Terramation Services
Terramation Services
Gently transforming human remains into life-giving soil through a service called Terramation.
Our Partnership
A Gentle Return
Return Home is a preferred partner of BONNEY WATSON, ensuring access to a sustainable death care option that continues the cycle of life and transforms the experience of grief among families. Our process gently transforms human remains into soil, allowing our final act to give back to the planet.
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 Facility
The Terramation Center
BONNEY WATSON’s partnership with Return Home offers access to the world’s first large-scale Terramation (NOR or Human Composting) center. With 74 custom-designed vessels. The Terramation process uses considerably less energy than burial or cremation and allows for intimate personalization by each family. Families are encouraged to visit their loved one’s vessel during the first 30-60 days of the process.
Our Process
The Terramation Experience
The 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 30-40 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.
Placement of Terramated Remains
Washington Memorial Park cemetery
BONNEY WATSON’s Washington Memorial Park cemetery is located on 70 beautifully landscaped acres in the City of SeaTac and sits atop a hill with commanding views of the Cascades and Mount Rainier to the east, and the Olympic Mountains to the west.
An endowment care cemetery, Washington Memorial offers a wide range of placement options for terramated remains including in-ground in either a traditional grave space or gardens designed for a small portion of remains, above-ground in a mausoleum crypt or columbarium niche, or in one of our dedicated scattering gardens.
Placing all or a portion of your loved one’s terramated remains at Washington Memorial allows you the opportunity to create a permanent memorial that friends and family can visit anytime.
Please contact one of our dedicated family service directors at your convenience to schedule a tour and receive information and pricing on all your options. In partnership with Return Home, we offer special discounts on select placement options.
Getting Started
How To Get Started
I'm In
Immediate Need
If you need immediate assistance, please call us at (206) 880-7400. We are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you.
I Want To
Pre-Plan
Schedule a call with one of our pre-planning specialists. They will guide you through the pre-planning process from start to finish.