Katrina Spade: When I die, recompose me
Katrina Spade: Candu mi morru, torraimi' a compostai
Katrina Spade created a system called "recomposition" that transforms human bodies into soil, so that we can return to the earth after we die. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
and I grew up in a medical family
in d'una famiglia de dotoris.
about death and dying at the dinner table.
non pariat stranu mancu a mesa.
like so many of my family members.
cumenti a medas in sa famiglia mia.
to learn how to design.
po imparai a progetai.
I began to be curious
to my physical body after I died.
a pustis de sa morti.
and dearest do with me?
and the fact of your own mortality
de sa mortalidadi
funerary practices will.
prus comunas.
choose conventional burial.
si faint interrai.
cun s'imbalsamatzioni,
designed to preserve the corpse
chi serbit a preservai su corpus
bodies are buried in a casket
su corpus est postu in s'inbaulu
to build a Golden Gate Bridge,
a fai un ateru Golden Gate,
1,800 single family homes,
embalming fluid
all over the world are reaching capacity.
funt acanta de essi prenus.
make good business sense
una grandu cosa po is afarius
a piece of land for eternity.
po s'eternidadi.
no matter how much money you have.
una tumba in terra po cantu arricu siasta
have risen fast.
funti crescias de pressi.
be incinerated after she died,
a cremai a aiaia tua
from the family deathbed.
de su pomentu.
of Americans choose cremation,
scerant sa crematzioni,
was a sustainable form of disposition,
fued un interru ecologicu
su potentziali chi teneus
after we've died.
to turn bodies into ash,
po torrai su corpus a cinixiu,
and contributing to climate change.
e cuncurrit a su cambiamentu climaticu.
in America is crematzionis
pounds of carbon dioxide
de tonnelladas de anidride carbonica
that most of us will do on this earth
in custa terra
and death-denied our way into a status quo
sa morti fintzas a ponni
between ourselves and nature
fuet umanamenti possibili
are designed to stave off
funt progetaus po prevenni
that happen to a body after death.
chi sutzendint a pustis de sa morti.
to prevent us from decomposing.
sa decompositzioni nostra.
really good at death.
cun sa morti.
break it down into nutrient-rich soil,
a terra arrica de nutrientis
I was thinking about all this,
pentzamu a custas cosas
to redesign death care.
po cambiai sa condusidura de sa morti.
rather than something to be feared?
intambu de is cosas chi timeus?
cun su praneta?
supports our living bodies
have you heard about the farmers
de cussus allevadoris
in agricultural institutions
de certas istitutzionis
called livestock mortality composting
"compostagiu de su bestiamini mortu"
you take an animal high in nitrogen
pigas una bestia chi cuntenit meda azotu
that are high in carbon.
chi tenint meda carboniu.
so it requires oxygen,
chi ddui serbit meda ossigenu
plenty of moisture as well.
is covered with a few feet of wood chips,
cun d'un metru de serradura de taula
for breezes to provide oxygen
ddi donat ossigenu cun su bentu
is a nutrient-rich compost.
est unu compost arricu de nutrientis.
call myself a decomposition nerd,
the process of composting "magic."
for nature to do its job.
po fai fai custu traballu a sa natura.
of antibacterial soap.
de su saboni antibatericu.
in with open arms.
a bratzus opertus.
into smaller molecules and atoms,
e faint molecolas prus piticas e atomus
into new molecules.
the light bulb that went off in my head
sa lampadina alluta in conca mia
of livestock mortality composting
de su compostagiu de su bestiamini
and transform them into soil.
I truly never could have imagined.
chi no mi iamessi mai pentzada.
replicable non-profit urban model
non-profit e copiabili
of livestock mortality composting
de su bestiamini mortu
with experts in soil science,
cun spertus de scienza de sa terra,
from foundations and individuals
e de is fundatzionis
a prototype of this system,
de custu sistema
of people all over the world
de personas in su mundu
custa possibilidadi.
full-scale human composting facility
de compostagiu umanu
cussus chi eus amau,
with the cycles of nature
cun is ciclus naturalis
with gentleness and respect.
cun gentilesa e arrespetu.
accelerated natural decomposition,
una decompositzioni naturali rapida,
is taken to a human composting facility.
a sa strutura de compostagiu umanu.
in a simple shroud,
cun unu telu simpri
to the top of the core,
a pitzus de su nucleu
decomposition system.
de decompositzioni naturali.
from human to soil.
s'umanu si fati terra.
the body decomposes naturally.
si decomponit naturalmenti.
break down carbon, then protein,
segant su carboniu e is proteinas
to grow new life.
po cresci vida noa.
una mata de limoni.
lemon meringue pie right now?
de limoni propiu imoi?
to support the grieving
aculli sa famiglia de su mortu
and end-of-life planning.
e po s'acabada de sa vida.
can be converted into places
podint essi logus
over the past hundred years
as a model for these places
est unu modellu po aterus logus
in South Africa, Australia,
in Sud Africa, Australia,
design and build facilities
e pesai is struturas
organizations,
is assotzius,
in their own cities.
me in bidda insoru.
should look and feel completely different
depit essi dessintotu diversu,
for the neighborhood in which they reside
for supportive staff to be on hand
chi podit agiudai sa famiglia
and preparation of loved ones' bodies.
that bewilder and disempower
chi cunfundint e atrupelliant
that is beautiful and meaningful
e prenu de significau
to ecological death care
ecologicu de sa morti
you can compost a human?
podis torrai fintzas a unu cristianu?
running a pilot project
unu progetu pilota
at Western Carolina University.
de s'universidadi de West Carolina.
have been covered in wood chips,
con sa serradura de taula,
ant fatu su traballu insoru.
to demonstrate that it's possible
dimostrai ca est possibili
of natural decomposition
de sa decompositzioni naturali
with other universities as well.
cun ateras universidadis puru.
at Washington State University,
de s'universidadi statali de Washington,
teeth with amalgam fillings
ita sutzedit a is dentis piombaus
what happens to the mercury therein.
to chemo drugs and pharmaceuticals
a is mexinas e a is arrestus de sa chemio
remediation will be needed.
type of composting.
composting our fifth donor body,
de su compostagiu de su de cincu corpus
that mound of wood chips
de su muntoni de serradura
to create energy
cussu callenti po fai energia
in pomentu candu fait frius.
de sa morti è cumentzada.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Katrina Spade - Inventor, designer, death care advocateKatrina Spade created a system called "recomposition" that transforms human bodies into soil, so that we can return to the earth after we die.
Why you should listen
Katrina Spade is a designer and entrepreneur who focuses on transforming death care. As the founder and CEO of Recompose, she is developing a new model of caring for our dead which focuses on transparency, participation, and nature. She has a Masters in Architecture from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a certificate in Sustainable Design and Building from Yestermorrow Design/Build School and a Bachelors in Cultural Anthropology from Haverford College.
Spade's work has been featured in The Atlantic, Wired, and the New York Times. She is an Echoing Green Climate Fellow.
Katrina Spade | Speaker | TED.com