考虑到环保，美国将允许遗体养花

It may soon be legal for the dead to push daisies, or any other flower, in backyard gardens across Washington state.

不久之后，在华盛顿州的后院花园中，用死人来养护雏菊或其他花卉就可能合法了。

The state legislature recently passed a bill that, if signed by the governor, allows human bodies to be composted - and used for mulch.

该州立法机构最近通过了一项法案，如果州长签署，该法案将允许把人的遗体制成堆肥——并用作覆膜层。

As the nation ages, US funeral practices are changing. Rates of cremation surpassed 50 percent in 2016, overtaking burials as the most popular choice.

随着国家的老龄化，美国的丧葬习俗正在发生变化。2016年，火葬率超过50%，超过土葬成为最受欢迎的选择。

The Census Bureau, in a 2017 report, predicted a death boom: 1 million more Americans are projected to die in 2037 than they did in 2015. Human composting, its supporters say, is an eco-friendly option that can meet this growing demand.

美国人口普查局(Census Bureau)在2017年的一份报告中预测，2037年的死亡人数将比2015年增加100万。支持者说，人类堆肥是一个可以满足日益增长的需求的环保选择。

A Seattle-based company called Recompose plans to offer a service called "natural organic reduction" (it has two patents pending) that uses microbes to transform the departed - skin, bones and all.

总部位于西雅图的重组公司计划提供一项名为“自然有机还原”的服务(该公司有两项专利正在申请中)，利用微生物来转换死者的皮肤、骨骼和所有器官。

"We have this one universal human experience, of death, and technology has not changed what we do in any meaningful way," said state Senator Jamie Pedersen (D), who introduced the bill, which passed with bipartisan support on April 19.

州参议员杰米·佩德森(Jamie Pedersen，民主党)说:“人类都有一死，科技并没有以任何有意义的方式改变我们所做的事情。”这个议案由他提出，4月19日在两党的支持下通过了。

 

 

"There are significant environmental problems" with burying and burning bodies, he said.

他说，掩埋和焚烧尸体“存在严重的环境问题”。

Joshua Trey Barnett, an expert on ecological communication at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, listed the flaws in conventional burials: "We embalm bodies with toxic solutions, bury them in expensive caskets made of precious woods and metals and then indefinitely commit them to a plot of land."

明尼苏达大学德卢斯分校(University of Minnesota at Duluth)的生态传播专家华特雷?巴内特(hua Trey Barnett)列举了传统埋葬方式的缺陷:“我们用有毒溶液对尸体进行防腐，将它们埋在由贵重木材和金属制成的昂贵棺材里，然后无限期地将它们埋在一块土地里。”

Though incineration has a smaller ecological footprint, estimates suggest the average cremated body emits roughly 40 pounds of carbon and requires nearly 30 gallons of fuel to burn.

尽管焚烧的生态痕迹较小，但据估算平均每个火化的尸体会排放大约40磅的碳，需要燃烧近30加仑的燃料。