Exploring Ecological Death Care with Katrina Spade of Recompose

Sun, Jan 29, 3:30 pm
American Swedish Institute
Part of the Climate Solutions Series
Moderated by Angela Woosley

Are you curious about funeral options beyond the standards of burial and cremation? Join Katrina Spade, founder and CEO of Recompose, to learn about human composting. This ecological death care option started in Washington and is spreading to states all over the country. Katrina will explain the principles of human composting, illuminate the Recompose experience, and answer any questions you have about green funeral options. Moderated by Inspired Journeys’ Angela Woosely.

Katrina Spade is a designer and the inventor of a system that transforms the dead into soil (aka human composting). In 2017, Katrina founded Recompose, a public benefit corporation, with the goal of offering earth-centric, participatory, and meaningful death care. Recompose has led the successful legalization of human composting in Washington State, Oregon, Vermont, Colorado, and California. In 2020, Recompose began offering the service of human composting to the public.

Katrina and her team have been featured in Fast Company, NPR, the Atlantic, BBC, Harper’s Magazine, and the New York Times. She is an Echoing Green Fellow, an Ashoka fellow, and a Harvard Kennedy School Visiting Social Innovator.

Moderator Angela Woosley, M.A. (she/they) is a Minnesota-licensed mortician who taught in the UMN Program of Mortuary Science for over ten years before founding Inspired Journeys LLC. She provides celebrant services across the state, invites folks into caring for their dead, and arranges for natural disposition through her funeral home. Angela currently serves on the board of directors for the National Home Funeral Alliance. She lives in St. Paul with her spouse, his vintage car, and her dog and cat.