You’re making conscious choices to reduce your effect on the climate while you’re alive. But what happens when you die?

In nature, bodies often rot where they lie if they’re not consumed by other bodies. But humans have other ideas. After-death rites and practices vary around the world; some are more climate-friendly than others, and some more supportive of community as well. In the U.S., we’ve mostly had two options: burial in the ground or in a crypt, or cremation. The first takes up precious space and often leaches embalming chemicals into the ground. Cremation reduces the body to ashes, but spews fossil fuels into the air in the process.

Personally, as a long-time organic gardener who loves to play with my compost pile, I’m excited about a new option in my home state, Washington. Terramation composts the body through an optimized process that takes about two months. The result is about a pickup truck’s worth of garden-ready compost from the body and the grasses and other organic materials mixed with it.

Colorado has also legalized terramation, and other states may follow. If you’d like your body to be composted when you die, let your state legislators know. Once it’s legal in your area, include instructions in your will and let your loved ones know. If you have suggestions for what to do with the compost, share those, too. (Most facilities will probably be able to send compost to parks if your loved ones don’t need a truckload of compost.)

While we’re thinking about death, consider burying pets instead of cremating them. Check your local regulations, but in most places, you can bury an animal on property you own as long as the grave is deep enough and far enough from a waterway.