January 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 45

A posed dummy with organic wood
fiber added just before the soil transformation
process begins at Recompose.. It
takes about 30 days for the body to be
fully composted.
stress, proper exercise technique
and mental health, " says Katrina
Williams, health and wellness officer
for Maryland-National Capital
Park and Planning Commission.
Additionally, she says, " Two of our
virtual health programs - Dine,
Learn and Move - and our nutrition
workshops have soared in the
virtual world. Prior to COVID-19,
we had an attendance of 20 people
or so. Now we have 40 to 50, and
we are serving not just our community,
but [also] out-of-state participants
as well. "
Quick Takes
Pot and Alcohol in Parks
Twenty-one states now allow the
recreational use of cannabis, and
another 10 states and territories allow
its medicinal use. Many park
and recreation agencies in recent
years have relaxed prohibitions
on the use and even sale of alcohol
in parks, especially for special
events. Some permit alcohol at
concerts, athletic events and family
gatherings, or sell beer and wine
at designated locations, such as
golf courses and even dog parks.
Milwaukee County (Wisconsin)
Parks and Recreation has established
five permanent and two
traveling beer gardens in its parks,
which produced an eye-popping
$2.6 million in revenue in 2021
alone. Will recreational use of pot
in parks be far behind?
Eat Your Utensils
Single-use plastic utensils have
long vexed park and recreation
facility managers who want to
show that their agency is taking
sustainability seriously. A solution
is on the horizon: edible utensils.
While some biodegradable eating
utensils have already been on the
market, none have quite the flair
as those you can eat when you finish
your meal. Sorbos and Equo
market edible straws that are available
in a variety of flavors. Lavazza
coffee is using cups from Cupffee,
" The cup you can eat with
your coffee, " and Incredible Eats
sells edible spoons and forks in vanilla,
chocolate and black pepper
flavors. What a way to make your
food-serving facilities greener!
Revisiting a Top Trend:
Utilizing Composted Human
Remains in Parks
Five states - Washington, Colorado,
Oregon, Vermont and California
- have now passed legislation
to allow for the Natural Organic
Reduction (NOR), or composting,
of human bodies. In New York,
legislation has been approved and
is awaiting the governor's signature.
In Washington, the first state
to allow human composting, the
authorizing law permits the disposition
of
composted
remains
" on
public or government lands
or waters with the approval of the
government agency that has jurisdiction
or control, or both, of the
lands and waters. "
With the growth of green burials
and the desire by many people
to live regenerative lifestyles,
it is only natural that some people
would wish for their organic
remains to be placed in parks to
nurture the nature that is there.
" There's a beautiful connection
to be made between the natural
places we spend time in when
we are alive and the potential for
our bodies to give back to those
natural places after we die, " says
Katrina Spade, CEO of the public
benefit company Recompose
in Washington.
Given the well-established
tradition
of public parks as suitable
places for individual and family
memorials, such as benches, gardens
and memorial trees, it is only
a short step to allowing the respectful
use of human compost in horticultural
plantings, memorial tree
groves, and even pollinator plantings
in parks. A public-private partnership
with a forward-thinking
park and recreation agency only
seems a natural fit. Is your agency
ready to consider it?
Richard J. Dolesh is NRPA's retired Vice President of Strategic
Initiatives and Editor at Large for Parks & Recreation magazine
(dolesh@gmail.com).
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | J ANUAR Y 2 0 2 3
| Parks & Recreation
45
PHOTO COURTESY OF RECOMPOSE
January 2023 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2023 - Parks & Recreation
