Just over a month ago, the internet was taken by storm as the “#teamseas” was spread everywhere throughout social media. Whether it be Youtube or Twitter, everyone was supporting the message of one fundraiser. From gaming channels or lifestyle gurus, to influencers of all sorts, it seems just about every major content creator was hopping on this trend supporting this hashtag. However, what exactly was this all about, and who did it start from?
Who created Team Seas?
The premise is simple; YouTube star MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) and his frequent collaborator, Mark Rober, joined together with two prolific ocean cleanup organizations: Ocean Conservancy and Ocean Cleanup. For anyone unfamiliar with the two YouTubers, MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) has nearly 74 million subscribers and Mark Rober has over 20 million subscribers. The two also share a history of over-the-top and expensive antics that has gained them a large following on their platform. After MrBeast successfully created a massively successful environmental campaign #TeamTrees, which raised $20 million to plant 20 million trees in a few months, he once again jumped back into the fray to make the self-created fundraiser called #TeamSeas.
Not only that, but it’s clear to see that MrBeast and Mark Rober did their research on organizations that would put the donations to good use.
Ocean Conservancy is focused on prevention efforts such as educating the public about the importance of keeping the water clean or regularly arranging volunteer efforts to clean up the oceans. Conversely, Ocean Cleanup focuses more on using their solar-powered machine called the Interceptor to clean up ocean pollution. The machine, which was featured in Mark Rober’s own video, floats on rivers and other bodies of water guiding waste to the mouth with barriers and lifting it onto a belt that filters the water. It is a magnificent design that is also the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the world’s oceans from rivers.
What is #TeamSeas?
First launched on October 29, MrBeast and Mark Rober simultaneously released videos introducing Team Seas and using it to promote the cleanup of beaches and waterways. Each dollar donated leads to a pound of trash removed from the ocean, and the campaign seeks to raise $30 million by Jan. 1. Just two weeks after the videos were initially posted, the fundraiser had already reached half of its goal.
Both MrBeast and Mark Rober went to the Dominican Republic for their #TeamSeas videos, a place where the rivers can get so polluted you cannot even see the water, just to help collect trash on beaches and riverfronts personally. In his video, MrBeast picked up trash on what he called “the world’s dirtiest beach” and showed the work of many determined volunteers at Ocean Conservatory. Mark Rober, on the other hand, took to one of the rivers using the aforementioned Interceptor to filter out the water. In those two videos alone, they collectively collected almost 100,000 pounds of trash.
The outreach
Despite how large their influence was, this mission was not one that could be done alone. Just like Team Trees, MrBeast and Mark Rober enlisted the help of the entire YouTube community to achieve this extraordinary goal. Hundreds of content creators, big or small, were inspired to create videos related to saving the seas. Now to give you a true scope of the outreach achieved, other YouTubers have added millions of more views on their website adding to the 75 million views on the original videos. Donaldson and Rober even appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Nov. 2 to talk about #TeamSeas, illustrating just how far their fundraiser had spread.
Another huge contribution to Team Seas came from the large space of Minecraft YouTube and the Dream SMP. The survival multiplayer server in the popular sandbox game Minecraft had also run a major event in support of Team Seas, streaming for thousands of viewers live.
Infographics Show’s “Removing 30,000,000 Pounds of Trash Will Actually Have This Impact”
All the videos and streams done in support of Team Seas are worth watching, but I would personally recommend The Infographics Show’s video on the subject, filled with fun animations and easy-to-understand statistics to give you an overview.
Why is Team Seas significant?
It is no secret that we must protect the world’s oceans, and that the pollutants currently being dumped into the seas have major consequences. Not only do plastic pollutants and waste create harmful algae blooms and aid in destroying ecosystems around the world, it can cause harmful effects for humans as well.
Team Seas sheds light on such an issue for millions of more people, but it does not stop there. The fundraiser was able to show just how big of an impact “Gen Z” can make through the internet. Despite how often YouTube and other social media platforms are said to be just videos about drama and video games, they have truly made a difference. In MrBeast’s video, he stated that while the primary goal of the initiative is to clean the world’s oceans and seas, it’s also to show society that our generation can make a difference beyond, in his words, “just retweets.”
So if you would like to be part of this and make a difference, head over to teamseas.org and donate!
If you would like to learn more about Ocean Conservation, a recent article by youth blogger Pareen Cheema gives a great summary of the subject.