There is a small but steady call for more choice when it comes to how we handle the human body after death.

For anyone who has lived a life caring for trees, taking care not to waste water or toss plastic bottles in the bin or reduce their reliance on private car travel – advocating for more public transport options – tending their own edible garden, not participating in fast fashion and generally being mindful about their impact on Mother Earth, it’s a logical next step to think about how we do disposal of our mortal remains.

This story by Amelia Searson and Samantha Goerling: What is human composting and should it be legalised? These green-minded souls say yes (ABC South West WA, 27 Apr 2024) delves into some of the thinking around green options, including conservation burial and composting. Not yet offered in Australia, these ideas are getting aired and submissions being written in support of more choice.

Prominent among these people is ‘Bunbury resident Julieanne Hilbers wants the state government to legalise human composting.’

‘ … she thinks about her body being transformed into soil after she dies.

“The reality of life is 100 per cent of us are going to die,” she says.  “For me, a good death would be one that gives back to the earth.”

Dr Hilbers spends much of her life with her hands in the dirt, planting native shrubs and flowers at her two properties in Western Australia’s South West region. She is not keen on the idea of a traditional burial or being cremated and has her eye on a greener method that is not yet legal in Australia.

Jim Underwood is another person advocating for change.

Having worked in marine and land conservation, the environment has been a central focus in his life.

“I’ve always liked the idea of the nutrients and the leftover energy in my body being taken up by plants and put back into oxygen into the world that we breathe,” Mr Underwood says. “This conservation burial could be a way that really brings that forth.”

Read the full story at What is human composting?