Communities across Virginia, from Richmond to Norfolk and Virginia Beach, can receive human composting services from Recompose to give back to the earth at the end of life.
Human composting was invented by Recompose over years of rigorous research and design. Your loved one’s soil transformation will be managed by the world’s leading experts.
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How to Receive Human Composting Services in Virginia
No human composting facilities exist in Virginia. However, Recompose offers services to Virginia residents by working with a funeral home in your area to provide transportation of your loved one to Seattle.
Once soil transformation is complete, we have multiple options if you’d prefer your person’s soil shipped back to Virginia. You may also choose to donate any amount to support restoration projects on protected lands stewarded by conservation organizations.
Meet Recompose
A trusted leader in green funerals
Our Story
In 2011, Katrina Spade set out to develop a more sustainable funeral option. By 2017, Katrina had invented human composting, led Washington State to legalize it, and started Recompose. Today, Recompose provides funeral services to clients in all 50 states.
Our Services
Recompose is a green funeral home specializing in soil transformation. With decades of experience, our staff are the leading experts in human composting. We are proud to offer you full support and help during this time of transition.
Prearranging for human composting with Recompose is straightforward and saves your family from worrying about finances for your future services. Our prepaid funeral plans start at $100/month and do not require a medical exam.
For those expected to pass within the next six months, our team is available to guide you. We will ensure your future death care is arranged so you are ready when the time comes.
If a death has occurred or is near, we are here for you 24 hours a day. We’re available to assist with arrangements online or on the phone at (206)-800-8733
Our team offers responsive, thoughtful care from the time of death through the transformation into soil
STEP 1
Make Arrangements
Whether a death has occurred or is near, start making arrangements online or on the phone at (425) 357-2503. We are available any time, day or night.
STEP 2
Schedule Transportation
When you are ready, we’ll arrange safe transport of your loved one into our care with a funeral home in Virginia.
STEP 3
Soil Transformation Begins
Over an 8 to 12 week process, your loved one will transform into life-giving soil. Our funeral directors will keep you informed throughout the process.
STEP 4
Receive Your Loved One’s Soil
Soil can be used for gardens, trees, or to scatter across favorite places. You may also donate any amount to support conservation projects on protected lands stewarded by conservation organizations.
Learn more below about the Recompose approach and process
Should I have a ceremony before or after the human composting process?
Often, clients choose to have both—a service shortly after the death, before the process has begun, and then a second one after once the soil is returned. Recompose clients have shared that they’ve held soil ceremonies to plant trees, scatter the soil on a hike, or shared the soil for friends and family to take home to their own gardens.
Because our process is tailored to each individual, the timeline for each client is unique. Due to the variation in the timeline, we recommend waiting until the soil is returned to you before scheduling time-sensitive ceremonies, activities, or travel.
Can I have a funeral service with Recompose?
Yes, Recompose offers several options for funeral services. Our Seattle location has two thoughtfully curated spaces for friends and family to gather for in-person and virtual ceremonies. Our team of licensed funeral directors helps with event planning, ensures events run smoothly, and can lead ceremonies if desired. Please see our Ceremony Catalog for more information.
Note: Ceremony offerings are optional and not included in the price of human composting.
Can families request whole bones from their person?
Washington State regulates how bones are processed during the composting cycle, with some special exceptions. Recompose focuses on creating the best quality of compost and it is not our policy to return whole, unprocessed bones. However, we recognize some cultural and religious practices may have special requests.
If you have questions or would like to learn more, please contact the Services team at at (206) 800-8733 or services@recomposestg.mystagingwebsite.com.
Do you fulfill religious-based needs and requests?
Recompose values diversity in cultural and faith traditions and will work with you to accommodate and celebrate your customs. Contact the Services team at (206) 800-8733 or services@recomposestg.mystagingwebsite.com.
How can human composting soil be used?
The soil created by human composting 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. Its pH of 6.5 – 7 is ideal for most plants. It has a balanced nutrient content with a good supply of macronutrients.
Recompose customers have used 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.
In Washington State, the law for scattering human composting soil is the same for cremated remains—you must have permission of the landowner. It is legal to scatter in navigable waterways.
If you have any questions about what you can do with your person’s soil, our staff is here to help.
How is donated soil used by conservation organizations?
Many Recompose clients choose to donate some soil to the Land Program and take a portion to share with friends and family to use on gardens, on house plants, and scatter across favorite places.
Through the Recompose Land Program, we partner with nonprofit organizations to protect and regenerate ecosystems through conservation, rewilding, and other restoration practices. These Land Partners receive soil donated from Recompose clients to use in projects that benefit the land they steward.
Our Land Partners focus on ecologically significant areas across diverse, protected landscapes like forests, prairie grasslands, and wetland areas. Some of the many species that are supported through soil donation include:
Elk
Beaver
River otter
Black-tailed deer
Juvenile salmonids
Recompose is proud to support this work to allow nature to flourish again.
Clients who choose to donate soil through the Land Program have shared that they connect with the concept of returning to the natural environment as a whole rather than to a single location—instead of becoming a tree, they become part of the forest.
Recompose and our Land Partners share a common interest in connecting the human experience with the natural environment, and recognize the use of soil from human composting as a way to strengthen this connection.
An aerial view of a Recompose Land Partner’s preserve.
How much does it cost to send my person to your facility in Seattle?
The cost for transport will vary and depend on the funeral home you work with to send your person to us. On average, the cost for transport services can range from $3,500-$5,000. Our team can assist you in finding a local funeral home and obtaining a quote for you.
How does human composting work?
Human composting is the transformation of a human body into soil. Recompose places each body into a stainless steel vessel along with wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. Microbes that naturally occur on the plant material and on and in our bodies power the transformation into soil.
Over the next five to seven weeks, the body inside the vessel breaks down thanks to the natural action of the microbes. The soil is then removed from the vessel, screened for non-organic items such as hip replacements or stents, and allowed to cure for an additional three to five weeks.
Once the process is complete, the soil can be used on trees and plants, or donated to conservation efforts. Each body creates about one cubic yard of soil.
Watch Recompose Founder and CEO, Katrina Spade, describe how human composting works during her 2023 talk at the End Well Conference.
Explore More
Learn more about the steps involved in the human composting process.
Funeral practices have a profound impact on the environment.
Cremation contributes to climate change by burning fossil fuels and emitting carbon dioxide and toxic particulates into the air.
Burial pollutes soil and consumes valuable urban land. Caskets use four million acres of forest every year in the U.S.
Human composting transforms the body into life-giving soil, saving one metric ton of carbon pollution at the end of life.
From Our Clients
Voted the best funeral home in the Pacific Northwest for the last two years, Recompose earned this recognition by attentively caring for hundreds of families.
Recompose deeply appreciates the emotional meaning of the service they are providing. Everything they do speaks directly to that meaning. From the serene “spa like” experience, to the thoughtfully designed containers, the message is always that there is beauty even in the unthinkable. It is a process that has provided some comfort to my family while helping us grieve.
Paul S
New York, New York
Recompose is such a beautiful place to lay a loved one to rest. The thoughtful design is evocative of being in a forest and serves as a gentle, lovely reminder of our connection to the natural world. And I cannot say enough about the kindness, knowledge, and generosity of the staff. Highly recommend.
Julie B
Portland, Oregon
Everything was handled professionally and I was educated in the process. The laying-in ceremony was beautifully done and my family is forever grateful for Recompose. I really can’t say enough about how well Morgan treated me and my family. Just amazing!
Saraphina B
Renton, Washington
Thank you to the whole team from start to end of this process. It’s been such a warm and supportive experience in a world that’s been so difficult to navigate and unfamiliar to me. I can’t express my gratitude enough to the whole Recompose team for taking care of not only Justin, but also me. It meant a lot.
Una H
Seattle, Washington
I just wanted to say thank you for creating such a beautiful ceremony to send off my mom yesterday. It was moving, quiet, and meaningful. Members of the family called me after to say that the experience was healing for them in ways they had not expected.
Michelle M
Los Angeles, California
My mother chose composting as a way to give back to the earth. Recompose was amazing through all of it. Our family had a small viewing and they did an amazing job. Elaine was our guide through the process. She explained what to expect and was incredibly gracious and respectful. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Thank you.
Synneva R
Issaquah, Washington
It's obvious that they are sincere in their mission to provide quality, ecological, compassionate care at the end of life. The space is warm and inviting. It's evident that the care and various possibilities are catered to the families' needs. An exceptional funeral home changing the death care landscape with gentle kindness.
Candace P
Seattle, Washington
The facility is so comforting and welcoming, you'd think it was a spa. Everything about Recompose is so well-thought, and I really appreciate the effort that the team has put into making the process of human composting more accessible, beautiful, and exciting.
Noah S
Seattle, Washington
Recompose is stunningly gorgeous. It’s a beautiful clean space, a careful and tender atmosphere, and luscious green imagery all around. The Gathering Space has tall ceilings and the illusion of sunbeams coming through the trees. Who knew it was possible to create such a sacred space in the middle of the industrial area of Seattle?
Nika N
Puyallup, Washington
We had no idea the profound significance receiving the soil of our son for our personal use would have. We used it to plant a dogwood tree in our yard that can be seen from his childhood bedroom. Our yard has become a spiritual place where we go to talk to our son while he, in turn, nourishes his dogwood tree. Thank you for this beautiful gift.
Karen Y
Seattle, Washington
The facility was so beautiful and peaceful, the decor was very thoughtful and invoked a strong sense of nature and elegance. The staff were incredibly kind and knowledgeable about the process. We left feeling so warm and hopeful for the future of natural death care. This really does feel like a crucial step into an eco-friendly future.
Jay C
Kirkland, Washington
Recompose has created a thoughtful, warm, and inviting place. A healthy and meaningful connection that reframes our relationship to nature in our last act and supports a critical cultural shift.
Deb G
Seattle, Washington
Unlike Any Funeral Home
The design of our space and services offers a new kind of funeral home
Our green funeral home in Seattle provides human composting services to families across the country
Our Seattle location has 33 vessels housed in a large space we call the Greenhouse. The sophisticated composting system ensures that the soil meets regulatory and internal thresholds for safety and quality.
We offer two thoughtfully curated spaces for in-person and virtual ceremonies before soil transformation begins. Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images.
Our team of licensed funeral directors helps with event planning, ensures events run smoothly, and can lead ceremonies if desired
The human composting process transforms humans into nutrient-rich, living soil that can be used to grow new life
Recompose offers two types of soil packaging for clients to receive soil
Any amount of soil can be ordered in our standard packaging, which is included in our price. Each durable bag holds about 12 gallons each.
The soil can be used to plant new trees, plants, and flowers or nourish established plants
Clients can choose to donate any amount of soil to nonprofit conservation organizations to restore and revitalize protected areas through the Recompose Land Program
Clients who donate soil have shared that they connect with the concept of returning to the natural environment—instead of becoming a tree, they become part of the forest. Photo by Skagit Land Trust.
Pricing
Simple, transparent pricing. No hidden fees.
$7,000
Recompose Human Composting
This Price Includes:
Support in transportation planning
Funeral director services
Sheltering of the body
Filing of paperwork
Transformation into soil
Soil packaged for shipment
Soil donation to nonprofit conservation organizations
