Burcum: Last wish for greener funeral options becomes reality

The Minnesota Legislature made Steve Wheeler's last wish a reality during the 2024 session. Thanks to the Lake Elmo man's courageous advocacy as he battled a terminal illness, Minnesotans will soon have a new, more environmentally minded way to dispose of their remains — a process called "natural organic reduction" or, more memorably, human composting.

Wheeler passed away about a year ago, but his advocacy for this option continued beyond his death. His recorded remarks in a YouTube video (to see it, go to tinyurl.com/SteveWheelerMN ) continued to inspire community members and legislators. This persuasive argument also won the Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Board's support earlier this year.

At one point, the video was a set to become posthumous testimony at a Minnesota Senate hearing, though a technical problem at the last minute derailed that. Thankfully, it didn't derail the push to make natural organic reduction (NOR) available in Minnesota beginning in July 2025. Minnesota is now commendably one of 11 states where NOR has been legalized.

The achievement is bittersweet, according to his widow Katie Wheeler. "I'm so grateful that it passed and so happy that it will be available to anyone in the state who wants to choose that path," she said. "Simultaneously, I'm sad that my husband wasn't able to do that in the state he lived in."

Instead, Wheeler's family worked with St. Paul's Mueller Memorial Funeral Home and Cremation to find an out-of-state NOR provider. After his death, his body was transported to Washington state for this service, providing comfort to his family that he'd achieved his final goal.

Steve "wanted to leave the world a better place and that's one of the ways he did," Katie Wheeler said this week.

Lawmakers merit praise for their work to pass NOR in Minnesota. That they did so marks a laudable departure from a poorly reasoned policy passed late in the 2023 session — enacting a two-year moratorium on new cemeteries offering "green burials" — that undermined Minnesotans' death care choices.

Green burials forgo toxic embalming and vaults and rely on biodegradable containers, shrouds, caskets or urns, according to the Green Burial Council. NOR is another green disposal method, and there's a reason that it's sometimes called human composting.

Many of us compost food waste at home, using the material to enrich soil. NOR works similarly, relying on gentle natural processes to break down bodies into soil, avoiding traditional cremation's energy needs and emissions.

NOR "uses large tanks, containers, or similar vessels to hold human remains together with straw, wood chips, and/or other natural materials for a period of time of about four to six weeks," according to AGreenerFuneral.org.

"The remains and organic materials, mixed together with warm air, are periodically turned and the composting process eventually results in reduction to a soil material. When the process is complete the family of the deceased has the opportunity to receive the soil material, which is suitable for spreading in a garden, planting a special tree, or scattering in other meaningful locations."

NOR can also be less expensive than traditional burial. But because there isn't yet a broad array of providers, it can still be more pricey in some areas than traditional cremation. One reason: the cost of transporting a body to a state where NOR is available. Legalizing it in Minnesota will reduce shipping costs.

Legalization should also help address another hurdle: There is currently no on-site NOR provider in Minnesota though there's interest in providing this service. Hopefully, the market will change swiftly because consumers clearly desire options other than traditional burial.

The National Funeral Directors Association projects that the nation's cremation rate will rise to 61.9% this year, up 1.3% from 2023. The organization predicts the cremation rate will soar to 82.1% by 2045, while burial rates are expected to fall to 13.3% in two decades.

Mueller Memorial can help families find an out-of-state provider until the service is provided within Minnesota. With interest growing, other funeral service providers can direct family to information resources as well.

Interested consumers can learn more about NOR and other green burial options this weekend. Mueller Memorial's Interra Green Burial is hosting the "Green Funeral Expo" in St. Paul on Saturday to help the public learn more about "sustainable end-of-life alternatives to traditional burial and flame cremation." Consumers will also be able to see what NOR's end product — one that's composted from pigs, not humans — looks like.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Interra's facility in St. Paul at 835 Johnson Parkway, Suite B. Registration is free, but space is limited and organizers encourage early sign-up to secure a spot.

The expo is a welcome start in raising awareness about Minnesota's new funeral choices. Hopefully, others in the industry will follow Mueller's lead. To learn more about making your own farewell more sustainable, go to interraburial.com/green-funeral-expo .