Death Care
Do you need immediate assistance? Call us 24 hours a day at (206) 800-8733.
Our Process
At the Time of Death
After a death has occurred, take the time you need with your loved one’s body. When you are ready, our staff will help you understand your options, answer questions and, at your convenience, take your person’s body into our care.
Whether a death has already occurred or is imminent, please contact us anytime at (206) 800-8733 or email us at services@recompose.life.
Exceptional Support and Guidance
Our Services team provides personalized support throughout the eight to twelve weeks your person is in our care. With decades of combined experience, they are knowledgeable and responsive, and keep you informed so you know what to expect each step of the way.
Our Services
Custom Ceremonies
Recompose offers two thoughtfully curated spaces if you wish to spend time with your person or have an in-person or online service. Our Services team is available to help make arrangements and to ensure the ceremony runs smoothly. Note: ceremonies are not included in the price of Recompose.
Soil Transformation
At the time of laying in, our staff places the body into a composting vessel surrounded by a mixture of wood chips, alfalfa, and straw carefully calibrated for each individual. Much like the moment when a body is interred into the earth during a burial, the laying in represents a moment of transition. The vessel is closed and the transformation into soil begins. The process, lasting eight to twelve weeks, will be tailored to your person and managed by the leading experts in human composting.
Giving Back
Once complete, similar to ashes from a cremation, the soil can be used however you choose—to enrich a garden, plant a tree, or spread across multiple locations. Recompose partners with conservation organizations, so you can choose to donate some, or all, of the soil to nourish and revitalize protected lands.
Our Pricing
Our $7,000 INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING SERVICES:
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Our Services team offers hands-on support throughout the eight to twelve weeks your person is in our care. Our Services Specialists have decades of experience providing personalized care and guidance.
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Transportation of the body within King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties in Washington State is included in our price.
- Transport costs within Washington State
Costs for Washington counties are based on proximity to Recompose. Current pricing for Washington State is listed by county in our general price list.
- Transport costs outside Washington State
Transport costs vary by funeral home and region. For example, transport from Portland, OR to Seattle costs $850, whereas California to Seattle starts at about $3,000. Most clients that come to us from another state work with a funeral home in their area to arrange for transport. This funeral home will pick up a body at the place of death and arrange for transport to Recompose.
Our Services team is here to help. Please contact us at (206) 800-8733 or services@recompose.life to discuss transport options and help with arranging transportation.
- Transport costs within Washington State
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If needed, Recompose offers private, onsite cooled storage for up to four weeks.
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The death certificate is a mandatory legal document that registers each death with the appropriate local authorities. Recompose’s Services Specialists will handle the filing of the death certificate.
If you need a certified copy of the death certificate for a bank or insurance claim, our staff can help you order as many as you need. In most cases, we can assist you in ordering copies from your local vital records office and have them mailed directly to you. Fees for each death certificate vary by county. For example, as of January 2021, King County charges $25 each.
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County Medical Examiners in both King and Clark County review all deaths in their respective counties. The fee for this review is $70 and is included as a part of the cost for our composting services.
Before a death certificate is certified, the District Attorney program reviews each cause of death identified on the death certificate to verify that the cause and manner (what the person died from) do not indicate the need for the medical examiner’s office to investigate further.
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You may choose to have an obituary published on our website and include multiple pictures in a photo gallery. The obituary can include links for guests to make a donation in honor of your loved one. Our staff is available to guide you in writing your tribute.
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The transformation into soil will be tailored to your person and managed by the leading experts in human composting.
The process begins when our staff lay your loved one’s body into a Recompose vessel surrounded by wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. The body and plant material remain in the vessel for five to seven weeks. After microbes break everything down on the molecular level, the soil amendment is removed from the vessel and allowed to cure for three to five weeks. The cutting-edge design of Recompose’s vessels, coupled with our highly-trained operators, ensures that the resulting soil is safe for use on plants and trees.
Our Services team will communicate with you at pivotal moments throughout your person’s transformation into soil. We will keep you updated on when the soil has finished key stages of the process, and work with you to schedule pick up or shipment of soil once the process is complete.
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Each body that completes the Recompose process creates roughly one cubic yard of nutrient-rich compost (about 1,000 pounds). The soil will be ready about eight to twelve weeks after your loved one is placed into a vessel.
Soil can be picked up from Recompose or donated to conservation and restoration efforts, or a combination of both.
- Soil Donation
Recompose collaborates works with land partners, so you can choose to donate some, or all, of the soil to be used in conservation and restoration projects to help nourish new life.
- Soil pick up at Recompose
We facilitate pick up of some or the entire volume of soil. Soil can be used on decorative trees and plants, and can be placed anywhere you have permission of the landowner. Our staff can arrange a time for you to come to our location with a truck or trailer. Customers have shared that picking up this soil made them feel moved, at peace, and like they were taking their person home.
- Soil Donation
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You may choose to receive a portion of your person’s soil in biodegradable containers. These containers are specially designed to temporarily hold the soil before scattering on trees, plants, or however you choose.
Ceremony Spaces
Recompose offers two options that can be tailored to your needs if you want to have a service or spend time with your person before their transformation into soil begins. Please see our price list for more information.
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This beautiful, intimate room can accommodate up to 25 guests in person or 1,000 virtually. The rental of Gathering Space also includes support from Recompose along with the use of the Moss room, for those who need a private space during the ceremony, and the Pebble room, a kitchenette where light refreshments can be served.
Our Services team is available to help make arrangements and to ensure the ceremony runs smoothly.
- Price: $350 per hour, charged by the half hour after the first hour
- Capacity: 25 people in person or 1,000 for live stream on Zoom
- Scheduling: Weekdays at 10am or 2pm
The Gathering Space at Recompose
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Cedar is a space uniquely designed for personal time, private viewings, and hands-on care, like bathing or shrouding. The use of this room includes a licensed Services Specialist who will prepare the body and is available to assist with direct care as requested.
Some examples of how Cedar can be used include:
- Fulfill religious/spiritual needs for ritual bathing
- Have a time of prayer, song or vigil over your person
- Shroud your person
- Anoint your person
- Have a religious or community leader perform rites
- Style your person’s hair, paint their nails or apply their makeup
Recompose provides a limited range of tools such as towels, shampoos and soaps, essential oils, camphor, a stereo system, hair brushes, and linens. Clients will need to provide items such as cosmetics, perfumes, custom shrouds, or other special items they wish to incorporate.
Please note that special items you place with your person (including clothing and shrouds) will be removed before they enter their vessel.
- Price: $200 per hour, charged by the half hour after the first hour
- Capacity: 5 people
- Availability: Weekdays, by appointment
Cedar with an enshrouded, posed dummy to serve as an example of how the space can be used
Recompose Community Fund
Recompose is committed to bringing ecological death care to as many people as possible. This includes providing our human composting services at a subsidized rate to individuals who could not otherwise afford to pay our full price.
Recompose considers applications for Community Fund support once a death has occurred. Funds are limited so please contact us for information on current availability at services@recompose.life.
Obituaries
FAQ
Planning
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Choosing our human composting services is possible in most places outside of Washington State. Most clients that come to us from another state work with a funeral home in their area to arrange for transport. This funeral home will pick up a body at the place of death and arrange for transport to Recompose.
When you contact a funeral home, we suggest starting the conversation by saying something like, “I am looking to have my loved one’s body transported to the Seattle area. I have chosen a funeral home called Recompose to handle their death care services. Can you help me make arrangements?”
Families can also transport their person to Recompose in their personal vehicle with the correct permits. If you are interested in this option, please contact us for guidance.
Our Services team is here to support you and can discuss options, find a transporting funeral home, and help arrange for transport. Please contact our staff at (206) 800-8733 or services@recompose.life. Our article, Arranging for Transportation, also has information to help you.
Please note: Bodies that come to Recompose must not be embalmed. While most funeral homes are experienced with transporting bodies, they may not yet have heard of human composting or have experience with this kind of transport.
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Yes. We offer both virtual tours and in-person guided, small group tours led by Recompose staff. Learn more and sign up for a tour.
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Human composting is powered by beneficial microbes that occur naturally on our bodies and in the environment.
At the time of laying in, our Services Specialists place the body into a composting vessel surrounded by a mixture of wood chips, alfalfa, and straw carefully calibrated and specially tailored to each body. The body and plant material remain in the vessel for five to seven weeks.
Each body creates about one cubic yard of soil amendment, which is removed from the vessel and allowed to cure for three to five weeks. Once complete, the soil can be used to enrich conservation land, forests, or gardens. The pH range of Recompose compost is usually between 6.5 and 7, which is ideal for most plants. The soil created returns the nutrients from our bodies to the natural world. It restores forests, sequesters carbon, and nourishes new life.
Recompose follows all compost-testing regulations put forth by the Washington State Department of Licensing and the Board of Health.
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Recompose does not offer grave markers.
The soil created by human composting can be scattered, buried, or used in gardening. In Washington State, you must have the permission of the landowner. As a way of memorializing their loved one, Recompose clients have used soil to plant groves of trees or to nourish flower gardens tended by their loved one when they were alive. Others have chosen to donate their soil to our conservation partner to be used to nourish and revitalize the land.
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While each individual body is different, the entire Recompose process typically takes about eight to twelve weeks. Our staff will communicate with families at key points throughout the process and will be in touch when the soil is ready.
Pricing
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The average cost of conventional death care can vary widely depending on various factors such as the location, specific services chosen, and individual preferences.
Conventional Death Care
According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the median cost of a funeral with cremation in 2021 in the United States was $6,970, and the median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial was $7,848.
It is important to note that the median burial cost does not include a plot, headstone, or any other cemetery costs associated with a burial. Those additional expenses can often double the cost of a traditional burial. It is also important to note that you can often find a more economical rate for a direct cremation. The best thing to do is ask.
Our Approach
While human composting is innovative and new, Recompose aims to keep our costs comparable to other death care options. Our $7,000 price includes empathetic care and guidance from our Services team from the time of death through transformation into soil eight to twelve weeks later. Learn more about our services here and find a list of current pricing for all services in our General Price List.
We are committed to bringing ecological death care to as many people as possible. This includes providing our services at a subsidized rate to individuals who could not otherwise afford to pay our full price through our Community Fund.
Recompose operates with integrity and clarity and will never try to upsell you. We strive to be straightforward about our pricing and services so you are informed and know what to expect.
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Recompose’s price for human composting does not include a ceremony, flowers, newspaper obituaries, clergy honorariums, transportation of the body outside our service area, or additional transport for autopsies.
You can see a full list of additional items we offer in our General Price List. The GPL is a document the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to have available in the interest of protecting consumers.
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Our staff can help you order certified copies of the death certificate via your county’s vital records office. This service is included with our cost for human composting, but fees for death certificates vary by county. For example, as of January 2021, King County charges $25 each.
