— By Andru Shively — 

Wednesday was Remembrance Day, observed annually in the UK, the Commonwealth, and elsewhere to honour all fallen members of the armed forces – 11 November marks the end of hostilities in the First World War.

One ubiquitous tradition involves remembrance poppies: artificial flowers resembling the red poppy that are worn or otherwise displayed in commemoration. This year, villagers in Pirbright, England, came together for a moving tribute – and did so in sustainable style.

St Michael & All Angels Church collected donations of plastic bottles, with parishioners volunteering to shape the recovered plastic into blossoms, paint them, and mount them on sticks. These were then planted in the churchyard – reportedly more than 1,500 of them.

The result: a stream of bright red flowers cascading from a wooden cross onto the ground, forming a patch of poppies around a lone wireframe “ghost soldier” with another poppy pinned to his right breast. Nearby sister parish St Mark’s Wyke joined the project soon after, with a corresponding poppy display gracing its own churchyard.

The two floral displays in southern England have their precursors in other parts of the country, including the Tower of London’s similar ceramic-poppy installations unveiled in 2014 and 2018, marking the centenaries of the war’s start and end, respectively.