Last updated 2026-08-18
TL;DR
Human composting in Colorado costs $5,000 to $7,000 at the two operating providers. That price normally covers body transport within the state, the 80 to 120 day reduction process, third-party soil testing, and return of the finished soil. Colorado legalized natural organic reduction in 2021 through SB21-006, the second state after Washington.
How much does human composting cost in Colorado?
Expect $5,000 to $7,000 for a complete human composting service in Colorado. That range comes from the two providers actively doing NOR in the state: The Natural Funeral in Lafayette and Be a Tree Cremation in Denver. Both publish pricing. Final numbers move with mileage and any add-ons.
The Natural Funeral lists human composting at $6,300 for the full service [1]. Be a Tree Cremation charges $5,000 for natural organic reduction [2]. Those prices include almost everything: body pickup within Colorado, the reduction process, soil testing, and return of the finished soil to the family.
Watch what's left out. Mileage fees kick in past a set radius. Be a Tree Cremation, for example, bills by the mile for pickups beyond 30 miles [2]. A death in Durango adds real transport cost. Also outside the base price: death certificate filing, obituary placement, an urn or container for the soil, and any formal memorial service at the funeral home.
Is human composting legal in Colorado?
Yes. Human composting has been legal in Colorado since September 7, 2021, when SB21-006 took effect [3]. The bill added natural organic reduction to the list of lawful final disposition methods under Colorado Revised Statutes § 12-135-103.
The statutory definition is tight: " 'Natural organic reduction' means the contained, accelerated conversion of human remains to soil." [4]. Colorado followed Washington, which legalized NOR first in 2019.
Governor Jared Polis signed the bill on May 10, 2021. The 90-day waiting period ended that September. Since then, several funeral establishments have obtained the required registrations to offer the service. There is no separate "human composting license." NOR operates under the same regulatory framework as cremation, with added soil safety standards [4].
Do you need a license for human composting in Colorado?
There is no standalone human composting license in Colorado. What you need is a funeral establishment registration from the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), through the Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration.
The law treats NOR as a form of final disposition, not a separate industry. A funeral home or crematory that wants to add human composting must already hold or obtain a valid registration under C.R.S. Title 12, Article 135. The NOR-specific rules layer on top: the process must use a closed vessel, meet defined temperature and moisture standards, and achieve pathogen reduction verified by third-party testing [4].
Starting a facility from scratch? The practical path is short to describe and long to walk. Form a business entity. Lease or buy a compliant facility. Register with DORA as a funeral establishment. Satisfy the same insurance and facility requirements any funeral home faces. DORA does not publish a separate NOR application. Confirm current fees and timelines directly with the Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration, because application fees change and an outdated blog will burn you.
HumusPath's NOR Facilitator Statute Kit is built for this exact moment. It's a $199 one-time paper kit with the current statute text, registration rules, and board-confirmable facts to take to your attorney and real estate agent before you spend money on a lease or a lawyer's clock. It's not legal advice. It's the paper you'd otherwise pay someone to assemble.
How long does human composting take in Colorado?
Plan on 80 to 120 days from the time the body enters the vessel until finished soil is ready for pickup. That's the standard window Colorado providers follow, tracking the Washington precedent and the law's pathogen reduction requirement.
Here's the breakdown. The active composting phase inside the vessel runs 30 to 50 days. After that, the material comes out, gets screened for non-organic items like pacemakers or surgical screws, and cures for another 30 to 60 days. Curing lets the microbial community stabilize so the soil is biologically safe and plant-ready.
The timeline can stretch if the family delays paperwork that starts the process, or if soil testing flags something and a re-cure is needed. Colorado's law requires the finished soil to meet standards for heavy metals and pathogen absence before release [4].
What does the $5,000 to $7,000 price cover?
The base price at both Colorado providers covers three things: transport, processing, and the soil. It's simpler than a traditional funeral and cremation combined. Fewer line items doesn't mean vague.
First, local transport of the body. Both The Natural Funeral and Be a Tree Cremation include pickup from the place of death (home, hospital, hospice) within the metro Denver area and Boulder County. Distances past roughly 30 miles add a per-mile fee.
Second, the reduction process. This covers placing the body in a vessel with organic materials (wood chips, alfalfa, straw), the active composting phase, screening for non-organic implants, curing, and the required third-party soil safety testing. The lab tests look for heavy metals, fecal coliform, and salmonella.
Third, soil return. The family typically gets a pickup-truck load of usable soil, about one cubic yard. Most families keep a portion and donate the rest to conservation projects. Want the soil shipped? Freight is extra.
What adds cost beyond the base price?
Transport outside the metro area is the most common add-on. A death in Grand Junction, Pagosa Springs, or Sterling triggers mileage fees that can add several hundred dollars or more.
Death certificate filing ($20 to $30 per certified copy), obituary placement (free to $400 depending on the newspaper), and an urn or soil container ($20 to $200) are small but real. If the family wants a viewing or ceremony before the body enters the vessel, that's usually billed separately by the funeral home's event space or staffing.
One thing nobody tells you up front: the soil you get back is roughly a cubic yard, and it's heavy. Can't pick it up yourself? You'll pay for delivery. And if the soil fails its initial pathogen test (rare but possible), a re-cure cycle adds time and a small lab re-test fee.
No Colorado provider publishes a line-item surcharge list online. Call and ask for a written General Price List (GPL). Federal law says they must give it to you, by phone or in person, with all itemized charges [5].
Human composting cost compared to burial and cremation in Colorado
Human composting sits between direct cremation and a full burial with vault. It's not the cheapest option. It's nowhere near the most expensive.
Direct cremation in Colorado (no service, no viewing) averages $1,600 to $3,200 depending on the region [6]. A traditional burial with embalming, a metal casket, a concrete vault, and grave opening and closing fees runs $8,000 to $12,000 or more, especially in metro Denver or Boulder [6].
Human composting at $5,000 to $7,000 costs more than a basic cremation but well under a conventional burial plot and casket. No cemetery plot required. No vault. No embalming unless a public viewing is planned. The soil has value as a planting medium, but you can't sell it: Colorado law requires the soil be used for land restoration, conservation, or given to the family, not sold commercially [4].
Here's a snapshot of the cost structure.
What does Colorado's law say about soil safety and testing?
Colorado Revised Statutes § 12-135-103(3)(b) requires the finished soil be tested by a third-party laboratory for pathogens and heavy metals before release to the family or a conservation site [4]. The statute requires the reduction process to achieve "the elimination of pathogenic organisms" including fecal coliform and salmonella.
The law also requires non-organic materials like metal implants, dental fillings, and pacemakers be removed from the soil and recycled or disposed of separately. Any pacemaker comes out before the body enters the vessel, because lithium batteries explode in the heat.
On the producer side, the operator keeps records of every cycle: temperature logs, moisture readings, and pathogen test results. Those records are subject to DORA inspection. If the soil fails, it gets re-processed. If it fails again, it must be disposed of as pathological waste, not released [4]. This almost never happens, but the statute accounts for it.
Do you need a body transport permit in Colorado?
Yes, but it's not complicated. Colorado requires a disposition permit before any final disposition, including human composting. The funeral establishment usually obtains it from the county registrar of death records where the death occurred.
The permit is filed electronically through the Colorado Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS). Cost varies by county. The certified copy fee is $20, and the disposition permit is normally part of the death records fee bundle [7]. The funeral home handles almost all of this paperwork.
Transporting a body across county lines yourself, rather than through a funeral director? You need to coordinate with the county registrar in the county of death. In practice, the NOR providers manage this end to end as part of their service. Even families who do everything DIY on the memorial side rarely handle the disposition permit themselves.
How do you compare providers and get a real price in writing?
You have two operating NOR providers in Colorado as of 2025: The Natural Funeral in Lafayette and Be a Tree Cremation in Denver. Both are transparent about pricing online. The internet number is not the same as a signed contract.
Call each one. Ask for a written General Price List, which they must provide under the FTC Funeral Rule [5]. Ask these specific questions:
- What's the base price, and does it include local transport? What counts as local?
- Mileage rate if the death is outside your standard range?
- What lab tests are included, and what does a retest cost if the first fails?
- What's the timeline right now given current vessel capacity?
- How much soil do we actually get back, and how is it delivered?
Write down the answers. Compare them. The provider who answers the phone and gives clear, written answers with no hedging is worth an extra few hundred bucks in transport fees.
Curious about the operations side elsewhere? Our human composting cost in California and human composting cost in Washington guides walk through different state approaches, from the most mature NOR market (Washington) to a state still grinding through regulations (California).
Is human composting in Colorado cheaper than alkaline hydrolysis?
Alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation) is also legal in Colorado and often confused with human composting. The costs are close, not identical.
Alkaline hydrolysis in Colorado typically runs $3,000 to $5,000 [6]. That's the basic process, which uses water, heat, and potassium hydroxide to reduce the body to bone fragments and sterile liquid. The bone fragments are processed into a powder similar to cremated remains and returned to the family. No soil is produced.
Human composting at $5,000 to $7,000 costs more than alkaline hydrolysis on the low end and overlaps on the high end. What you're paying for is different. Instead of sterile remains powder, you get a cubic yard of biologically active soil. If soil return and ecological impact matter to you, the extra dollars may be worth it. If cost is everything, direct cremation is the floor.
What questions should you ask before signing anything?
Beyond the General Price List, ask two questions that reveal whether the provider actually knows NOR.
First: "What lab do you use for soil testing, and what does the panel cover?" The right answer names a Colorado-certified environmental lab and specifies fecal coliform, salmonella, and at minimum the EPA 503 heavy metals list (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, zinc) [4]. If they can't name the lab and the panel, they're not running the process themselves. They're brokering it.
Second: "What happens to medical implants and dental fillings?" Colorado statute requires removal of non-organic materials and recycling or proper disposal. A competent provider describes their screening step and what they do with recovered metals, including any recycling or donation program.
Comparing Colorado against other states? Our guides on human composting cost in Florida and human composting cost in Georgia show where NOR is still working through legislation, and our human composting cost in Illinois and human composting cost in Connecticut pieces walk through states with bills in progress.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is human composting and how does it work?
Human composting, legally called natural organic reduction (NOR), places the body in a reusable vessel with organic materials (wood chips, alfalfa, straw). Microbial activity and controlled heat and moisture accelerate decomposition, converting the body into about one cubic yard of nutrient-rich soil over 80 to 120 days. The soil is tested for safety, screened for non-organic implants, and returned to the family or donated to conservation land.
How much soil do you get from human composting?
Families typically receive about one cubic yard of finished soil, weighing roughly 500 to 800 pounds depending on moisture content. That's a full pickup truck bed, or about 27 standard cubic-foot bags of garden soil. Most families keep a portion and donate the rest to conservation projects, since a cubic yard is more than most home gardens can absorb.
Can you do human composting on your own property in Colorado?
No. Colorado law requires natural organic reduction to happen in a registered funeral establishment using a closed, contained vessel that meets statutory temperature, moisture, and pathogen reduction standards [4]. Home burial or home composting of human remains is not permitted under current Colorado statute.
Does Colorado require a specific type of vessel for human composting?
Yes. Under C.R.S. § 12-135-103(3)(a), the process must occur in a "closed vessel" that is part of a registered funeral establishment. The container must maintain specific temperature and moisture controls and allow for rotation or aeration. Colorado's law is less prescriptive about vessel design than Washington's original rule, but DORA can require proof that the vessel achieves pathogen kill.
How long does human composting take in Colorado?
The full process takes 80 to 120 days from vessel entry to finished soil. Active composting in the vessel runs 30 to 50 days, followed by a 30 to 60 day curing phase where the material stabilizes. Extra time may be needed if soil testing requires a re-cure cycle, though that's uncommon.
Do you need a license for human composting in Colorado?
There is no separate human composting license. You must hold a funeral establishment registration from DORA's Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration under C.R.S. Title 12, Article 135. NOR is an authorized disposition method under that registration. The facility must also meet soil safety and recordkeeping rules specific to the process [4].
Is the finished soil safe for vegetable gardens?
Colorado law requires third-party testing for pathogens (fecal coliform, salmonella) and heavy metals before the soil is released [4]. Soil that passes is biologically safe and similar to high-quality compost. Many families use it for flower beds, trees, and ornamental gardens. Using it on root vegetables or leafy greens is a personal choice; some families are comfortable, others prefer ornamentals only.
What can you do with the soil legally in Colorado?
Colorado statute says the soil may be returned to the family, used in a cemetery or memorial garden, or spread on private land with the landowner's consent. It cannot be sold as a commercial soil product. The law also allows donation to conservation land or ecological restoration projects, which is where excess soil often goes [4].
Does health insurance or Medicare cover human composting?
No. Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance do not cover funeral or disposition costs of any kind, including human composting. Payment comes from the family, the deceased's estate, prepaid funeral plans, or payable-on-death accounts. Some families use small life insurance policies to cover the cost.
How is human composting different from green burial?
Green burial places an unembalmed body directly into the ground in a biodegradable shroud or container, relying on natural soil biology for decomposition over months to years. Human composting uses a heated, aerated vessel to accelerate that same biology, producing finished soil in 80 to 120 days, then returns that soil for above-ground use. Green burial requires a cemetery plot; human composting does not.
Are there any religious objections to human composting I should know about?
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stated in 2023 that NOR "fails to meet the Church's reverence and respect for the human body." Many Protestant, Jewish, and Buddhist traditions are more accepting or have no formal position. If religious considerations matter in your family, consult a chaplain or spiritual leader affiliated with your tradition before committing to NOR.
Can I pre-pay for human composting in Colorado?
Yes. Both The Natural Funeral and Be a Tree Cremation offer pre-payment plans. Colorado has some of the tightest pre-need funeral contract laws in the country: all pre-need funds must be held in trust or a life insurance assignment until the death occurs [8]. This protects your money. Get the pre-need contract in writing and confirm how the funds are held.
What if I die in Colorado but want the soil returned to family out of state?
That's fine legally, but shipping a cubic yard of soil is expensive and logistically annoying. Most providers coordinate freight at family expense. If the receiving state has a soil import restriction (most don't), check with its agriculture department. In practice, most out-of-state families take a small amount home by car and donate the rest.
Sources
- The Natural Funeral: The Natural Funeral lists human composting (NOR) at $6,300 for the full process.
- Be a Tree Cremation: Be a Tree Cremation charges $5,000 for natural organic reduction, with pickup within 30 miles included and mileage fees beyond.
- Colorado General Assembly, SB21-006: SB21-006 legalized natural organic reduction in Colorado, effective September 7, 2021.
- Colorado Revised Statutes § 12-135-103: Statute defines natural organic reduction, requires closed vessel, pathogen testing, soil safety standards, and prohibits commercial sale of finished soil.
- Federal Trade Commission Funeral Rule: Funeral providers must give consumers an itemized General Price List upon request, in person or by phone.
- National Funeral Directors Association 2023 Member Survey: Direct cremation averages $1,600-$3,200; traditional burial with vault averages $8,000-$12,000 nationally, with Colorado metro areas on the higher end.
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Vital Records Fees: Death certificate certified copies through Colorado EDRS cost $20; disposition permit fees are bundled with county vital records processes.
- Colorado Revised Statutes § 10-15-101, Pre-Need Funeral Contracts: Colorado requires pre-need funeral funds to be held in trust or insurance assignment, protecting consumers from loss if a provider goes out of business.