Internet personality and viral YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, who goes by “Mr. Beast” online, was recently challenged to plant 20 million trees when he reached 20 million subscribers. In order to achieve this task, Mr. Beast established the TeamTrees organization on Oct. 25, 2019. Team Trees has teamed up with many YouTubers to end climate change through planting trees, and at the time of writing, over 14 million trees are planned to be planted by the Arbor Day Foundation. 

Some have raised concerns about this project, such as TierZoo, another YouTube personality. He took to Twitter to voice his opinion: “I suggest planting 20M [sic] native flowering plants. It will be easier, and also more ecologically important… It’s the meadows and fields that have taken the biggest hit, hence why we’re seeing insect populations dip.” Team Trees validates their reasoning behind planting trees on their website, saying that trees will not solve climate change. But, they want to be part of the solution, send a signal that YouTube cares, and say that trees are a simple solution that many people can support. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, just one acre of trees, in one year, can absorb the amount of carbon dioxide that is released by a car driving 26,000 miles. They also state that forests around the globe removed, on average, about a third of fossil fuel emissions every year from 1990 to 2007.

The Arbor Day Foundation was founded in 1972, and is the largest tree-planting organization in the world, according to their website. According to Team Trees, the Arbor Day Foundation will only be “planting native species where local conditions and forest plans allow.” They also state that they will be working with forestry partners like the U.S. Forest Service to ensure that the best care is provided for these trees. As far as when and how the trees will be planted, Team Trees says on their website that the planting will start in January of 2020 and be completed by at least December of 2022, and that The Arbor Day Foundation will plant the trees in a variety of forests. If you wish to see The Arbor Day Foundation’s past work, their website shows past projects.

Planting trees will not solve climate change, but Mr. Beast, Team Trees, the donors, and all of his collaborators believe that it is a step in the right direction.  If you wish to help, then follow this link, and donate to their cause before the end of 2019. Every dollar donated counts towards a tree.