My name is Katrina Spade, and I grew up in a medical family where it was fairly normal to talk about death and dying at the dinner table. But I didn't go into medicine like so many of my family members. Instead, I went to architecture school to learn how to design. And while I was there, I began to be curious about what would happen to my physical body after I died. What would my nearest and dearest do with me?
Mi nanta Katrina Spade e m'ant pesau in d'una famiglia de dotoris. A chistionai de sa morti o de morri non pariat stranu mancu a mesa. Però deu no apu studiau a dotori cumenti a medas in sa famiglia mia. Apu scerau de istudiai architetura po imparai a progetai. Candu fuemu studiendi innias fuemu curiosa de ita iat a sutzedi a su corpus cosa mia a pustis de sa morti. Ita nd'iant a fai de mei is parentis?
So if the existence and the fact of your own mortality doesn't get you down, the state of our current funerary practices will. Today, almost 50 percent of Americans choose conventional burial. Conventional burial begins with embalming, where funeral staff drain bodily fluid and replace it with a mixture designed to preserve the corpse and give it a lifelike glow. Then, as you know, bodies are buried in a casket in a concrete-lined grave in a cemetery. All told, in US cemeteries, we bury enough metal to build a Golden Gate Bridge, enough wood to build 1,800 single family homes, and enough formaldehyde-laden embalming fluid to fill eight Olympic-size swimming pools.
Duncas si s'esistenzia e sa realtadi de sa mortalidadi no si tirat a terra, dd'ant a fai is praticas de s'interru prus comunas. Oi in di', giai metadi de is americanus si faint interrai. S'interru convenzionali cumentzat cun s'imbalsamatzioni, si drenant is licuidus de su corpus e si prenit de unu amesturu chi serbit a preservai su corpus e a ddu fai parri biu. A pustis, ddu scireis, su corpus est postu in s'inbaulu a intru de una tumba in campusantu. A intru de is campusantus americanus interraus metallus bastantis a fai un ateru Golden Gate, linna bastanti a fai 1800 domus e fluidu cun formaldeide de imbalsimai po preni ottu piscinas olimpicas.
In addition, cemeteries all over the world are reaching capacity. Turns out, it doesn't really make good business sense to sell someone a piece of land for eternity.
Puru, is campusantus de su mundu funt acanta de essi prenus. Tocad a nai ca no est una grandu cosa po is afarius a bendi un arrogheddu de terra po s'eternidadi.
(Laughter)
(Arrisus)
Whose idea was that?
Chini at tentu custa idea?
In some places, you can't buy a plot no matter how much money you have. As a result, cremation rates have risen fast. In 1950, if you suggested your grandmother be incinerated after she died, you'd probably be kicked from the family deathbed. But today, almost half of Americans choose cremation, citing simpler, cheaper and more ecological as reasons. I used to think that cremation was a sustainable form of disposition, but just think about it for a second. Cremation destroys the potential we have to give back to the earth after we've died. It uses an energy-intensive process to turn bodies into ash, polluting the air and contributing to climate change. All told, cremations in the US emit a staggering 600 million pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually. The truly awful truth is that the very last thing that most of us will do on this earth is poison it.
In certus logus, no podis comprai una tumba in terra po cantu arricu siasta Est po custu chi is crematzionis funti crescias de pressi. In su 1950, chi iasta inditau a cremai a aiaia tua ti iant essi bogau a son'e corru de su pomentu. Oi in di', metadi de is americanus scerant sa crematzioni, poita est prus simpri, prus barata e prus ecologica. Pentzamu ca sa crematzioni fued un interru ecologicu ma pentzainci pagu pagu. Sa crematzioni abruxiat su potentziali chi teneus de torrai a sa terra a pustis de sa morti. Serbit unu processu cun meda energia po torrai su corpus a cinixiu, imbrutat s'aria e cuncurrit a su cambiamentu climaticu. Cunziderendi totu, in America is crematzionis bogant donnia annu 300 milionis de tonnelladas de anidride carbonica in s'atmosfera. Sa beridadi est chi s'urtima cosa chi fadeus in custa terra est a dda farenai.
It's like we've created, accepted and death-denied our way into a status quo that puts as much distance between ourselves and nature as is humanly possible. Our modern funerary practices are designed to stave off the natural processes that happen to a body after death. In other words, they're meant to prevent us from decomposing. But the truth is that nature is really, really good at death. We've all seen it. When organic material dies in nature, microbes and bacteria break it down into nutrient-rich soil, completing the life cycle. In nature, death creates life.
Eus creau, acetau e negau sa morti fintzas a ponni cantu prus distantzia fuet umanamenti possibili a intr'e nosus e sa natura. Is interrus modernus funt progetaus po prevenni is processus naturalis chi sutzendint a pustis de sa morti. Ossiat, serbint a prevenni sa decompositzioni nostra. Ma sa beridadi est ca sa natura est bona meda cun sa morti. Dd'eus biu totus. Candu in natura morit materiali organicu, microbus e baterius ddu torrant a terra arrica de nutrientis serrendi su ciclu de sa vida. In sa natura, sa morti creat a sa vida.
Back in architecture school, I was thinking about all this, and I set out on a plan to redesign death care. Could I create a system that was beneficial to the earth and that used nature as a guide rather than something to be feared? Something that was gentle to the planet? That planet, after all, supports our living bodies our whole lives.
Candu fuemu in sa scola de architetura pentzamu a custas cosas e appu pentzau un progettu po cambiai sa condusidura de sa morti. Ddu podtemu creai unu sistema chi fuessit un beni po sa Terra e chi podiad sighiri sa natura intambu de is cosas chi timeus? Una cosa chi fuessit gentili cun su praneta? Custu praneta apoderat is corpus viventis e sa vida cosa nostra.
And while I was mulling this all over over the drawing board, the phone rang. It was my friend Kate. She was like, "Hey, have you heard about the farmers who are composting whole cows?" And I was like, "Mmmm."
Fuemu morighendi custas cosas in conca asuba de sa tavola grafica, candu at sonau su telefunu. Fuet Kate, s'amica mia. E mhat nau: "Dd'as intendiu de cussus allevadoris chi funt compostendi bacas interas?" E deu: "Mmmm".
(Laughter)
(Arrisu)
Turns out that farmers in agricultural institutions have been practicing something called livestock mortality composting for decades. Mortality composting is where you take an animal high in nitrogen and cover it with co-composting materials that are high in carbon. It's an aerobic process, so it requires oxygen, and it requires plenty of moisture as well. In the most basic setup, a cow is covered with a few feet of wood chips, which are high in carbon, and left outside for nature, for breezes to provide oxygen and rain to provide moisture. In about nine months, all that remains is a nutrient-rich compost. The flesh has been decomposed entirely, as have the bones. I know.
A cantu parit, allevadoris de certas istitutzionis funt fendi una cosa chi si nat "compostagiu de su bestiamini mortu" de diora meda. In su compostagiu de su bestiamini mortu pigas una bestia chi cuntenit meda azotu dda coberris cun atrus materialis chi tenint meda carboniu. Est unu processu aerobicu chi ddui serbit meda ossigenu e ddui serbit puru meda umbidadi. In su processu basi, si coberrit una baca cun d'un metru de serradura de taula chi cuntenit meda carboniu, si lassat in foras aici sa natura ddi donat ossigenu cun su bentu e umbidadi candu proit. A pustis de noi mesis totu su chi abarrat est unu compost arricu de nutrientis. Sa petza si decomponit dessintotu e is ossus puru. Ddu sciu.
(Laughter)
(Arrisu)
So I would definitely call myself a decomposition nerd, but I am far, far from a scientist, and one way you can tell this is true is that I have often called the process of composting "magic."
Mi seu impuntada sun sa decompositzioni, ma non seu una scientziada, e ddu podeis cumprendi poita tzerriu custu processu "maxia".
(Laughter)
(Arrisu)
So basically, all we humans need to do is create the right environment for nature to do its job. It's like the opposite of antibacterial soap. Instead of fighting them, we welcome microbes and bacteria in with open arms. These tiny, amazing creatures break down molecules into smaller molecules and atoms, which are then incorporated into new molecules. In other words, that cow is transformed. It's no longer a cow. It's been cycled back into nature. See? Magic.
Duncas, cussu chi nosus depeus fai est creai s'ambienti giustu po fai fai custu traballu a sa natura. Est su contrariu de su saboni antibatericu. In tambus de ddus cumbati, arriceus microbus e baterius a bratzus opertus. Custas creaturas pichinnias segant is molecolas e faint molecolas prus piticas e atomus chi funti incorporaus in ateras molecolas. Aici sa baca est stramudiada. No est prus una baca. Est torrada in su ciclu de sa natura. Eis biu? Maxia.
You can probably imagine the light bulb that went off in my head after I received that phone call. I began designing a system based on the principles of livestock mortality composting that would take human beings and transform them into soil.
Fortzis podeis imaginai sa lampadina alluta in conca mia a pustis de custa telefonada. Apu cumentzau a pentzai unu sistema basau a pitz'e is principius de su compostagiu de su bestiamini po torrai a terra is corpus umanus.
Fast-forward five years and the project has grown in ways I truly never could have imagined. We've created a scalable, replicable non-profit urban model based on the science of livestock mortality composting that turns human beings into soil. We've partnered and collaborated with experts in soil science, decomposition, alternative death care, law and architecture. We've raised funds from foundations and individuals in order to design a prototype of this system, and we've heard from tens of thousands of people all over the world who want this option to be available. OK. In the next few years, it's our goal to build the first full-scale human composting facility right in the city of Seattle.
Currei a innantis de cinc'annus e su progettu est cresciu in manera chi no mi iamessi mai pentzada. Eus fatu unu modellu urbanu non-profit e copiabili basau a pitz'e su compostagiu de su bestiamini mortu po torrai is umanus a terra. Si seus assotziaus e eus collaborau cun spertus de scienza de sa terra, decompositzioni, condusidura de sa morti, lei e architetura. Eus arregortu dinai de is personas e de is fundatzionis po podi progetai unu prototipu de custu sistema e eus ascurtau dexinas de milliaias de personas in su mundu chi iant'a bolli tenni custa possibilidadi. Bandad beni. De imoi a pagus annus olleus fai sa primu strutura funtzionanti de compostagiu umanu propriu in Seattle.
(Applause)
(Tzacarramanus)
Imagine it, part public park, part funeral home, part memorial to the people we love, a place where we can reconnect with the cycles of nature and treat bodies with gentleness and respect.
Pentzaiddu, parti parcu publicu, parti logu de pomentu, parti lugu po arregodai cussus chi eus amau, unu logu po torrai a s'acapiai cun is ciclus naturalis e po tratai is corpus cun gentilesa e arrespetu.
The infrastructure is simple. Inside a vertical core, bodies and wood chips undergo accelerated natural decomposition, or composting, and are transformed into soil. When someone dies, their body is taken to a human composting facility. After wrapping the deceased in a simple shroud, friends and family carry the body to the top of the core, which contains the natural decomposition system. During a laying in ceremony, they gently place the body into the core and cover it with wood chips. This begins the gentle transformation from human to soil. Over the next few weeks, the body decomposes naturally. Microbes and bacteria break down carbon, then protein, to create a new substance, a rich, earthy soil. This soil can then be used to grow new life. Eventually, you could be a lemon tree.
Sa strutura est simpri. A intru de unu nucleu verticali is corpus e sa serradura de taula poderant una decompositzioni naturali rapida, su compostagiu, e torrant a terra. Candu unu morit, si portat su corpus a sa strutura de compostagiu umanu. A pustis su corpus si coberrit cun unu telu simpri e is familiaris e amigus portant su corpus a pitzus de su nucleu chi cuntenit su sistema de decompositzioni naturali. A sa cirimonia de pomentu si ponit su corpus in su nucleu e si coberrit cun sa serradura. Partit una mudadura durci, s'umanu si fati terra. In pagu cidas su corpus si decomponit naturalmenti. Is microbus e is baterius segant su carboniu e is proteinas po creai una sostantzia noa, una terra arrica. Custa terra poit essi imperada po cresci vida noa. A s'acabada, estis a podi essi una mata de limoni.
(Applause)
(Tzacarramanus)
Yeah, thank you.
Eja, gràtzias.
(Applause)
(Tzacarramanus)
Who's thinking about lemon meringue pie right now?
Chini est pentzendi a una truta de limoni propiu imoi?
(Laughter)
(Arrisu)
A lemon drop? Something stronger?
Una caramellia de limoni? Una cosa prus forti?
So in addition to housing the core, these buildings will function to support the grieving by providing space for memorial services and end-of-life planning. The potential for repurposing is huge. Old churches and industrial warehouses can be converted into places where we create soil and honor life.
A prus de su nucleu, custas struturas podint aculli sa famiglia de su mortu in unu logu po su pomentu e po s'acabada de sa vida. Medas logus point essi imperaus. Cresias becias e magasinus industrialis podint essi logus po fai terra e torrai onori a sa vida.
We want to bring back the aspect of ritual that's been diluted over the past hundred years as cremation rates have risen and religious affiliation has declined. Our Seattle facility will function as a model for these places all over the world. We've heard from communities in South Africa, Australia, the UK, Canada and beyond. We're creating a design toolkit that will help others design and build facilities that will contain technical specifications and regulatory best practices. We want to help individuals, organizations, and down the road, municipalities design and build facilities in their own cities. The idea is that every one of these places should look and feel completely different with the same system inside. They're really meant to be designed for the neighborhood in which they reside and the community which they serve.
Ndi olleus torrai su sensu de sa cirimonia chi est sparessia me is urtimus cent'annus po s'aumentu de is crematzionis e s'impaghimentu de sa pratica religiosa. Sa strutura cosa nosta de Seattle est unu modellu po aterus logus in totu su mundu. Eus scipiu de comunidadis in Sud Africa, Australia, Renniu Unidu, Canada e aterus. Seus fadendi is ainas chi agiudant is aterus a progetai e pesai is struturas cun totus is specificas tecnicas e is cuntzillus prus profetus. Olleus agiudai a is personas, is assotzius, fintzas a is comunus, po progetai e pesai is struturas me in bidda insoru. Pentzaus chi dognia logu depit essi dessintotu diversu, mancai a intru tengat su propiu sistema. Depint essi progetaus po su bixinau insoru e po sa comunidadi chi ddus imperat.
The other idea is for supportive staff to be on hand to help families with the care and preparation of loved ones' bodies. We're banishing practices that bewilder and disempower and creating a system that is beautiful and meaningful and transparent. We believe that access to ecological death care is a human right.
S'atera idea est a tenni genti chi podit agiudai sa famiglia po aprontai su mortu. Nci ogaus praticas chi cunfundint e atrupelliant e fadeus un sistema chi est bellu e prenu de significau e trasluxenti. Nosus creeus ca su tratamentu ecologicu de sa morti est unu diritu umanu.
OK, so you know the old saying, if you can compost a cow, you can compost a human?
Ddu conosceis su diciu: chi podis torrai a compost una baca podis torrai fintzas a unu cristianu?
(Laughter)
(Arrisu)
Turns out, it's true. Since 2014, we've been running a pilot project in the hills of North Carolina with the Forensic Anthropology Department at Western Carolina University. Six donor bodies have been covered in wood chips, oxygen provided by breezes, microbes and bacteria doing their jobs. This pilot program has allowed us to demonstrate that it's possible to harness the incredible power of natural decomposition to turn human bodies into soil, and we're working with other universities as well. Soil scientists at Washington State University, the grad students, anyway, are working to compost teeth with amalgam fillings so that we can understand what happens to the mercury therein. Next up, we'll be beginning experiments to determine what happens to chemo drugs and pharmaceuticals during the composting process, and whether additional remediation will be needed.
Non ci eis a crei, ma est aici. De su 2014 seus sighendi unu progetu pilota me is montis de Nord Carolina, cun su dipartimentu de antropologa forensi de s'universidadi de West Carolina. Eus cobertu is corpus de ses donadoris con sa serradura de taula, su bentu s'at donau s'ossigenu e is microbus e is baterius ant fatu su traballu insoru. Custu programa pilota s'hat fatu dimostrai ca est possibili a sfrutai su poderi incredibili de sa decompositzioni naturali po torrai a terra is corpus umanus, e sesu traballendi cun ateras universidadis puru. Is iscientziaus de sa terra de s'universidadi statali de Washington, is dotorandus, nareus, funti circhendi de cumprendi ita sutzedit a is dentis piombaus chi portant mercuriu a intru. A pustis, eus a fai esperimentus po cumprendi ita sutzedit a is mexinas e a is arrestus de sa chemio in su processu de compostagiu e biri chi ddui serbit cancua bonifica.
By the way, composting creates a great deal of heat, especially this particular type of composting. One week after we began composting our fifth donor body, the temperature inside that mound of wood chips reached 158 degrees Fahrenheit. Imagine harnessing that heat to create energy or comfort the grieving on a cold day.
Un'atera cosa, su compostagiu fait callenti meda, pruschetotu custa calidadi. Una cida a pustis de su cumentzu de su compostagiu de su de cincu corpus sa temperadura a intru de su muntoni de serradura fuet de 70 gradus. Pentzai ca eus a podi imperai cussu callenti po fai energia o po calentai is famiglias in pomentu candu fait frius.
The death care revolution has begun. It's an exciting time to be alive.
Sa rivolutzioni de sa condusidura de sa morti è cumentzada. Est un momentu bellu po essi bius.
Thank you.
Gràtzias.
(Applause)
(Tzacarramanus)