Dust to dust: New Elkridge facility offers composting of human remains

“How can I become a tree?”

The question came up again and again for Tom Harries over a decade in the death care business as he guided people who wished to be cremated.

The answer: You can’t create new life from the ashes of cremated remains.

But it gave Harries an idea. After founding a funeral arrangement company and a one-stop cremation business, he embarked on his third venture in the industry of death care — Earth Funeral — to help the recently departed become trees.

“We’ve created an alternative to burial and cremation; we’ve called it soil transformation,” Earth Funeral CEO Harries said in an interview.

The Washington state-based company opened its third facility nationwide Wednesday in Elkridge, aimed at serving East Coast clients.

When someone dies, what happens to the body is complicated. For millennia, the dead were interred in the ground. Some cultures also burned the dead.

With an anticipated 330 million deaths in the next 80 years, Harries said, “it’s just not feasible to keep putting people in the ground.” In recent decades, cremation has rapidly overtaken burials in the U.S., but the process has environmental consequences.

Currently, nearly two-thirds of the dead in the U.S. are cremated and about a third buried in cemeteries, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. A much smaller number either donate their bodies to science or use newer green burial methods.

Harries opened the first Earth Funeral in a Seattle suburb in 2020, the same year Washington became the first state to legalize human composting, also known as natural organic reduction.

Since then, 13 additional states, including Maryland, have legalized human composting.

Gov. Wes Moore signed the Green Death Care Options Act in May 2024, legalizing two alternatives to traditional burials and cremations: natural organic reduction and alkaline hydrolysis, also known as water cremation. The legislation took effect that October.

The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Maryland said in 2024 testimony that human composting will provide more choices for Maryland residents, especially those looking for “more environmentally friendly options for after-death care.”

The Maryland Catholic Conference, however, testified in 2024 that allowing human composting takes away the dignity of death.

“A simple burial or cremation, for instance, maintains the dignity of the deceased while avoiding the potential of the public not being aware of the presence of human remains in public locations,” the alliance testified.

Earth Funeral said it chose Maryland for its first East Coast facility because of its central location, which can serve families from Maine to Georgia and into the Midwest.

How does human composting work? Earth Funeral accelerates the process that would occur if someone died on a forest floor.

A body is wrapped in a shroud filled with organic mulch, wood chips and wildflowers, then placed into a stainless-steel vessel and covered with more of the same materials.

The vessel monitors the temperature, moisture and carbon and nitrogen levels, allowing the body to naturally decompose for roughly 30 to 45 days, during which it transforms into nearly 300 pounds of soil.

Specialized air filtration systems minimize the smell of decomposition, Harries said.

At the end of the process, any remaining bones are reduced to a fine powder and added to the soil. Inorganic matter, such as pacemakers and titanium plates, is removed and recycled, Harries said.

The soil can then be returned to the family, either in small containers or larger quantities, Harries said. Families can use the soil for planting a tree, a memorial garden, potted plants or anything else personal and meaningful.

“You’re almost creating new life through your soils,” Harries said. “I think that’s another part that really resonates with people.”

If a family does not wish to receive all of the soil or any of it, Earth Funeral donates it to conservation projects.

In Washington state, the company has planted over 100 trees, including red cedars, dogwoods, huckleberries and Sitka spruces, with its clients’ soil on a 5-acre property on the Olympic Peninsula.

Earth Funeral plans a similar reforestation project in Maryland, Harries said.

Earth Funeral’s composting costs approximately $6,000, more than the average cremation but less than a full burial service in Maryland.

During a news media tour Wednesday of Earth Funeral’s new facility, Del. Jessica Feldmark, a Howard County Democrat, shared that her father went through the human composting process last year in Washington state.

“I really think it’s so important to have something local, and this is just a great way to honor someone and honor our Earth and care for our environment,” Feldmark said.

Already, three of the 126 vessels at the 37,000-square-foot facility in an industrial park near Route 100 are processing human remains.

Thomas Racioppe, a Baltimore resident, contacted Earth Funeral after seeing a social media advertisement. In the last eight years, he’s buried his mom and dad, along with his father-in-law, and he decided he wanted his death handled well in advance.

When his time comes, Racioppe wants it to be as convenient as possible for his wife. He doesn’t want her dealing with choosing a coffin or burial service.

“Originally, I thought I wanted to get cremated, but this process seems a lot more peaceful,” Racioppe said.

If the deceased or family members wish to have a traditional funeral service, that can happen before the body goes into the vessel. Families can say their goodbyes at a traditional funeral home or do it through Earth Funeral, which also can coordinate online obituaries. The Elkridge site has a private room for family and loved ones.

Also, letters written on biodegradable paper or other biodegradable items can go into the vessel to decompose alongside the body.

“The beauty of this is you do not have to compromise on any existing funeral ritual,” Harries said.