World on a string
TEAM: Valencia Ngaba, Ghadija Lawrence and Zainab Toyer TEAM: Valencia Ngaba, Ghadija Lawrence and Zainab Toyer
They came, they strung and they conquered!
The Girl Guides in the Western Cape on Wednesday broke a Guinness World Record when they collected and strung together 120 000 bottle tops on 2km of string.
The momentous event took place at the Old Mutual Sports Grounds in Pinelands and the excited meisies cheered after their
record-breaking feat.
Event organiser and spokeswoman for the Girl Guides, Tanya Prinsloo, says the idea came to them six months ago.
“We use bottle caps for many of our activities like our Earth Day and we are very much to do with our environment. We then got Operation Smile on board which involved many other sponsors and it’s incredible,” Tanya says proudly.
DUIDELIK: Nieyaaz Bawa, owner of RecycleMania, doing his part for kids
The previous Guinness World Record for stringing the most bottle tops together was 117 040, achieved by Maik Anton from Bornstedt in Germany, in 2016.
On Wednesday, the Girl Guides, dressed in shorts, golfers and scarves punched holes into the tops alongside parents and volunteers.
Girl Guide Zoe Sithole, 15, enjoyed herself.
“This is fun, not only are we recycling and breaking a record, but it is for a good cause as well.
“We are all so proud of our fellow Girl Guides,” Zoe says shyly.
The girls nimbly strung their multi-coloured, 2km-long “necklace” in the heat, running down the line as the next group started stringing.
Meanwhile, the Edgemead High School band kept people on their feet with lekker tunes.
The girls collected the bottle caps from various libraries, where they were dropped off by donors.
The bottle caps will be recycled and money earned from this will go to Operation Smile.
Operation Smile programme coordinator, Adva
Brivik-Prins, says the NGO provides free surgery to children with cleft lips or damaged palates.
“All monies raised from the recycled caps will go towards the surgeries. A surgery costs
R5 000 and in the last two months we have raised funds for one,” she says.
RecycleMania owner Nieyaaz Bawa, a sponsor, encouraged people to recycle.
“People can come to Woodstock to RecycleMania and donate anything. All funds will go towards making a difference,” Nieyaaz said.