It's never easy to lose a loved one, especially a child.

Rebecca Sumner says at just 7 years old, her daughter enjoyed the beauty of nature and was eager to learn about the world around her. Liv’s life was cut short in late 2022 due to a rare but terminal and debilitating genetic disorder.

“She found ways to communicate even after she lost her speech, and one of the things she communicated was what she wanted to do when she grew up was be a scientist who helped bees,” Sumner said.

When it became clear Liv was reaching the end, Sumner was introduced to terramation, a way her little girl could still help bees.

“We wanted a space where the circle of life was true,” she said. “When her body stopped working and couldn't work anymore, she would return to the Earth and from where she is there could be flowers growing and worms crawling or wiggling.”

Terramation, better known as human composting, is becoming popular among families making end-of-life care decisions for their loved ones, and the world’s biggest facility is in western Washington.

Brienna Smith is the COO at Return Home in Auburn. She says after a person passes away, their body is placed in a vessel made of polycarbonate for decomposition. First, the vessels are filled with a mixture of organic materials like alfalfa and sawdust. The person is placed inside wearing a compostable gown. The families can customize each vessel, placing personal items, flowers and letters inside with their loved one.

“We place the remaining organics on top of them, so they're cozied in between two layers and we close the lid and it stays closed until that person completely turns into soil," Smith said. "That process takes about 30 to 60 days depending on the body mass of the individual."

Smith says composting and cremation are similar as far as portability goes, but they each have a very different impact on the environment. In 2020, Washington's cremation rate rose by 79%, leading to air quality concerns caused by pollutant emissions.

“The ability to not only use the 30 gallons of propane but also have the body's minerals and nutrients go back into the ground where they belong," Smith said, "that's really the biggest difference."

There’s also little waste compared to traditional burials.

“With embalming, you're replacing the inside vascular system with an embalming chemical, which means the body doesn't break down naturally,” she said.

The process is gaining popularity, not only among Pacific Northwest eco-conscious consumers but across the world. Return Home was named Washington’s funeral home of the year in 2022, and the company has racked more than 12 million likes on TikTok.

In Washington state, cremation costs range from $1,500 to $3,500. Traditional burials with a funeral costs $7,000 to $10,000. Return Home charges a flat fee of $4,950, with lives lost under age 18 free of charge.

Once families receive their loved one's compost, they can use it for any purpose. Planting trees and gardens are common ways people choose to honor their family members.

Liv, which means “life” in Norwegian, represents Sumner’s intention to ensure her daughter’s ongoing existence, planting a pollinator garden complete with berries and bees.

“Every year we can harvest the fruit to welcome her into our home," Sumner said. "She can participate with us. She can live in us and around us. It means everything to us."

Sumner says if Liv were here to witness what her family has chosen for her end-of-life care, she’d be over the moon.

“I can just picture her sitting with her dirt and smiling ear to ear even in the midst of something as heavy in heart," Sumner said. "She could always do that. Just smiling ear to ear that there's this thing she could touch. There's this thing that's living on."

Sumner says she also finds comfort watching the power of terramation. She can see her daughter transform into something beautiful, reinforcing her beliefs that life, although fleeting, is eternal.