Not ashes to ashes. However, there is some ambiguity regarding proposed legislation that would allow Arizona residents to compost dead people.
A bill pending in the Arizona House of Representatives would allow companies to offer “natural organic restoration” as an alternative to traditional burial or cremation.
As with cremation, the family collects the remains. However, this process creates something that can be called mulch.
The family could use the land to plant trees, lobbyist Jake Hinman told lawmakers. “You can plant flowers that the bereaved family likes.”
Then, in the spring, when the flowers bloom, “these grieving families form close spiritual bonds,” he said.
Hinman, the Arizona-based National Organic Reduction lobbyist, who plans to present the process here, said the process uses natural additives, including organic materials such as alfalfa or other forages that contain nitrogen and carbon.
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“Microbes add heat and oxygen to speed up decomposition easily,” he said.
“Over a 30-day period, the body is basically broken down and then filtered to remove any screws or other foreign objects from the body,” Hinman said.
Traditional cremation essentially leaves behind broken bones, but the process can “reduce smaller bones, believe it or not,” he explained.
Large bones are crushed and mixed with soil in the same mechanical process as traditional corpses.
“Any calcium addition is good for the soil,” Hinman says.
The only problem is that while the procedure is legal in seven states, Hinman said anyone trying to perform a "natural reduction" in Arizona would now be breaking state law.
In Arizona, traditional burial, donations to science or medicine, or conventional cremation are acceptable.
State law defines cremation as “the burning and evaporation of human remains into bone fragments.”
Recently, Arizona lawmakers approved a process called “alkaline hydrolysis.” This is a variation of combustion in which the body is reduced to its "essential elements" by using water, alkaline chemicals, heat, agitation, and pressure to speed up the normal decomposition process.
In both cases, the family collects the ashes, which can be buried, scattered or stored in a container.
House Bill 2081 seeks to change that.
“There's usually a little bit of intrigue, maybe a little bit of surprise,” Hinman told lawmakers. This then leads to more questions and sometimes a desire to learn more and perhaps choose this as an option, he said.
“The fact that seven states have made this decision and their customers want to do business here shows there is demand,” he said.
Arizona lawmakers who had heard about the bill were curious.
Rep. Kevin Payne, a Republican from Peoria, asked how much was left. Hinman is about one cubic meter—three feet by three feet by three feet—because it also contains organic materials added to speed up the process.
“It's amazing,” Payne said.
But there is a practical question: what to do with what is left?
Unlike other procedures that remove most of the fluid from the body, this procedure retains it all. This means that families must consider not only the weight of the deceased person, but also the weight of others.
Therefore, consider purchasing some type of container that weighs 200 pounds or more, rather than just an ash-filled urinal. This raises logistical questions, Hinman acknowledged, that families must answer before deciding whether to go that route.
“If families have enough cars, they can own land,” he said.
The question is whether this land will be of use to anyone.
Hinman said Washington state has a program where leftover produce is donated and used for reforestation and similar projects.
Representative Cory McGarr proposed calling the bill the “circle of life.”
“I am a child of the 90s,” said the Marana MP. "And I remember The Lion King."
This refers to a conversation Mufasa had with his son, little Simba.
"When we die, our bodies turn into grass and the antelopes eat the grass," said Mufasa. “And that is why we are all connected to the great circle of life.”
In addition to the film reference, Hinman told McGarr that he "saw value in it."
“Many people feel a similar spiritual connection when they return to the earth and allow their bodies to merge with it,” he said.
This was enough for HB 2018 to win unanimous approval from the House Oversight Committee last week and pass the full House. A similar measure, Senate Bill 1042, sponsored by Sen. TJ Shoup, R-Coolidge, is awaiting passage in the Senate Finance and Commerce Committee this week.
Of course, those who choose "natural organic renewal" have to pay the price.
Hinman estimates the process will cost the family about $5,000. This is comparable to a regular cremation, which requires less than $1,000 in additional costs such as inspection, services, and multiple containers.
In a formal funeral, everything depends on the family's wishes. Additionally, cremation fees are not required by law and caskets can be very expensive.
Funeralocity.com estimates the average cost of a full funeral service in Arizona is $7,654. This does not include graves.
Howard Fisher is a veteran journalist who has worked since 1970 and covered national and legislative politics since 1982. Follow him on X, former Twitter and @azcapmedia or email azcapmedia@gmail.com.
