Reporting by Adriana Pérez for Chicago Tribune:
Jennifer Walling, executive director of the advocacy nonprofit Illinois Environmental Council, said the organization has been working with state lawmakers to pass a bill for the last three years.
“It’s frustrating to see this choice taken away,” she said.
Like Beaupre, 73-year-old Evanston resident Valerie Fronstin says she isn’t planning to die anytime soon. But she’s also already making arrangements to be turned into compost.
She hopes it’ll save her family some stress compared with having to pick out a casket and headstone, or an urn. “It’s a lot of things when you’re in the middle of grief,” she said.
“I don’t want to take up any more space in the world. I want to give back, and I really like the idea of turning back into compost,” she said. “And I told my daughter if she wants any of me, go for it. But otherwise, I would be glad to be in a forest, somewhere outdoors.”