#1 Lumber Problem; Who is REALLY on #teamtrees?

Commercial Forest Products Content / By
        Lumber Problem & Tree

        Lumber Industry Problems vs Mr Beast’s Success 

         
        Lumber promotion is no problem for Mr Beast. Of course,  his promotion was aimed at trees and forestry. Whereas the lumber industry focuses on wood planks.
         
        In Fall of 2019, Mr. Beast created TeamTrees. It is a legit joint effort with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant 20 million trees in honor of his 20 million subs.
         
        Conversely, the Hardwood Lumber Industry  spans over several centuries in the United States, alone. Rarely, does the hardwood industry make the news, at least in a positive way. However, unlike #TeamTrees, the wood industry has a huge lumber problem.
         

        Lumber Questions

         
        If you’re in the hardwood lumber industry, you likely have some questions.  Let me preemptively answer a few:
         
        • Mr. Beast is a huge YouTube personality with over 20 million subscribers. 
        • Despite his aggressive name and countless subs, it’s a family-friendly channel, I swear.
        • Team Trees is not a scam, has no associated scandal and received only minor criticism of it’s massive tree planting campaign. 
        • The pound sign in front of Team Trees is actually a hashtag. used on social networks to spread content or themes.

        The last bullet point may be a little harsh but I know some of you aren’t really sure what a hashtag is.  This only helps my case. 

        What is the Big Lumber Problem?

         

        Shockingly, it has nothing to do with lumber prices or today’s hardwood lumber cost.

        The big hardwood lumber problem is public relations.

        The Hardwood lumber industry does a horrible job of promoting its environmental benefits.  In fact, among the general public, industry led promotional efforts generate apathy, at best.  Contempt, at worst.

        As a hardwood lumber professional myself, I find many industry promotions  self-serving and self-targeted. Basically, preaching to the choir. 

        Has any forest products initiative ever ignited the passion of young people and influencers in a 60 day period, like Mr. Beast’s did? 

        The ease with which he completed this task should be a wake up call for the industry. Yet, I’m certain that most lumber companies are unaware of this project.

        Trees are the most ecologically green, renewable, Earth-friendly material on our planet. Unfortunately, the Forest Products industry’is unable to wear that badge. That is the wood industry’s #1 problem. Yet, with a few videos and tweets, Mr. Beast  galvanizes the YouTube community around the forest products industry.  

        Why is Mr. Beast so Popular with Trees? 

        Mr. Beast is the online alias of Jimmy Donaldson, a 22 year old YouTube personality.  Donaldson began posting on YouTube at age 13.  His popular stunt and philanthropy-themed videos are extremely popular on YouTube. Accordingly, on-line sources estimate his net worth to be in excess of $20,000,000.  

        His content is the perfect mix of fun, entertainment and good deeds. The result is incredible follower engagement and influence.

        Thus, in many ways he is a poster child for optimism & potential on YouTube. 

        Why is Team Trees Good/Important?

        TeamTrees started in May 2019 when the internet challenged MrBeast to plant 20 million trees to celebrate hitting the 20M subscriber milestone on YouTube. At his audience’s suggestion, MrBeast teamed up with fellow YouTuber  Mark Rober, and for 5 months they developed the campaign and organized their influencer friends and colleagues in order to have a fighting chance at achieving their insane goal: 20 million trees by 2020. #TeamTrees launched publicly on October 25th, announcing itself with a wave of #TeamTrees videos.

        source: TeamTrees.org

        #TeamTrees is a project created by Mr. Beast and Mark Rober in 2019. The goal was to plant 20 million trees in conjunction with the Arbor Day Foundation. 

         

        Is Team Trees Fake or a Scam? 

         

        Officially, #TeamTrees is a Mr. Beast and Mark Rober collaboration. However, I have 25 years in the hardwood lumber industry. Thus, I have a slightly different perspective about who actually plays for Team Trees.

        I define “team” as a group of players who come together collectively to achieve a goal.  The goal of #TeamTrees was to plant 20 million trees. 

        This was and is an admirable goal, for any team.

        However, the most significant long term proponent of trees is the lumber industry. While #TeamTrees has taken rightful credit for planting 10 million trees, forest products companies planted over 2.2 billion trees during that same year.  Unfortunately for lumber companies, the publicity shrouds Mr. Beast and bypasses the real members of team trees who outplant Mr . Beast by a significant margin. Thus, while Mr. Beast populates the hashtag #TeamTrees,  members of the forest products industry comprise the real Team Trees (no hashtag).

         

         

        Famous TeamTrees Members

        TeamTrees quickly garnered support from both Mr Beast followers and fellow social media influencers. So, who is really on TeamTrees?

        In fact, two very high profile supporters pledged $1,000,000  each in December of 2019. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke  helped bring the $20,000,000 goal to an early end.  However, they were among a long list contributors including Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and PewDiePie.

        According to a press release by the Arbor Day Foundation, the forest products industry is a valued part of the global tree community.

        Ultimately, the initiative will seek to leverage trees to deliver countless benefits to the environment, global economies and society, including:

        • Environment: 100 million trees can remove 578,000 tons of chemical pollution from the air.2 Forests also provide 75 percent of the world’s accessible fresh water3 by removing impurities and preventing erosion, and a single tree can absorb 48 pounds of carbon dioxide annually4 to help regulate climate.
        • Economy: Trees are a major pillar of the global economy. The timber sector generates $600 billion annually and 54.2 million jobs,5 and forests also contribute to the recreation and tourism industries.
        • Society: Spending time in green spaces is proven to improve health – reducing stress levels, blood pressure and rates of cardiovascular disease. Forests also help advance medical breakthroughs. More than a quarter of modern medicine is derived from tropical forest plants.6

        source: The Arbor Day Foundation Launches the Time for Trees™ Initiative to Plant 100 Million Trees by 2022 (The Arbor Day Foundation)

         

        Is Lumber  Bad for Trees?

        The wood industry is not an enemy to trees. Yet, I strongly suspect many #teamtrees participants disagree. In fact, 50% more trees are lost to insects and natural events than are removed for harvest.

        Simply adding a commercial element to the tree planting process does not ruin it.

        This is like saying farmers are good because they grow corn. However, people remove corn to eat. Thus, people destroy corn and are bad. 

        It’s not farmers verses eaters. Farmers and consumers have a symbiotic relationship. Without people to feed, farmers don’t grow or replant.  As a result, the US alone grows almost 15 billion bushels a year.

        This is the message the forest products industry needs to convey. We all want more trees, regardless of our motivations. 

        More trees is better than less trees.  Don’t take my word for it. Mr. Beast said it on  Twitter.

         

        Does Foresty Affect the Environment?

        In truth, there are costs associated with the timber industry. There is no nice way to cut trees down. People like trees and they don’t like to see them gone. Additionally, there is no quick way to bring new trees to maturity. 

        However, every industry has positive and negative externalities.  

        • Starbucks locations have a carbon footprint.
        • iPhone production involves questionable labor practices.
        • The clothes you’re wearing are likely made by people not earning a living wage.

        So, why are these costs palatable, but not those of the lumber industry? 

        Essentially, people like their electronics, clothes and favorite restaurants. However, there is a disconnect when it comes to pop culture and forest products. 

        I argue that the net impact of the forest products industry is sginificantly positive. 

        Are Lumber Companies Planting Trees?

         

        Lumber companies plant substantial volumes of trees each year. Typically, this is to zero fanfare.

        The idea that lumber companies only destroy trees for short term gain, move on to virgin land and repeat is absurd.  Forest Management is a critical part of the lumber business.

        Forest products companies in the United States planted over 2.2 billion trees last year.  In fact, legislation passed in 2019 committing the US to planting 3.3 billion trees each year for the foreseeable future.

        As a matter of fact, Weyerhaeuser alone planted 150 million trees in 2019. These are real trees in real forests, not genetically modified lab abominations. 

        Weyerhauser did the same thing TeamTrees did, just in a significantly larger scale.

        Of course, anyone working in the wood industry knows about our stewardship, replanting and long term sustainability. 

        Yet, conventional wisdom sees the wood industry as the problem.  It’s a grossly inaccurate, shortsighted and  simplistic view. Yet, in 2020, it’s commonly accepted.

        Will Planting 20 Million Trees Do Anything?

        According to the International Tree Foundation:

        Each tree planted will save an estimated 4kg of carbon each year – so that 20 million trees will eventually save 80 thousand tonnes of carbon every year.

        source: 20 Million Trees (International Tree Foundation)

        Does Mr. Beast’s TeamTrees Hurt the Environment?

        No. There is no TeamTrees scandal. Team Trees is a positive movement.  There is no Team Trees public relations problem similar to our  lumber problem.

        It raises awareness of the importance of trees as a natural resource. Also, it attracts the attention of a young demographic. These are both hugely important.

        I’ve read a few articles critical of the #TeamTrees program. However, all of the criticisms are pretty weak. 

        Here are the four general criticisms of #TeamTrees:

        • Planting 20 million trees won’t significantly offset climate change
        • Ecosystems are disrupted when neophytes plant the wrong trees in the wrong places.
        • Trees take too long to mature.
        •  Mr Beast should spend his money on something more effective.

        Although I don’t know Mr. Beast or Mark Rober, they seem to have a pretty intelligent and realistic assessment of the project.

        • 20,000,000 new trees is impressive but not an environmental cure-all. 
        • It’s a cool project to spearhead
        • People like trees, generally speaking.
        • Partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation helps ensure planting is done responsibly and maintained
        • People want fast results and instant gratification. Trees don’t work like that, but they work.

        How is Team Trees different than Industry Replanting?

        Clearly, #teamtrees is a grass roots effort. Whereas, industry replanting is a commercial endeavor. However, trees are trees and carbon emissions are carbon emissions. If the goal is tree planting, both methods work. Of course, a lack of trees means a future  lumber problem.

        Additionally, like every other organism, trees have a finite life span. Then they regenerate. Is our planet better served by letting trees rot or burn rather than harvesting? 

        The idea of for profit trees vs non-profit trees may be a significant difference for some people. However,  we’re really all on the same team.