A Green and Eco-Friendly Alternative to Cremation

The Terramation process destroys most harmful pathogens. There are three rare diseases that disqualify a body from undergoing Terramation: Ebola, prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, and active Tuberculosis.

Monitoring for these diseases is the responsibility of hospitals and medical examiners. For patients who have received radiation seed implants, the seeds must be removed and 30 days must pass before they are eligible for Terramation.

Most full body donations to science or medical research are embalmed and so are not eligible for Terramation. A person can be an organ donor and still choose Terramation.

In most instances, full body donation and Terramation are not compatible. Bodies donated to medical schools and research projects are usually embalmed to extend the time during which they can be studied. Bodies that are embalmed cannot undergo Terramation.

A person can be an organ donor and still choose Terramation.

Yes, you can donate your organs and choose Terramation.

Organs will be removed by medical professionals at the time of death. We will coordinate the transportation of the body back to the funeral home once organ donation is complete. 

Yes, we value diversity in cultural and faith traditions and will work with you to accommodate and celebrate your customs.

The process creates approximately 300 to 400 pounds of soil.  When bagged, the soil can be transported easily.

Families can take some or all of the soil home once the process is complete, and donate what does not go home to conservation efforts.

Like Terramation, alkaline hydrolysis—also called water cremation, resomation, or aquamation—is a process for transforming a body after death. Alkaline hydrolysis takes place in a pressurized vessel filled with water and potassium hydroxide, which transforms the body into a sand-like material.

In contrast, Terramation takes place in a closed, reusable vessel. Terramation creates an environment in which beneficial microbes thrive, with a specific moisture content and ratio of carbon and nitrogen materials.

Alkaline hydrolysis has some of the same environmental benefits as Terramation. Both processes are part of a worldwide movement to make death care practices less harmful—and ideally beneficial—to the planet.

Terramation takes place in a closed, reusable vessel while green burial refers to the practice of burying an unembalmed body in a designated green burial cemetery with a simple casket or shroud. Both Terramation and green burial encourage natural transformation of the body.

Terramation is not a type of burial because the body is not placed in the ground. The Terramation process creates an environment in which beneficial microbes thrive, with a specific moisture content and ratio of carbon and nitrogen materials. The molecular processes that power Terramation are the same processes that break down a body during green burial. However, these processes typically take much longer in a green burial context. This is partly because not as much oxygen reaches a body that has been buried underground.

Conceptually, both green burial and Terramation return a body to the earth. Both processes are part of a worldwide movement to make death care practices less harmful—and ideally beneficial—to the planet.

Terramation is a more environmentally-friendly option than burial or cremation. This is because the process does not use fossil fuel like cremation, does not require the casket and cemetery resources of burial, and sequesters carbon as soil is created. As the nutrients in the compost are used over time by the plants in contact with it, the impact of a person’s choice for Terramation continues to expand exponentially.

The soil created by Terramation is biologically valuable material that can be used to nourish trees and plants. It can be used in yards, flower gardens, trees, house plants, and in natural environments. It has a balanced nutrient content with a good supply of macronutrients.

Families may use their person’s soil to create groves of trees, nourish rose gardens tended by their person while they were alive, or scattered in a favorite natural area.

Terramation saves carbon through a combination of factors. The process uses 87% less energy than cremation, which typically uses fossil fuel to create sustained heat of over 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 to 4 hours.

No casket or coffin is used during human composting, nor is a concrete grave liner required – all items that add to the carbon footprint.

When Terramation gently transforms the organic material of our bodies, the carbon is captured, or sequestered, in the soil created. Rather than being released as carbon dioxide gas through exhaust during a cremation or as a hydrocarbon gas like methane, the carbon contained in each body returns to the earth. As the nutrients in the soil are used over time by the plants in contact with it, the impact of a person’s choice for Terramation continues to expand exponentially.