About Return Home
Life Grows On.
Our inclusive, ethical, and gentle Terramation (human composting or body composting) process transforms human remains to life-giving soil using only alfalfa, straw, and sawdust.
Why Return Home?
Return Home is more than just a funeral home, we are a movement. We are a community dedicated to showing love, kindness, and inclusiveness in everything we do, and with every family in our care. Return Home aims to revolutionize the world’s deathcare experience through transparent, ethical, and sustainable practices, allowing us to make our final act on earth one that gives back.
The only way to truly understand who we are is to come and see us. We welcome in-person tours of our Auburn, WA Terramation Center. No questions are off limits.
We maintain unparalleled transparency throughout our process. We want you to be educated on how our process works if you so desire, and will answer any questions you have about our process.
We offer in-person, on-site laying in ceremonies, allowing you to see your loved-one in the vessel they will be in throughout the Terramation process, not a mock set-up.
We welcome you to visit your loved-one's vessel any time during business hours. We want you to be able to grieve at your heart's pace.
Our process allows for intimate personalization of your loved one's vessel by family and friends throughout the process. We have seen vessels decorated with anything from family photos to flowers to sentimental items.
We give you the option to receive any amount of your loved one's soil after the Terramation process is complete. Any remaining soil has the option to be donated to Return Home's Woodland, which is a piece of local land in need of revitalization.
Our Terramation process is truly gentle. Unlike other providers, there is no machinery within the vessel to break down the body throughout the process, and our vessels do not actively rotate. When visiting our facility, you will notice a quiet and peaceful environment.
Our Services
Return Home Services
As a full-service green funeral home, Return Home offers immediate need and pre-need (pre-planning) human composting services. We have the option to have an in-person or online laying-in service where friends and family can be part of the laying-in of their loved one. We serve families in 49 U.S. states and all of Canada.
If you need immediate assistance, please call us at (206) 888-HOME. We are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you.
Plan ahead with our Terramation pre-planning program. Click the button below to learn more about how pre-planning works.
The Terramation Center
Return Home built and operates the world’s first large-scale Terramation (NOR or Human Composting) center. With 74 custom-designed vessels, our unique process uses considerably less energy than burial or cremation and allows for intimate personalization by each family. We encourage you to visit your loved one’s vessel during the first 30-60 days of the process.
The Return Home process
How our process works.
Our Terramation process (also known as human composting, natural organic reduction, or body composting) gently transforms the human body into life-giving soil using alfalfa, straw, sawdust and time. Learn about our process below.
Laying In
Our laying in service allows families to bid their loved ones farewell in person or virtually while also adorning them with items that show love and celebrate their memory.
Terramation
Oxygen flows through the vessel which stimulates microbes in the body. These microbes rapidly transform the body into soil in just 30 days.
Resting
The soil is screened for inorganics and placed into a cube to rest and cool for the next 30 days.
Life Grows On
Beautiful life giving soil is ready to Return Home or to be scattered at The Woodland.
The Woodland
Our 8 acre woodland area is a dedicated space for the scattering of Terramated remains to revitalize local flora and continue the cycle of life.