Caroline Chaptini has done it again, breaking the Guinness world record for the third time! She just achieved the largest mosaic flag in the world, all made from recyclable material.
“The flag has been completed, but Lebanon the dream is not over. The dream and hope, it is that Lebanon rebounds, its dignity returns, and so does life pulsing with love and joy.”
This is how the third-time Guinness World Record holder announced on Instagram the completion of the impressive 302.50 square meters flag.
In the midst of all the chaos and despair of a nation struggling to survive its too-many crises, Caroline Chaptini managed once again to draw a smile on the faces of the Lebanese people.
In 2019, environmental activist Chaptini broke the Guinness World Record for the largest Christmas tree made of 129,000 small plastic bottles
Soon after, in Ramadan, she achieved the largest crescent moon out of plastic bottle caps, bringing her name and Lebanon’s to be recorded a 2nd time in the Guinness Book.
Not only did Chaptini score another world record win for Lebanon, but she also helped save the country from further environmental damages.
These plastic items would have been directly dumped into the sea and coastal landfills, spelling disaster for the shoreline’s ecosystem and public health.
In collaboration with Plastic Free Lebanon and Green Community NGO, Chaptini was able this time to recycle around 90,000 white caps, 20,000 tips of hookah pipes, 1,000 green plastic bottles, and 4,000 red plastic plates.
“After the Beirut explosion, I sensed that Lebanese residents were losing hope,” Caroline Chaptini told The961. “So I decided to embark on the journey of creating the largest flag in the world because the Lebanese flag was one of the few things that still brought citizens together.”
“However, my first goal was introducing recycling initiatives,” she said. “I did not want people to stop recycling, and I knew this project would motivate people to send their plastic waste in order to help finish the flag, and at the same time help to tackle the waste crisis,” she explained.
For this huge project, nothing could have been probably fitter of the beautiful Lebanese flag than the Jupiter Venue, located on the banks of Lake Bnachii, in the northern district of Zgharta.
As for the team behind the creation of the largest flag in the world, it was mainly comprised of three people; Rabih Mahfoud, Youssef Massoud, and Caroline Chaptini, which makes this achievement even more impressive.
“Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we weren’t able to bring in more people to help,” Chaptini explained. And yet, this obstacle didn’t stop them.
Chaptini and her team had all the support of the public. She stressed indeed that she wouldn’t have been able to finish the project without the help of the public.
She would post calls on her Instagram for specific things she still needed while building the flag and people would send her way what they have, along with encouraging words that motivated her to keep going.
Green Community NGO also provided the material needed, as well as gas finances for transportation, since Chaptini wasn’t able to finance the project herself.
“I had to quit my job in order to finish the project. I used to work at an optical shop ten hours a day, so I had to pick one thing to do at the time and I chose the Lebanese flag,” Chaptini said, noting that she will start the search for another job soon.
Unfortunately, the unsuitable weather conditions completely wrecked the flag only a day after the completion of Chaptini’s project, which took her a month to finish.
Despite that, Chaptini assured us, Lebanon still won the Guinness world record for the largest flag.
“The project still holds the Guinness world record even after it got destroyed, but, either way, I will work on redoing it because I want the residents of Lebanon to have the chance to see it for themselves,” she said.
Chaptini emphasized during the interview with the961 that what matters to her the most is to send a message of hope to the country and the people, and she certainly did.
“I always remind myself and the people around me to dare to dream. Hopefully, this project can become a permanent reminder that despite the harsh living conditions we are enduring, we are still capable of doing great things.”
