Looking for something amazing to do with all of your old paper? Creative people from around the world have gotten their names into the record books by folding, throwing, and even ripping their papers. Now that’s a use for paper that we can get on board with! Check out these awesome paper-based world records, then gather up your old, useless documents are set a record of your own.
Paper Folding
The ancient art of paper folding, or origami, is a truly artistic way to use your old documents and get your name in the record books. Here are some incredible paper-folding records for you to try to beat:
- The world’s smallest paper airplane was folded by Teody Jasper of the Philippines and measured just 1.1 millimeters.
- The smallest origami crane measures 1 millimeter in length, folded by Bhone Khaing of the United States.
- Khaing also folded the world’s smallest origami ninja star, which measured 2 millimeters.
- You probably folded lots of cootie catchers in your childhood, but 3 girls—Brook, Jenna, and Morgan—hold the record for the world’s largest cootie catcher. It measure 36 inches across. They folded it under the supervision of Rob Gura of the United States.
- Hemant Upadhyay and Karan Parmar of India used old newspapers to create the world’s largest paper boat, which measured 4.05 meters in length.
Paper Throwing
If you’re throwing out all of your old paper anyways, why not try to beat one of these records while you’re at it? Here are some world records based that you can break while aiming for the trash can:
- Ball up your old documents, step back, and take a shot at the trash can. Then try to sink 24 of those shots in one minute. That’s just what Nicolas Pariseau of the United States did, and he holds the world record for most paper balls shot into a trash can in one minute.
- Ever tried to throw a standard, flat sheet of printer paper? You probably know it doesn’t go very far. But Pavol Durdik of Slovakia managed to throw a sheet of paper an incredible 273.5 inches, giving him the world record for the longest distance to throw an 8.5”x11” sheet of paper.
- Wieden Kennedy’s Team Dark in Portland, Oregon threw 179 paper airplanes off their office building in 30 seconds. Want to beat that record? Tell your paper to take a flying leap.
Paper Tearing
You read that right—there are world records for ripping up paper. Now that’s the kind of record we could get behind! Here are the records for the fastest paper shredders in the world:
- Alexander Dnimreven of the United States holds the world record for the most pieces of paper torn in one minute. He ripped 70 sheets in those 60 seconds.
- Pavol Durdik of Slovakia (the same man who holds the record for throwing a sheet of paper) also holds the record for most pieces of paper ripped in half in 30 seconds. He tore through 31 sheets of paper in that time.
- Jonah, from the United States, got a bit more thorough with his paper-ripping skills. He holds the record for the fastest time to rip a sheet of paper into 10 pieces—a task he accomplished in just 3.39 seconds.
So start practicing! Gather up those old sheets of paper, and begin folding, throwing, and tearing them apart. Even if you don’t set a record, it’s a fun way to get rid of an old and outdated form of data sharing.
To see the videos of these records and check out more paper-based world records, click here.