The American University of Nigeria is now the official holder of the Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously. The GWR Records Management Team announced the feat in a message posted online.
On August 24, 2015, an unprecedented group of 485 people recorded 20 minutes of simultaneous crocheting, a bid to beat a New York City group of 426 who crocheted simultaneously for 15 minutes in 2010.
The group needlework, an effort sponsored by AUN’s Student Government Association, was planned to coincide with Earth Day, to sensitize residents of Yola–the Adamawa State capital and seat of AUN–about the hazards of non-biodegradable litter.
Held inside the University’s Commencement Hall, the largest indoor venue in Nigeria’s northeast, the ecological twist to the event was that the crocheters used “plarn.” Plarn is a yarn that has been developed from used shopping bags which litter the countryside.
Since every nylon bag is reusable and renewable, the event drew attention to how cleaning up the environment can be sustainable and profitable.
