R.I. House passes human composting bill, shifting focus to Senate

Boston Globe

30-05-2025

Corvese said he realized the House was about to pass the bill. But, he said, 'I just want to assure my constituents back in District 55 in North Providence — I do not intend to compost grandma."
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On Friday, the bill's sponsor, Representative Michelle E. McGaw, told the Globe that the legislation is meant to provide another option in addition to traditional burial in a coffin or cremation. So, she said, '(Corvese) doesn't have to compost grandma if he doesn't want to.'
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Representative Michelle E. McGaw, a Portsmouth Democrat, has introduced a human composting bill.
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McGaw, a Portsmouth Democrat, said some funeral homes in the state are interested in making this option available, and she has constituents interested in it.
'It's enabling legislation,' she said. 'Anyone who is not comfortable with these options can choose from one of the other options that are already available.'
Rhode Island would join 13 other states that have passed human composting legislation, including Maine, Vermont, and New York.
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McGaw said human composting aims to reduce the impact on the earth. Burial involves occupying land and paying for things such as caskets, grave liners, and gravestones, while cremation requires the burning of fossil fuel, pouring an average of 534 pounds of carbon into the atmosphere for each cremation, she said.
With human composting, dead bodies are placed inside vessels along with organic matter that helps speed the natural decomposition process, McGaw explained. An indoor chamber keeps the vessels between 130 to 160 degrees, and the contents are blended regularly over the course of four to seven weeks.
The result is about a cubic yard of nutrient-dense soil.
This year, the legislation has been broadened to include alkaline hydrolysis, also known as water cremation, which is legal in 28 states, McGaw said.
For that process, McGaw said, a body is placed into a vessel with water and alkaline substances — potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, or a combination. The vessel is heated up and the alkaline solutions return the body, which is already mostly water, to 'a clean water product, with no tissue or DNA,' she said.
Bone fragments are left over, similarly to cremation. Those remains are ground up, and a fine white ash is placed in an urn, McGaw said. 'Instead of soil, you get water,' she said.
McGaw said she hopes this is the year her bill becomes law.
'As you saw, the debate was far less on the House floor this year,' she said. 'When you see people at fundraisers or in the hallways, they say 'Tell me about this bill, help me understand it better.' It has definitely been a conversation piece. As people get more education about what the bill actually does, they are becoming more comfortable with it.'
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The legislation would enable licensed disposition facilities, including those that also perform cremation, to offer natural organic reduction and/or alkaline hydrolysis, subject to licensing, inspection, and regulations set by the state Department of Health.
The bill, which would take effect on Jan. 30, 2027, would not affect burial or cremation as options Rhode Islanders can choose.
Attention now shifts to the Senate, which has new leaders following the
Senator Tiara T. Mack, a Providence Democrat, has introduced
On Friday, Senate spokesman Greg Pare said new Senate President Valarie J. Lawson, an East Providence Democrat, will be reviewing testimony on the bill and speaking with Senator Melissa A. Murray, the Woonsocket Democrat who chairs the Health and Human Services Committee.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at