In the end, we will all have to believe in it: the #dood . And what needs to happen to our body after that. At the moment there are 4 possibilities: cremation (by far the most popular), burying, a sailor's grave or making available for science. There may soon be two possibilities: water cremation and composting or humusing your body, as it is also called.

Composting body
“Today, the Health Council sends an opinion on the admissibility of new funeral options to Minister Ollongren. She then has a few months to respond and eventually her bill is dealt with by the House of Representatives. Hopefully, this new law will give more room for composting the human body, as is the case in Washington State. An important condition for this is scientific research, which should show whether it meets all hygiene and safety rules. Together with the Belgian Metamorphose Foundation, designer Rosalie Bak and I are working on putting composting, or humusation as they call it in Belgium, on the Dutch map. Together with the Amsterdam UMC, we started scientific research into humusation and started the research platform The Humusator. ”
Humusation

“In Belgium they have been busy with humusation for a long time. There's a big difference between the method they use there and the method they use in Washington State. Our southern neighbours work with a real open-air compost heap in which the body is buried under a thick layer of wood chips and leaves, mixed with compost cultures, rainwater and clay. The layer is so thick that the core reaches a heat of 60 to 70 degrees Celsius. It is also airtight, so it does not attract animals, for example. Thanks to the microorganisms, our body tissue is absorbed already after 3 months. The bones are then excavated, crushed and mixed again with the heap where they stay for another 9 months. This creates super compost, rich in calcium and phosphorus, on which plants can grow again. After a year, you have about one and a half cubs of this. The family can, in theory, take everything, but that's a lot. So the idea is that they take part with them and that the other part is used for planting forests and regeneration of nature.”

“In Washington, they chose urban composting, using as little space as possible. Here they do not have compost heaps in the open air as in Belgium, but compartments in a building. There the body goes into it with the same organic matter, which is slowly rotated around. Thanks to the more controllable heat, the process goes faster. This process will be completed within a few weeks, but this method is a little more expensive.”
Water cremation

“Alkaline hydrolysis, or water cremation as it is also called, is probably immediately included in the new funeral law. This has already been done in detail and it is already happening in practice in the United States. It is a chemical method, in which the body dissolves in a hot bath of potassium hydroxide and water. What remains are the bones and teeth and possibly titanium or silicone breasts. The natural remains are ground and given to the family as a kind of ash. This method promises to be CO2 neutral.”

Of course, it's a little coffee grounds watching, especially in this corona time, but the new regulations probably come into force in a year or two.