Human composting is now legal in Washington

Human composting is now legal in Washington.

The US state has become the first to allow bodies to be turned into compost as an alternative to being buried or cremated.

Governor Jay Inslee signed into law a bill which made it legal for companies to offer "natural organic reduction" meaning a body will turn into soil in a matter of weeks.

Katina Spade, founder and CEO of the company Recompose said on their website: "our service - recomposition - gently converts human remains into soil, so that we can nourish new life after we die.

"Our modular system uses nature's principles to return our bodies to the earth, sequestering carbon and improving soil health. In fact, we've calculated carbon savings over a metric tonne per person."

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.