The RSA has run the Poppy Appeal since 1922, with the funds used to support the welfare of former service personnel. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The national Returned and Services Association wants to switch to compostable poppies which can break down after being left at gravestones.
The initiative comes as Dannevirke RSA announces it will not put poppies on the graves of returned service people this year and will instead put the money of buying those poppies into support services.
The RSA has run the Poppy Appeal since 1922, with the funds used to support the welfare of former service personnel.
The poppies are worn of Anzac Day and other conflicts.
Some poppies are usually also reserved by local RSAs to place on gravestones. While Dannevirke RSA will not do this anymore, it will still place real floral tributes at the cemetery entrances.
National RSA president Sir Wayne Shelford told Checkpoint that another concern in the Dannevirke decision was the environmental impact