Ecuador Breaks World Record for Planting Most Tree Species in 8 Hours

Thousands of people teamed up this weekend to break a world record while doing something good for the earth. They planted the most species (237) of seedlings over an eight hour-period Saturday.

57,512 people in Ecuador planted 765,073 plants at 150 sites, reforesting 5600 acres (2,269 hectares) and snatching the Guinness World Record from a group in the Philippines, who broke the world record last year.

This was the most diverse single-day planting program anywhere in the world, which will soak up carbon dioxide and pump out oxygen.

Ecuador holds another environmentally friendly record — the most plastic bottles recycled in a single week—87,363 pounds.

The nation also aims in 2017 to reach a target of zero deforestation, according to the Guinness World Records organization, which monitored the plantings.