What’s #TeamTrees? If you’ve been on any social media app in the past week, then you’ll know that Team Trees is a challenge set up by YouTubers Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson and Mark Rober, that aims to plant 20 million trees by 2020 and take care of them with the help of a tree service you can rely on. Team Trees started on October 25th, when Donaldson announced the project to his fans  and encouraged them to work together to help save the planet by planting 20 million trees. This project aims to plant one tree for every dollar donated.

“It’s great to see YouTubers using their influence for more productive, positive results,” said Mrs. Gina Oh, the AP Environmental Science teacher at Cherry Hill East.

The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit organization that has collaborated with Donaldson and Rober to plant and take care of these trees. They have agreed to plant one tree in return for every dollar they receive.
Many entrepreneurs and CEOs have contributed to this fundraising. Tesla  CEO Elon Musk donated $1 million, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke donated $1,000,001, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki donated $200,000, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey made two donations adding up to $350,000.

The official site, teamtrees.org, has promised to plant almost 13 million trees, 7 million dollars away from their goal. It’s only been 11 days since they announced the project, and at this rate, by the end of this year, they would have about 80 million trees, more than four times larger than their initial goal. However, despite all the craze around the Team Trees movement, Rober wants to make it clear about the real purpose behind Team Trees. You can see more at BX Tree Service website as to what to do when it comes to taking care of the trees.

“We know that [planting] 20 million trees isn’t going to cure climate change,” said Rober in one of his videos. “But the point here is to end the decade on a super strong note. It’s a constructive way to send a message to the politicians that it’s freaking time to do something about climate change.”

Even though 20 million dollars seems a lot, it isn’t anything compared to the amount of damage we have done to this planet. More measures need to be taken, and politicians and the people in charge need to do something about climate change. There are also smaller actions that we, as teenagers, can take.

“Small actions like reducing your carbon footprint by riding your car less and taking shorter showers ,” said Oh.
As sea levels rise and news of hurricanes frequently flood our television screens, it’s our job as inhabitants of our home to clean up after ourselves and become the ones to address these problems. We have to remember how much Mother Nature has given us, and now it is time for us to give something in return.