How deceased bodies (remains) are cared for is one of the latest issues to be examined through an environmental lens. 

For example, last December New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law legislation allowing “Natural Organic Reduction” (NOR) as a form of final disposition. 

On behalf of 900-plus member funeral homes across the state, the New York State Funeral Directors Association (NYSFDA) wanted to share information on this new option. 

Before I go further into this type of disposition, keep in mind that the state is in the regulatory process and how NOR works in New York is evolving. Therefore, facilities are not currently set up and equipped to perform this type of disposition. 

It’s also important to note that cemeteries in New York are the only facilities allowed under the law to offer this new service to consumers. 

So, what exactly is NOR? When signed into law, NOR became the third legal form of final disposition, along with burial (42.4 percent chosen in New York in 2022) and cremation (53.5 percent chosen in New York in 2022). 

NOR is an accelerated method of human decomposition. This new technology and process involves placing deceased human bodies in vessels where they are covered with wood chips and aerated, transforming the bodies into soil. Again, the state is still defining its process. 

This form of disposition was first introduced to the death care industry in 2015-2016 with the Urban Death Project (now Recompose), a human-composting study at Washington State University. It caught the attention of Washington State legislators, became allowable by law in May 2019, and took effect in May 2020. 

In 2021, Colorado and Oregon legalized the process, and in 2022 California and Vermont followed suit. New York is the sixth state to legalize this form of disposition. 

For those interested in this type of disposition, we encourage you to do your research. NYSFDA has compiled information on its consumer website, www.goodatgoodbyes.com. We will continue to update the information as new details are determined. 

Licensed funeral directors are compassionate experts fully responsive to what a person desires for their own funeral and final disposition. Once regulations and protocol are in place in New York, NYSFDA members will work to honor and uphold the wishes of anyone choosing Natural Organic Reduction as a method of final disposition. 

John O. D’Arienzo is the president of the New York State Funeral Directors Association (NYSFDA) and the president of D’Arienzo Funeral Home in Brooklyn, NY.