Minnesotans will soon no longer need to leave the state to return their remains to nature by converting them into nutrient-rich soil.
As of July 1, human composting — also known as natural organic reduction — is legal in the state. But it likely will be another year before the process becomes available locally. At least one company plans to open a facility in the Twin Cities metro by next summer.
Legalization of the process comes after a push at the state Capitol to allow the emerging green burial option, which still currently requires a trip to another state to complete.
That was the case for Steve Wheeler, a longtime social studies teacher at Mahtomedi High School, who died in September 2023 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Wheeler, who had multiple sclerosis, started searching for burial options with his wife after learning he had a terminal diagnosis.
“He’d kind of always known that he didn’t traditional burial and he didn’t want cremation, because those things are just so incredibly bad for the environment,” said Katie Wheeler, Steve’s wife. “He didn’t want to leave, you know, such a large negative mark on the world, on the environment, in his death.”
Truly green option
The couple had some initial frustration finding what they felt was a truly green burial option. Some funeral homes allowed for the burial of un-embalmed bodies, but still provided protective burial vaults — something the Wheelers felt ran counter to a truly environmentally-friendly burial. Vaults are typically made of inorganic materials like concrete.
Katie Wheeler and her husband, Steve, in a spring 2023 photo. Steve Wheeler died of cancer in Sept. 2023 and chose to have his remains turned into compost through a process known as natural organic reduction. (Courtesy of Katie Wheeler)
Eventually, they found an ideal option, human composting, a process where a body is placed in a ventilated container with organic materials like alfalfa, straw, and sawdust and allowed to naturally decompose over 60 days or so until it becomes soil.
Steve was excited about the option, Katie said, but there was one problem — the practice was illegal in Minnesota. Only a handful of states have legalized human composting — 13 as of 2025. Washington was the first to do so in 2020.
The Wheelers eventually found a way forward. Mueller Memorial, a White Bear Lake-based funeral home, had recently started working with a provider of natural organic reductions in Washington. Return Home in Auburn, Wash., a Seattle Suburb, had a well-established operation and was able to accept remains from other states.
The process
Other green burials, which avoid embalming chemicals and use biodegradable caskets, already are legal in Minnesota. Human composting is a different, newer process.
“Green burial, quite honestly … has been has been around since people have died,” said Scott Mueller, funeral director and owner of Mueller Memorial. Though in recent years, more people have been seeking environmentally friendly burials, he added.
“People are really looking for more sustainable options in every way that they live, and now they’re looking at it in how they die as well,” Mueller said.
So, what happens when a body goes under natural organic reduction? Remains are placed inside a vessel made of insulated plastic along with biodegradable materials. The container is well ventilated and about twice the size of a refrigerator, said Mueller.
What then starts is a roughly 30-day process where the body naturally decomposes and becomes nutrient-rich dirt. Airflow is pumped through the vessel, which becomes warm to the touch as its temperature reaches around 130 degrees Fahrenheit, Mueller said.
In natural organic reduction burials, after initial decomposition takes place, human remains are transferred to a second vessel for a “curing” process that lasts another 30 days or so. Family and friends can visit at any time during the process at Return Home, a funeral home in Auburn, Wash., where some Minnesotans’ remains have gone for composting. (Courtesy of Scott Mueller)
Once the temperature decreases, it’s a sign that the primary decomposition is complete. Remaining bones are pulverized and mixed with the compost, which is then put in another vessel and allowed to sit for another 30 days or so. The compost continues to produce heat at this point, Mueller said, and the vessel’s temperature can reach 80 degrees.
Mueller said he visited a site where 60 bodies were undergoing the composting process and there was no hint of the scent of decay or decomposition. Instead, the facility had the smell of earth. Families are free to visit during the process, and the funeral home provides live streams of the containers.
After around 60 or 65 days, all that remains is 230 to 260 pounds of compost. Families have the option of receiving all the compost in about a dozen bags, distributing it in a woodland area managed by Return Home in Washington, or keeping some of the compost.
Katie Wheeler decided to keep about 20 pounds of her husband’s compost. At first, she kept the bag at home. Last summer, she spread some at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, one of Steve’s favorite places, and used it to plant two trees. She still has two or three pounds left.
Steve Wheeler wanted to testify before the Legislature to advocate for legalizing natural organic reduction and recorded a video outlining his reasons for choosing the process.
“With this act, I can at least go out on a high note and say I have left the world just a little bit better than when I found it,” he said.
Bill passed last year
State lawmakers passed a bill legalizing natural organic reduction during the 2024 legislative session and it went into effect this July 1.
The Minnesota Funeral Directors Association had initially opposed the bill because it had concerns about unlicensed and untrained people performing natural organic reduction. In testimony on the bill in 2024, the association said it had concerns about health, safety and dignity.
Lawmakers addressed their concerns about human composting by including licensing requirements in the bill, according to Funeral Directors Association Executive Director Miki Tufto.
“The association is completely in support of options for disposition for families in Minnesota,” she said.
The Minnesota Catholic Conference testified against legalizing human composting at a 2024 House hearing. They raised concerns about dignity and compared the practice to treating human remains like “fertilizer.”
Mueller, himself a Catholic, said he believes views will shift over time. The Catholic Church opposed cremation until 1963, but now allows for remains to be burned, though with a strong preference for the burying of ashes.
Mueller Memorial has sent seven bodies from Minnesota to Washington since it started working with Return Home. About 900 bodies have undergone composting at the facility since it first opened earlier this decade.
Natural organic reduction costs around $5,000 to $7,000. It’s more expensive to fly remains out of state. Return Home, for instance, charges a base rate of about $5,500 and $2,500 more for transporting remains from out of state.
Return Home said it hopes to open a facility for natural organic reduction by next summer.
Related Articles
Letters: Yes, what does happen ‘when laws are only applied based on who is in power?’
Gov. Tim Walz calls special election for Melissa Hortman’s House seat
Sheriff Bob Fletcher critiques agency info-sharing after lawmaker shootings
MN counties could see strain, 250K could lose coverage under Medicaid changes in Trump’s big bill
Letters: It’s our duty to rediscover the hope and promise of America
