Update 10/29 3:01 PM PST
Elon Musk has tweeted his support for Mr Beast’s project, pledging an insane one million trees. While it’s possible he was joking (he is well known for his science of memes rants), he did seem serious in his support. If nothing else, it should raise awareness of the campaign beyond just Mr Beast’s reach.
Ok, sounds legit, will donate 1M trees
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 29, 2019
The original article follows.
Jimmy ‘MrBeast‘ Donaldson has recruited the help of his fellow YouTubers to reach his goal of planting 20 million trees, but he may have some unexpected help from Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk too.
On October 25, MrBeast unveiled his plan to plant the millions of trees as a fundraiser on his YouTube channel, and the likes of KEEMSTAR and other top YouTuber’s are also joining in on the #TeamTrees project.
There has been some criticism though, but MrBeast responded, clarifying that he knew the project wouldn’t prevent climate change, but that it was still a move in the right direction.
Three days into the fundraiser, Donaldson revealed that they had already managed to plant 6 million of the planned 20 million new trees.
His viral tweet attracted plenty of attention, not least from Elon Musk himself, who has become increasingly involved in YouTube culture ever since his appearance on PewDiePie’s Meme Review show in February.
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“Sounds cool. Where are the trees being planted & what kind of trees?” Musk asked, perhaps intrigued to contribute in some way himself.
Sounds cool. Where are the trees being planted & what kind of trees?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2019
MrBeast responded, explaining that the trees are being planted on every continent on earth with the exception of Antarctica, and that the type of tree planted depends on the location.
Arbor Day Foundation, who MrBeast is partnered with for the fundraiser, ensures that new trees planted are “native” to the area.
The trees are being planted on every continent except Antarctica and the kind of trees planted depends where they are planted. Arbor Day plants trees that are native to their surroundings 🙂 https://t.co/W2ItuwU418
— MrBeast (@MrBeastYT) October 28, 2019
Even if Elon Musk doesn’t plan on contributing directly, just getting his name and approval linked on social media could do wonders for promoting the cause further.
At the rate MrBeast is going, the project will reach 20 million well ahead of the expected timeframe, helped by his ability to make almost anything go viral.