VIDEO: Tie-tastic world record broken in Horsham Park

Environmental campaigner Carrie Cort had 270 ties knotted around her neck on Saturday beating the previous Guinness World Record holder by ten ties.

Carrie said: “We had collected 400 ties and my eight-year-old son was disappointed we didn’t use them all, but 260 was the previous record and we did ten more.

“Whoever does it next will need a giraffe.”

She also used the event held in the Human Nature Garden to spread the word about reusing and recycling things instead of sending them to landfill. The morning started with fun activities including a race to sort the rubbish.

She said: “We started looking at recycling with Ronnie the Recycled Robot and Landfill Larry. They are made out waste recycling, which I used to teach about what goes in the blue lidded bin and green lidded bin.”

After that they had a battle of the eco warriors where two young teams raced to sorted the rubbish. Accuracy rather than speed was key to winning this race with points docked for every item placed in the wrong bin.

Carrie said: “It was very positive and inspiring. Tiny, tiny children - mainly primary school aged - the awe and inspiration in them. It was great.”

She added: “I hope people understand that reusing is much better than recycling. We are beginning to think ‘we must recycle’ and ‘my recycling bin’s full and my rubbish bin is almost empty’.

“Well your next challenge is to reduce what goes in your recycling bin.

“Let’s be creative; let’s do what our grandparents used to do. It saves money and saves the planet.”

The event followed a textile upcycling workshop earlier in the week where Carrie encouraged youngsters create usual things from old clothes.

She said: “We appealed for ties, firstly because of this and secondly for the workshop on Thursday. It was supposed to be aimed at teenagers and we got two teenagers. A friend of mine, who put the ties on me, has an eight year old who she brought.

“We had three eight-year-old boys and they had an amazing time. One made a dragon. They wouldn’t stop making things. It was great.

“My son made a sumo cape, head band and belt.

“We just showed them all the things we had made. At that age, especially, they are incredibly imaginative and creative.”

Items ranging from cushion covers and clothes to mobile phone covers and mobile phone covers created on Thursday provided the perfect backdrop for Carrie’s world record challenge.