{"id":5166,"date":"2026-07-22T11:04:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T11:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5166"},"modified":"2026-07-22T11:04:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T11:04:20","slug":"nc-targeted-for-expansion-by-company-that-turns-human-remains-into-compost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5166","title":{"rendered":"NC targeted for expansion by company that turns human remains into compost"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before Janet Batiansila\u2019s husband, Walter, died last year, the man raised in the French Quarter of New Orleans<\/a> jokingly wished to be \u201cdragged to a bayou and eaten by alligators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Which 11 NC high school football teams are ranked nationally in preseason?<\/a><\/p>\n

But Batiansila, a Raleigh resident, had something different in mind \u2014 an option that was more meaningful and respectful. As an alternative to cremation or burial, she turned to Earth Funeral<\/a>, a San Francisco- and New York-based business that turns human bodies into compost<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think this gives you so many more options,\u201d Batiansila said. \u201cIt\u2019s much more of a peaceful process. There\u2019s no burning. I just can\u2019t imagine the appeal of cremation if people knew there was another option that is just more comforting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company is working to open a facility in North Carolina, co-founder Tom Harries told The Charlotte Observer recently. Earth Funeral operates facilities in Washington, Nevada and Maryland, and serves families nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be that you\u2019d have a family plot, and you would bury grandma in the backyard … and you\u2019d scatter some wildflowers on top, and every season when the wildflowers would bloom, you\u2019d say, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s grandma pushing up the daisies, right?\u2019 \u201d Harries said. \u201cAnd so there is this return to that … a return-to-the-earth concept in this process as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It takes 30 to 45 days to transform bodies into nutrient-rich soil through a human composting system, according to Harries. The process works by placing a body into a tube-like high-tech vessel with organic mulch, wood chips and wildflowers.<\/p>\n

Naturally occurring microbes decompose the body down to the molecular level.<\/p>\n

After the process is complete, Earth Funeral gives families the compost, which looks like regular potting soil. It can be used for small plants, memorial gardens or trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were flowers involved, which, as a woman, made me feel good,\u201d Batiansila said. \u201cAt such a difficult time, they handled everything beautifully, and so that meant a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any material not kept by the family is donated to land conservation and reforestation projects to plant native trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are using naturally created microbes, and there are no insects added … there are no chemicals added,\u201d Harries said. \u201cIt\u2019s a completely natural process.\u201d<\/p>\n

To expand access, Earth Funeral is pursuing legislation next year that would allow it to operate in North Carolina and build a $10 million facility, with Charlotte high on its list of potential sites, according to Harries.<\/p>\n

Currently, Earth Funeral operates as a licensed funeral establishment serving North Carolina residents by transporting remains to other states where composting human remains is legal.<\/p>\n

Harries believes the service will be welcomed in North Carolina for environmental reasons. Conventional burials rely on toxic embalming chemicals and materials that don\u2019t break down, while cremation consumes fossil fuels and releases CO2 and mercury, he said.<\/p>\n

In North Carolina, 57% of people opt for cremation over burial, driven mostly by cost and limited cemetery space in cities, according to Harries. Earth Funeral appeals to those who want a nature-based option without the environmental impacts of flame-based cremation or chemical burial.<\/p>\n

The cost of Earth Funeral\u2019s service is $6,500, which is a cheaper alternative to the national average for full-service burials at around $9,500, according to the company. Cremations are about the same price as human composting.<\/p>\n

Before starting Earth Funeral in 2020 with co-founder Richard Benton, Harries ran a large, traditional cremation company. The switch to soil transformation came from a realization about the death-care industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t personally really resonate with the idea of cremation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt does what you want it to do, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a particularly pleasant process.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most frequently asked questions by people thinking about their funeral is, \u201cHow can I become a tree?\u201d according to Harries.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore we started doing what we do, the best option was putting cremated remains around a tree. But that\u2019s inert material, and it\u2019s not really helping the tree,\u201d he said. \u201cThis process is the closest we\u2019ve developed to actually becoming a tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not everyone is excited about human composting.<\/p>\n

Human composting is legal in more than a dozen states. Earth Funeral\u2019s push into North Carolina would help establish a stronger presence in the Southeast.<\/p>\n

Read more US soldier from Fort Bragg identified as Iran war casualty<\/a><\/p>\n

Even if a bill is approved by the N.C. Legislature and signed into law passes, the set-up won\u2019t happen overnight.<\/p>\n

California legalized the process in 2022, but the law will not officially take effect until 2027, KQED reported<\/a>. This gives state environmental, zoning and cemetery boards time to produce a new regulatory framework for human composting.<\/p>\n

While bills have worked their way through states like Illinois and Rhode Island, legislation hit a roadblock in Oklahoma when Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill in May that would have legalized human composting, KOSU reported<\/a>. Stitt said the bill raised questions about moral and human dignity that go beyond ordinary burial practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cReducing human remains into soil for reuse crosses a line that many Oklahomans believe should be approached with far greater caution,\u201d Stitt stated in his veto message. \u201cThe way a society treats the dead reflects how it understands the dignity of human life.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also religious pushback.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has opposed bills allowing human composting, according to a news release.<\/a> The organization believes that the process fails to satisfy the church\u2019s requirement for proper respect for the bodies of the deceased, adding that scattering compost or using it for land restoration does not give the human body a final resting place, comparing it to dropping household compost on a garden.<\/p>\n

For grieving families, however, the process offers peace of mind and personal meaning.<\/p>\n

Batiansila said the fact that she and her husband belonged to different religions (she is Jewish and Walter was Lutheran) also played a role in her decision.<\/p>\n

After Walter died in July 2025, most of his remains stayed with Earth Funeral for environmental planting. But Batiansila took a small portion to six national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Yellowstone.<\/p>\n

And some of Walter\u2019s remains made it to a bayou after all. His family placed a portion of the compost in a lit, biodegradable candle container and let it float down a Louisiana bayou.<\/p>\n

A south Charlotte woman is also preparing to turn to Earth Funeral. Marsha Costigan wants to use the service for her husband, Michael, who has primary progressive aphasia (a form of frontotemporal dementia) and is unable to speak.<\/p>\n

Costigan learned about Earth Funeral through a support group after another member used the service for his late wife. She is pre-planning because Michael is ecologically oriented.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have the chemicals and damage to the environment with cremation,\u201d Costigan said, \u201cand he goes right back into the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wants Earth Funeral to place the majority of his compost in their conservation area to nourish the land, while keeping a small amount for her houseplants.<\/p>\n

David Reed\u2019s late wife, Myra Emerson, was a dedicated environmentalist who requested human composting for her remains. Reed worked with a local Chapel Hill funeral home to arrange transportation to the Seattle region for Emerson\u2019s remains.<\/p>\n

The process produces roughly 300 pounds of compost. Earth Funeral returned several quart-sized containers add of compost to the family, a portion of which was spread in the woods of her family farm in Evansville, Indiana.<\/p>\n

The remaining bulk of the compost went toward a land reclamation project on the Olympic Peninsula.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome think when you die you turn into a ghost,\u201d Emerson wrote before her death. \u201cBut not me, I turned into compost.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published July 22, 2026 at 6:16 AM<\/span> with the headline “NC targeted for expansion by company that turns human remains into compost.” <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Are \u2018not responsible for broken windshield\u2019 signs legal in NC?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earth Funeral seeks to legalize human composting in North Carolina and considers Charlotte for a $10M facility to transform bodies into nutrient-rich soil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nNC targeted for expansion by company that turns human remains into compost - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5166\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NC targeted for expansion by company that turns human remains into compost - 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