Where do the plastic stems and buttons that make up our remembrance poppies go to after use? Are we sure they are not ending up in the sea?

It's not a secret that our oceans are clogging up with plastic and causing critical danger to our sea life. This means all plastic use needs to be under scrutiny.

Currently the Poppy Sellers (Royal British Legion) work with Sainsburys supermarket to recycle poppies after remembrance day. But as Sainsburys has the lowest level of engagement with reducing single use plastic. Can we trust Sainsburys with our environment?

Dot2Dot is working to stop the use of any plastic in any form (recycled, biodegradable or single use) in the manufacture of Remembrance Poppies.Talking to DEFRA, The British Legion and Poppy Manufacturers to point out that All Plastic is Bad Plastic.

The poppy sellers, makers and DEFRA have let Dot2Dot know that they produce the usual 36 million poppies or 72 million small plastic items using 'better' or 'greened' plastic such as biodegradable or recycled. Moving to reduce impact further by working with plastic companies on producing a plastic that doesn't produce micro-particles.

But is this a solution? Let's have a closer look.

Plastic in landfill takes up to a thousand years to breakdown with 95% of plastic entering the sea via our rivers. During its incredibly slow decompose journey discarded plastic creates micro particles that pollute the earth and waterways.  It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans.

Biodegradable Plastic: The 2015 UN report on marine plastic status concludes that biodegradable plastic only biodegrades at 50 degrees centigrade, which is off course never the temperature in the ocean. This type of plastic has additives to allow it to degrade and these additives are harder to recycle than other plastics. Harmful chemicals are still released into the ocean and micro-plastics are formed as it eventually breaks down. Particles which are then ingested by marine life and then by us - if we eat fish.

Recycling Plastic: Waste management of plastic where we export rubbish is causing more plastic in the ocean due to poor regulations imposed by waste dump countries.

Bio plastic: There are bio plastics made from food waste.  But it would seem we are a long way off from these processes being financially viable.

So what do we do with the poppy industry, so resistant to changing direction away from plastic use? To the point of working with plastic manufacturers to devise new types of plastic, rather than walking away from this destructive industry.

Dot2Dot advocates that we keep swimming after them and push for a return to using paper for poppy stems, as we did after the war? That the British Legion consider leading change and encouraging the public to donate to the poppy appeal and receiving something with no environmental consequence. How about launching a nationwide competition to find the best homemade poppy with extra marks for using recycled materials... Surely this is in keeping with the wartime spirit we are so famous for - make do and mend.

Dot2Dot the New War on All Plastic -  Please sign to show your support and help save our sea life.

 

 

Image above: NOAA photo library (labeled for re-use)

Sources:

https://ciwm-journal.co.uk/recycling-plastic-is-making-ocean-litter-worse-report-claims/​

https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/press-releases/uk-top-supermarkets-flood-britain-59-billion-pieces-plastic-packaging-every-year​

https://ciwm-journal.co.uk/recycling-plastic-is-making-ocean-litter-worse-report-claims/​

https://www.earthday.org/2018/04/05/fact-sheet-plastics-in-the-ocean/​

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42703561​

https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/biodegradable-plastics-are-not-answer-reducing-marine-litter-says-un