Remembrance day is approaching quickly. Recently I saw cadets at save-on here on campus selling poppies. I was surprised because this was still during October, a day before Halloween.
Remembrance day is a massive deal for commonwealth nations as it commemorates all soldiers lost during world war 1; this day also serves as a day to remember all Canadian soldiers lost in wars Canadian veterans participated in. It is common to buy a poppy from a cadet selling poppies; this money goes to charity to support veterans and veterans' families. But I wish to envision a world where veterans are supported regardless of the money raised by poppies. The government should willingly support a population of people who they themselves ordered to war.
The poppy is traditionally made from felted pressed plastic, but now they are transitioning to a biodegradable poppy; you will probably not see any yet this season being distributed as they are currently phasing out the plastic poppy.
The poppy is typically worn one day or one week out of the year; it is a sign of patriotism and unity that unites us to commemorate people lost in brutal warfare. At the same time, having this sign also be a disposable piece of mass-produced garbage disrespects veterans and the poem Flanders Fields (such a beautiful and sensitive poem does not deserve to be commercialized like this). Obsession of patriotism's performance blinds us from meeting veterans' needs and makes us feel better about the work we are doing. Before we also took the opportunity to switch poppies to biodegradable, this holiday of remembrance would produce large amounts of poppy-related garbage (pins included). Instead of the cadets being forced to sell small plastic flowers to raise funds for veterans, the government can adequately support these programs.
We should evaluate how plastic is used in cultural activities like this more; I think we can start to read a lot about our cultural traditions that also involve extreme levels of industrial cooperation.
Hi Maia, that's a really great point! I think most of us didn't think there could be a problem of plastic poppies since we are already used to the way they are sold and used, so I also hope more products that are used once in a year for other purposes (Christmas, Canada Day, St. Patrick's Day, etc) could also be transitioned to biodegradable options.
Unique insight! Although rememberence day is important, it would really take a lot of pressure off plastic if you could replace these almost single-use plastic products with wool or cotton! I would support that change if it happened
Hi Maia, great post, I really enjoyed reading it! Perhaps another possible intervention to eliminate the use of plastic for poppies is for organizations to support local crafters in communities. On Etsy, I saw beautiful crocheted poppies and they can be reused every year! Here's an example....
Hey Maia, really thought-provoking post! Performative patriotism and other means of performative grievance/celebration/etc can be associated with a ton of waste and I totally agree, there must be other ways of paying respects without generating so much plastic memorabilia
Hi Maia,
Really insightful post! I didn't know what performative patriotism was before but after reading your post I realized how prevalent this is in our society today. I definitely agree that there should be a system change in our society so our veterans are supported, but not at the expense of sacrificing our environment.
This is an excellent point! a lot of patriotic or charitable actions unwittingly produce mass amounts of waste. There must be other ways to show respect and unity without producing plastic waste.
I think you make a great point: many of our individual shows of patriotism or unity (including other items like ribbons to support other causes) produce a lot of waste in the hope of gaining support for a few days or week out of the year. I think we should have made this transition to biodegradable poppies (and ribbons) a lot time ago. Another example of more sustainable choices include the orange and pink shirt days in which you can purchase 1 shirt that can be worn every year and even throughout the year. Thank you for bringing this up and sharing your opinion Maia!
You raise great points about the level of support our government provides to those "who they themselves ordered to war". While all my poppy-talk may still detract from the way that Canada's veteran affairs portfolio is handled, I want to consider that the poppy isn't necessarily a political symbol in that regard: many wear it not to demand political action but instead to honour and remember those who gave their lives either in service of ideals they believed, or in service of a government that ordered them to.
So, thinking about the disposal nature of poppies and what that means for the symbol of remembrance, I did a little digging into poppies in Canada. Here are some cool things I found. This CBC Op-Ed notes that The Royal Canadian Legion is actually the sole distributor of poppies/donations and seems to have some sort of legal monopoly on the symbol. The article references the Legion first fighting against and then embracing sealskin poppies in Iqaluit, and also references a complicated stance they took against pins that won't fall off. Interestingly, the British Royal Legion sells poppies that are meant to be reused and are quite beautiful! Something to learn from the British Legion, I think.
I agree that we should swap to biodegradable options
Thank you so much for sharing this, Maia! There was so much I did not know or consider about the effects of poppies.