Green Poppies?

This year's Royal British Legion's annual Poppy Appeal introduces the biggest change in the poppy’s design for a generation.  

After more than three years in development, the Legion has produced the first plastic-free poppy to be issued since the 1960s, made entirely from paper that is completely recyclable at home. 

The paper has been created using fibres from renewable sources including offcuts created during the production of paper coffee cups; the new design features a traditional poppy shape, with a black centre embossed with ‘Poppy Appeal’, and a leaf with a crease. Even the previously plastic stem is now made of paper.

The Legion also suggests that the new poppy will be easier to use for crafts and card making, an added bonus for families and church groups getting involved in the remembrance theme.

The Poppy Appeal was introduced in 1921, in the wake of the First World War. Since then, it has raised £2 billion - the equivalent of £1 every second - to support armed-forces personnel, veterans, their families of those of men and women who have made the supreme sacrifice in conflicts around the world. Last year, grants were awarded to over 20,000 people.