Human Composting Advocacy in Illinois
Take action to help legalize human composting
HB3158 was introduced by Representative Kelly Cassidy in the House of Representatives in February, 2023. Representatives Laura Faver Dias, Mary Beth Canty, Marcus C. Evans, Jr., Kevin John Olickal, Katie Stuart, Jaime M. Andrade, Jr., Ann M. Williams, Terra Costa Howard, Elizabeth “Lisa” Hernandez, Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, Maurice A. West, II, Aaron M. Ortiz, Dagmara Avelar, Edgar Gonzalez, Jr., Theresa Mah, Lilian Jiménez, Anne Stava-Murray, Hoan Huynh, and Kam Buckner have since signed on as co-sponsors.
Voice Your Support
Below is an email template you can use as a base to write your Illinois State legislators to express your support of human composting. We’ve learned it’s important to personalize your letter and add your own story about why you support this legislation. Not sure who to write or where to send your email? Find contact information for your state legislators here.
Email Template
Subject Line: Please Support HB3158 the Natural Organic Reduction Regulation Act
Dear [REPRESENTATIVE OR SENATOR],
I am writing to express my hope that you will support HB3158 – the Natural Organic Reduction Regulation Act. Natural organic reduction (also known as human composting) is now legal in quite a few states include: Washington, Colorado, Oregon, California, Vermont, New York, and Nevada and I would appreciate this option being available to residents of Illinois, too.
[INSERT HERE WHY YOU PERSONALLY SUPPORT THIS LEGISLATION]
Thank you for your attention to this legislation.
[NAME]
[ADDRESS]
How does Human Composting Become Law?
In the U.S., the laws governing human remains vary greatly from state to state, as do the processes for passing new laws. Washington State was the first state that legalized human composting in 2019. The process took two years from the initial conversation with our representative until the law was passed, and another year until it took effect. The second state to legalize human composting, Colorado, passed the law in just under a year.
Because of the difference from state to state, we don’t have a template for how to pass human composting laws. However, we wrote an overview of what the process can look like to help you understand what it may take to pass legislation in your state.
About the Death Care Industry
Funeral practices like cremation and embalming have a profound impact on the environment.
Each year, about 3 million people die in the U.S. Cremation burns fossil fuels and emits carbon dioxide and particulates into the atmosphere. Conventional burial consumes valuable urban land, pollutes the soil, and contributes to climate change through the resource-intensive manufacture and transport of caskets, headstones, and grave liners. Every year in the U.S., caskets alone use four million acres of forest.
What we do with our bodies when we die matters. Human composting allows you to choose an option that supports new life after death. There is poetry in giving back to the ecosystem that has supported us our whole lives.
About Recompose
A decade ago, Katrina Spade recognized the need for a sustainable and scalable urban death care alternative. She spent years working with scientists and legal advisors designing the process to transform human bodies into soil. Since then, Katrina has helped write bills with state legislators, testify before committees, and ensure a safe process with regulators once a state legalizes human composting to help bring this ecological death care option to people everywhere.
In 2017, Katrina founded Recompose, a public benefit corporation based in Seattle and the world’s first human composting company. Recompose started accepting bodies for human composting in December 2020.
In 2022, we began sharing our facility with the public through tours in-person and online.
