounder and CEO Tom Harries told 7News.

“We’re accelerating the process through science and technology,” Harries explained. “Completely natural. No chemicals, no insects.”

The entire process takes about 30 days, producing an average of 250 to 300 pounds of nutrient-rich soil, according to Harries. Families can choose how much soil they’d like to keep and have Earth donate the rest to conservation projects.

Earth has two other facilities on the West Coast. The funeral provider has worked with more than 10,000 families, Harries said.

WHO CHOOSES THIS OPTION?

Harries told 7News the youngest pre-planner was a 25-year-old who reached out to one of their West Coast facilities. More than a dozen states, including Maryland, have legalized human composting.

Companies like Earth provide services to out-of-state families, like the Buermeyers of Reston, Virginia.

Ret. Air Force Col. Dave Buermeyer and his wife found this option more appealing and comforting than cremation or burial.

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“I started serious research, I talked about it with my wife and I said, ‘Hey, this makes a lot of sense,'” he told 7News.

Buermeyer said he feels cemeteries become wasted land after several generations, when people are less likely to visit their relatives buried there.

“For a couple of generations, you might go back and honor them with flowers or something like that, but two or three generations away? It’s a whole different mindset that factored into my thinking,” he explained.

GREEN BURIAL CEMETERIES

For years, Buermeyer has wanted his and his wife’s final resting place to be at Arlington National Cemetery, but the cemetery, run by the Army, does not accept soil remains.

A spokesperson told 7News the cemetery operates under a federal regulation code that outlines the eligibility and standards for burials.

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“We understand there is growing interest in alternative interment methods like human composting. However, at this time, human composting is not being considered as a method of interment,” they said.

Still, Buermeyer said he will continue advocating for it.

“If Arlington doesn’t work out, then so be it,” he said. “Maybe I was just a little bit too early in the game.”

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is piloting green burial sections, which permit soil remains, at three of its national cemeteries. VA cemeteries operate under a different federal code than Army cemeteries.