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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2020
- Team Trees is hailed as the internet saving the planet. But could it actually damage rather than help the environment?
In this video essay I talk through the carbon sink of afforestation and compare it to the effects of individual actions like changing your diet and flying less. In particular we talk about the self-licensing effect and how it makes us humans do dumb things.
LINKS
- My video on artificial carbon capture: • Climate change is alre...
- Adam's video on planting trees: • Will stopping climate ...
- My video on how to combat climate change: • 3 strategies to beat c...
Again, I'm not trying to put down the work of #TeamTrees, MrBeast, or Mark Rober! You guys have done a good thing by making - or just supporting - this project. What I'm trying to do here is put it into data-context and prevent people from being blinded to how much good they have actually done vs. how much good they could have done.
REFERENCES
(1) / please_save_us_mrbeast
(2) timefortrees.org/impact.cfm
(3) www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...
(4) www.researchgate.net/publicat...
(5) web.archive.org/web/201605290...
(6) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
(7) www.theguardian.com/environme...
(8) science.sciencemag.org/conten...
You can support the channel by donating at / simonoxfphys
Check out my website! www.simonoxfphys.com/
--------- II ---------
My twitter - / simonoxfphys
My facebook - / youtubesimon
My insta - / simonoxfphys
My goodreads - / simonoxfphys
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Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com
Stock footage provided by Bigstock: bit.ly/bigstock-videofreetrial
Huge thanks to my supporters on Patreon: Alastair Fortune, Alexander Holvoet, Anastasia Marchenkova, Andy Hartley, Anne Smith, Ben McMurtry, bitreign33, Charles Bray, Chloayylmao, Chrismarie, Colin J Brown, Dan Hanvey, Ethan Fuller, Jackson Dęborkzgórzcski, James Bridges, James Munro, jawad alalasi, Joe Mickleburgh, Jon Garcia, KASponland, Kedar, Kendall Hendrix, Kendra Johnson, Kenneth Kusmierek, Kodzo, Lachlan Woods, Leighton Mackenzie, Liam, Louis Gillet, Mat Allen, Omar Miranda, Oskar Hellström, Princess Andromeda, Sean Richards, Simon Donkers, Tim Boxall, Wendover Productions 
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"There is no silver bullet to stop climate change, only silver buckshot" - planting trees absolutely should be part of our strategy to combat climate change! But it will never be enough on its own.
Bit of a pessimistic question, do you think that people will ever be motivated to change drastically enough (and then take action on that motivation) for the planet to be saved and a true full-scale climate disaster to be prevented?
@@Xvey100 Not until the disaster effects profits.
not until the ruling class is overthrown through grass roots political action, and failing that, full insurrection
@Luke I work in an asset management company and yesterday when they talked about removing fossil fuels investments, they decided that the return on the investments should be paramount. Move your money and your insurance and help your friends and family do the same. Engage your union to move your company's money. Non-violent direct action is also necessary. Everyone changing individually is too inefficient, make the system grind to a halt until it either changes, or breaks.
I totally agree with you on this one and I'm sure you already took into account what I'm about to say but shouldn't we consider the fact that it's likely that a person tends to act in a way that it is coherent with what he has previously done? With that I mean that donating to teamtrees may influence someone in being more conscious about these topics and actually keep on doing actions that can help the environment in a sort of virtuous cycle? Couldn't this factor outweight the self-licensing effect?
"The problem is people," and there was humanity's history in a nutshell.
Underrated
too true.
"humans are the most dangerous creatures on earth"
Gen Z : "ok boomer"
Your comment smacks of conceptual confusion and mystification.
darwinianpickles It's just a joke. No need to start a darwinist analysis to disprove it.
Alternative title: Why supporting #TeamTrees only goes so far
Thank you! 🙌🏼
Much better than the current click bait.
Would you have clicked it then?
Would have been better if he had put that pathetic Greta Thunberg in the thumbnail
To be fair, lesser people would have clicked it in that case. And I agree with the title, moral licensing is absolutely commo, and if we use our small deeds to justify us being complacent over actual pressing matters, Teamtrees could indeed cause more harm than good.
Self-licensing in a nutshell:
- Planting Trees = good
- Treeplanting campaign that people think "saves the world" = bad
Why? People stop changing their lifestyle because 'problem solved'
Yeaa
69 likesss
@@plaxxdhehe3445 yayyy,69 likes,70 likes perhaps.
They can save *one billion trees* with the money they have raised so far.
It costs them about $20M to plant 20M trees. However, given the fact that toilet papers cost us 384 trees per lifetime of a person, you can buy bidets and/or hoses that costs $20-$30 each. By spending $20M on this, you can buy a MILLION bidets for a million families. That will help saving about (2.5 people per bathroom) × (1,000,000 bathrooms) (384 trees per person) = *1 BILLION trees!!!!*
Of course not everyone is a fan of changing from toilet paper to water but finding a million family willing to endorse this idea out of the 122M American families is actually not that hard.
They have already raised $21M for helping the environment, but with the same amount of money, they can do much more.
Guys please like this if you agree with the proposal so that he can read it.
Except, the teamtrees campaign most likely resulted in more positive side effects than negative ones even if you completely take the actual trees out of the equation. You need to take into account the fact that the biggest effect of this campaign is not the actual goal of it, but it bringing the climate issue attention to millions of people, and the goal being reached giving many people the hope to fight for the climate and spread awareness etc. I'm absolutely not denying the explanation of the video though, and it's an important message to get across to people making these irrational decisions, but I still think it's a big mistake to consider the negative indirect effects but not the positive ones.
You should've titled it as, "Will our habits make the TeamTrees campaign a failure?". This will provide a broader reach on the topic.
It's more precise (albeit slightly less accurate), but the current title is far more impactful and draws in viewers. The main point is "be aware of this cognitive bias", and it's harder to draw in people who wouldn't be aware of it without an attractive title.
@@btf_flotsam478 in other words, clickbait works. But I think this creator is a jerk for doing so.
@@oldmedstudent1750 If you want to use the high-minded method, go ahead. Just be advised that you shouldn't bring a sword to a gun knife, and pragmatism beats nobility in the real world.
Edit: I realized the issue isn't with your honor but stupidity. This video is very literally about why Team Trees will do more harm than good, and the title is accurate regardless of your insolence.
Its called Click bait.
@@btf_flotsam478 this video is clickbait and you are a fool
I worry about things like this a lot. Like, people putting a ton of time and effort into plastic straws rather than larger structural changes.
Reminded me of how so much effort is made saving the panda when much more ecologically significant species are dying out on the sideline
putting the tinfoil hat on and saying that the plastic straw focus was manufactured by people who profit from those structural changes being in place
Cuteness is valuable, too.
One might say this is deliberate, since structural change threatens shareholder profits, but replacing straws does not. So the more they convince everyone that straws are a real problem, the longer they can stuff their pockets at the cost of the environment.
And the thing is, plastic straws can be considered far better than paper straws since paper emits a lot more CO2. It’s just that we keep throwing all that plastic into landfills and the oceans. Also, I’ve noticed that although McDonald’s has switched to paper straws, the bins still show the straw to be placed in the plastic section (with the plastic lid). Also, I remember reading somewhere that McDonald’s didn’t even have the facilities to recycle the straws so the switch was really pointless
You could have. Called this “we need to do more than just donate to team tree’s
I feel like he titled it like this on purpose so people would watch it and find out that we need to do more ...
@meme is my life Tbh yes, daily pollution is decreasing by alot, but still it's still deadly to humans
Yeah but how does, "it's not quite enough" becomses "it can do more harm than good."
@@lamya2002 so he clickbait us?
@@iryu7288 I guess since that's what clickbaiting means
Team Trees, just wanted to plant trees for the environment. Glad that you clarified their purpose as a group. Humans need to change their lifestyles. In order for Team trees or any other environmental project to have an impact on carbon emissions
Do you want a complimentary plastic straw?
True, like an old children’s book once said:
“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
trees absorb carbon from air - tree grows and accumulate carbon - tree eventually dies - wood decay releases carbon back
net sum NOTHING WAS REMOVED
@@ImRandomDude I think the reforestation part for the wildlife is more important than the little bit of carbon being removed from the air over the tree's life time.
@@ImRandomDude That's not true, the only reason there's any coal in the ground for us to mine in the first place is because organisms like trees die and decay into the earth, depositing it there instead of in the atmosphere. Hence the name fossil fuels.
Since team trees, I have moved my family to composting twice (one for the liquid fertilizer and the other for dirt). We use to throw 2 full garbage containers per week and now we do a full container every 2 weeks. And changed most of our habits to remove carbon. I think the main gain from TeamTrees was was raising awareness. People now look into it and may or not change. How things go will be seen over time.
Same! Our family also started to use organic food waste for our plants. We also started to reuse paper and recycle what can be recycled.
The community around my area used to have this non-profit recycling program every 2 weeks, all of us will sit together, chat while sorting and checking the trash. And I think more people should do this because it really does help the environment. We used to have clogged water systems during the rain and caused flood on the road. But since we changed with the campaign, we don't have flooded roads anymore. And our park looks more enjoyable too.
Sadly COVID-19 came and we had to stop it... It has been 2 years since and I really do miss these kind of activities :(
I am so glad your families have done this. And I am so sorry that you are the exception, not the rule.
The point of this video is that individual actions cannot solve systemic problems. Non-profits planting trees and organizing beach clean-ups do not address the billions of dollars fossil fuel corporations get in subsidies or the US Military being a larger polluter than over 100 countries combined. An hour long flight in an F-22 Raptor basically wipes out most of Team Trees' CO2 savings from the trees they planted.
This is true, but it only raises awareness of certain aspects of the issue - the consumer side micro changes that have a comparatively very small impact. For real change, we should be raising awareness of the need for worldwide economic and political changes rather than just encouraging people to compost.
I don't think everybody reducing their carbon foot print on their own term's gonna cut it. We need international agreements between governments to tax emissions and cut down some of our luxury. We need to be forced to change our lifestyle.
In a way I agree, but I'm also afraid of the backlash that would create if that were to happen. Maybe it it just down to wording, but giving people a cheaper alternative that emits less, be it goverment sponsored by taxing whatever emits more slightly, seems like a better alternative to me. In Amsterdam they wanted to ban old mopeds/scooters because those emit too much PM. However, this of course created quite the backlash because some people could not just afford a new one and they relied on it for their daily lives. It is hard enough to get people to listen to this data, if regulations start cutting into peoples lives we have a way bigger problem on our hands. In that regard I think it should only be done if it doesn't put extra financial stress on people who already don't have a lot to spend.
If we could start by the small number of companies producing the largest part of the overall polution released in the atmosphere, that'd be great. I'm okay with changing my lifestyle, but if the ones who will actually change something should probably start.
You're never gonna get that to happen with China, India, or any developing countries that rely so heavily on fossil fuel for economic development. IMO it's better to hope that engineers and their research partners in math/science can come up with more effective ways of greenhouse gas extraction on a much more massive scale.
But until the politicians listen, this is the one thing we can do in the meanwhile.
I love how you all the credit for "caring" them palm off all the hard work on to politicians. You moan about Boris Johnson then expect him to do the heavy lifting while you take all the credit! The best bit are the people who drive/get a lift to climate protests, or worse still fly on holiday that year, then shout about climate change being important. Lets just admit it, it's a feel good project and a PR exercise for big corps. Those who take it seriously are a tiny fringe.
Great vid, solid points. But yes, title a tad bit “clickbait-y”
Maybe but not intentionally I think. After all the title says the truth.
It's not clickbait if its true
@@mohanadbakain282 , yup but it could also be called clickbait if the video shares a different truth than what the title "suggests". This video does share the same thing as the title btw.
@@mohanadbakain282 It’s not clickbait, 20 million trees can save 66 million dollars
@andrewninja92, wdym?
I kinda hoped Team Trees would become an annual thing, so then it would emphasize the idea that the commitment to preserving the environment is ongoing. People might get complacent after donating again, but it ensures the complacency would only last a single year. And the people who don't donate in any given year might feel motivated to do other things instead. It's a shame all the momentum that built up behind the movement never really went anywhere after 2019.
Good news for you from the past I guess. It's kind of an annual thing
I mean team seas existed
Well the thing is, team trees isn't about preserving the environment, it's just about carbon offset as far as I can tell. Trees alone is not adequate for ecological restoration, that's why there are professions people take to make these changes. You can also volunteer to do bush Regen, where you'll most likely be removing invasive weeds and maybe plant some natives
The number of times Simon apologises in this video shows how much he fears of backlash. Imagine a climatologist being afraid of 'environmental activists' sitting in their rooms playing video games.
Soumyaneel Manna If I’m understanding you correctly, you’re throwing shade at armchair activists who might be too extreme in certain ways but not numerate enough in other ways?
I absolutely get why. I used to work for a forestry professor at the top of his field and when there was a forestry problem and the infected trees needed to be cut down in order to save the rest of the huge area? "Ecoterorists", as he used to call them, prevented that. (The area would get new trees planted once it was sure the bugs aren't there anymore.) So in the end, the problem was being dealt with for so long that almost all the trees in that area were lost. Because of people who knew nothing of the subject and its laws, but wanted to save trees. No matter how stupid, if you have a mob of people, there's so very high chance they'll shout the wise ones out of decisions or at least slow them enough to cause damage. And the worst thing is, they meant well. They just weren't clever enough to listen to those, who knew the subject.
Freya Nørregaard
Basically like the antivax movement, from what I’m understanding. Good intentions, bad outcomes.
@@uhhuh1291 Well I think the antivax situation is more complicated than that... f.e. few years back where I live there was a trial - mother whose child had a vaccine that lead to disability didn't want to allow her other children to be vaccinated. I don't think it's right in that case to force the person, those kids have the same parents so if this was due to something genetic, it's much more likely it'll happen to the sibling than to a child whose all siblings were okay with the vaccine. And for that to work, to let vulnerable people live without a vaccine, majority's immunity is needed.
So I think both A) would be wise to double check the contents of a vaccine and to find out why these things are happening
and B) while majority would be vaccinated, children than could be in danger from the vaccine, should not be forced by the country.
Conclusion: I think the antivax movement should push for more research in that field and try not to make masses panic.
Freya Nørregaard
Yes, I know. The antivax thing is a whole new complex, with so many different people and arguments on uneven grounds.
Then those people should encourage vaccine use for people who are safe to have them, because 95% of people need to be vaccinated in order to prevent the spread of infections to more vulnerable people (immunodeficient, allergies), which is called herd immunity.
Also, would that disability happen to be autism? Because the link of vaccines to autism have been disproven many times.
Edit: yes I agree about the checking of ingredients, but it’s not like we have all the time in the world for some infections. Might as well take the risk and observe it.
Simon, you are a bold man and I applaud you for it. It’s not easy pointing out the flaws in a feel-good movement.
On the other hand, I have to admit that when you did the comparison with diet-change, my brain processed it as “you mean I can spend just $10 a year on trees and completely offset the impact of my carnivory? SWEET.”
I thought exactly the same thing😅. I was like... damn 20$ are equal to 10 years of veggie diet?
yeah but, as he said "over the lifetime" which is about 100 years (correct me if im wrong), so you need those 100 years of growing trees to recover 10 years of eating meat, which is way too late, considering that we need to be at net zero by 2050 :D
which means you would have to plant 10 times the amount of trees to compensate the co2 in the same time (10 years) ^^
LMAO
@@chestiii123 Still, 10 dollars a month is a lot easier than going on a vegetarian diet for 10 years. Next, carbon tax for all businesses?
@@MilnaAlen well, depends Id like to keep my 10 dollars and give them away for trees when I feel that way :D
I don’t know how the US regulates carbon taxes but in Germany every business is paying a tax on carbon.
This video in 12words:
MrBeast at 20M: Plants trees
MrBeast at 40M: Gives away 40 cars
No give away 40M cars
#teamseas
cars don't help anything in this world cars make the world worst because cars make are air bad but TREES give us good air and humans are murdering the world with trash so tht doesn't help
@@ChiSquadYT you missed the joke..
@@user-xd9ko7ib3w to be honest i really don't care everyone I comment to on RUclips starts being rude or anyoing me
Damn, he makes a good point. I feel people purposely looked this up just to dislike.
If you seriously did that, you need to rethink your life goals.
Beast's botnet must be powerful
@@TeaBroski "botnet"
agree
I see this sentiment so often on Reddit. "I don't have to reduce my emissions because Carbon Capture will take care of it."
@The Elite how can graphene suck carbon
I would like to know about it
@The Elite your last paragraph would not be a problem for a long time.
@The Elite But there is too much carbon in the atmosphere. If carbon gets low, dont worry we are experts at increasing it. Bro, i live in india the heat here is fuking unbearable, i have hyperhidrosis on top of that. Easy for you to shit on teamtrees while having air conditioning. Im sweating while typing this.
@The Elite well this is the first time I've heard someone say that dumping nuclear waste has a high carbon footprint. Like do you hear yourself?
@The Elite what are you talking about
This was my issue with team trees, as always you've put it much better than I could have.
Plus some memes
Chloayylmao I can agree but at least people are trying to do better for the world
This video has an insane amount of dislikes despite being absolutely true
people are dumb and full of ignorance, i bet they didn't even watch the video , at least i hope so, if they watched the video and still disliked it then i would lose faith in humanity, being dumb is much worse than being ignorant
How many? RUclips disabled dislikes for me
@@coows 16 thousand dislikes atm :(
@@landsfadern2 that's just sad
this comment has aged
So by my understanding, the title is right:
-While the Team Trees are a good step to better future, it also makes the people think they have a green light to contribute to more carbon footprint?
That seems to make sense I think, especially with your example at the start of the video where a person who chose to drink diet coke rather than regular have higher tendency to think that they now are allowed a green light to eat more calories thus being more unhealthy than before.
TLDR: The gist that I got from this video is that people tackle the climate problem in an irrational(?) and unpractical(?) way by being too focused to the small factors of climate change. Rather than reducing our meat consumption we focus on stopping using straws. Thus now people start buying their own metal straws from factories that actively violates the earth's envirement (china obv) wrapped in plastic packaging..... which pollutes the sea more than straws!
Same thing with this. If the people who donated eat meat everyday, they'd think that they are entitled to still eat in the same quantity (perhaps even more). Their carbon foot print will be lower than average people(since they donated) however the difference is so miniscule that the amount of oxygen produced by the trees in 100 years got outweighted by the carbon footprint in eating meat alone in just 1 year. It plants a sense of security that they are entitled or even more entitled to contribute in releasing carbon footprint. If all people have this mindset then decided to donate to Team Trees the positive is super miniscule and just counter productive.
I'm pretty sure i got this right, therefore the title aren't clickbaity. More like r/technicallythetruth. Great video to add another persepective on this matter. Good job!
U r genius bro..thanks fr saving my time
This content is far to reasonable for being on RUclips
Right? I only listen to people on youtube that wear sunglasses, live in a mansion in LA and yell to the camera, mostly about their merch. This calm, well informed and interesting content is rediculous...
@@ben_1 I mean how am I supposed to like and subscribe to this guy if he won't remind me how 5x per video?
I’m not used to this kind of content. This man needs more subscribers.
Jon Sjoberg GET YO REASONABLE CONTENT OUTA HERE
“Team trees was never too save the world, it was to help and promote saving the world” this video is all just about how it can’t save the world but that was never the goal of team trees.
Someone gets it
^ FINALLY
And surely making a video using it as a promotion tool that ACTUALLY tells you how you can save the world is actually in line with that message and goal?
But people don't see it that way
Yes
This video completely changes how I think of team trees. I am sharing this video to everyone I know! You are the best!
Mr. Beast: "save the earth!"
Also Mr. Beast "Buy my hamburgers, free delivery."
Imagine being gay LOL 😂 MY vids are BETTER 🅱️
wtf
huh?
What's wrong with free delivery? And hamburgers?
me: feels kinda bad for not donating to team trees
simon: here are things you could do instead (all things I already do)
nice B)
O hi
@@llewelynlawton hello?
@@llewelynlawton hi random person on the internet I will never see irl :3
@@4evercharmedxx you never know
Just search the list of plants around you which could reproduce using vegetative propagation and then you can also participate in teamtrees for free.
"Budget Tony Stark" love it
214 with no comments wow
245 with one comment wow
249 with 2 comments wow
Tony stark was based off Elon 😂😂😂😂😂
Jordan Malan Tony Stark aka Iron Man first appeared in comics 8 years before Elon was born
I'll say that team trees was the first charity I donated to, and I've over a thousand dollars to other climate charities since then. I've also become more conscious of my climate impact since then. I think it's definitely inspired me to be better, not worse. Overall, I'm happy that we're getting 20m new trees, and I'm not confident this will hurt more than it helps over all
We must cut him some slack after all the original post said: "single-handedly save the earth". His ego just couldn't resist such a perfect match.
*Guiltily turns off the lights*
Jacques Y I did the same....
Not liking because funny number
Good to see you posting on a regular basis! I hope you're feeling better. One day at a time.
The points you make are very good. I have to admit when I saw the title I was a bit confused but watching I see this point.
Made good solid points in a respectful way. Very healthy critique, I wish other people understood the art of good critique. You are totally right, we should make changes to our lifestyles and that doesn't even have to be crazy big to have an effect.
- wear you clothes longer instead of buying more or by secondhand, a lot of resources are used to make them
-taking care of your clothes so they last longer, washing in cold water or hang dry on warm days, saves on energy too
-reuse things or pass it on, there are a lot of buy nothing groups out there
-deleting emails, storage on servers requires energy
-catch rainwater for plants or garden, saves you money too
-buy in bulk for regular items and precise amounts for infrequent items
U mentioned "catch rain water for plants or garden" correct?? What about the states in which that is ILLEGAL to do?? For example, the state i live in(KY) it's completely illegal and punishable by UP TO 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. What can we do about that?? Just so u know, its also illegal is 23 other states to collect rain water...
@@EazymoneyBicch Then obviously don't. It was a small list of possible things you could do. There's plenty of other things, pick what's best in your situation. And each state has different regulations on collecting rainwater, some it's by volume, or use, location or requires permit, it's not outright illegal in most states, but you read your states' laws and choose what you feel comfortable with.
@@nurieko yea I know it's obvious but I just didn't know what else I could possibly do in place of that. Didnt know if u maybe had any other suggestions.
Can't be self-licensing when I didn't back #TeamTrees
*Taps forehead*
Ok I've just decided to become vegetarian to lose some weight and help combat climate change
I'm just gonna document it here cus it was the first comment I saw after deciding
@@durjam3734 and I will document your documentations
Ok failed yesterday but succeeded today8
Durjam you still a vegetarian?
@@suckmygooglies99 yeah I am lol although recently I e decided to be semi-vegatarian where I am still ok with eating meat aslong as I'm not causing more meat to be bought e.g only eating left overs from family that would otherwise been thrown away. But still I've only eaten meat about 3 times and never red meat
He's got a PhD in the actual subject. and I'm not talking about the PHD jokes on the yogscast.
Really? Did he get a bachelor in Environmental Sciences or smth like that? (Just wondering)
@@crazydragy4233 I think he got a masters in physics from Oxford and then he did a PhD in theoretical atmospheric physics at Exeter, not entirely sure but its something like that
Avantek damn thats awesome!
Man. Fellow, young environmental scientist here. This is so well done. Everyone who has hate for this video has no clue what they are talking about. Really good work.
Its the title of the vid
Nuclear power please
Maybe make the title of the video accurate so that people don't assume this piece of information is not constructive?
@@wifparanoid304 I understand if you disagree with me friend, but I feel like your gotta play the game somewhat. So long as you don't cross that line.
Says another one who hates oxygen your proably just a fan he said its bad coz it could not be real yes 20m would be spent but imagine how much more oxygen there would be dont play me for a fool and youre the one that does not understand not the ones that hate the video
I get what this guy is saying. I really do. I just feel like that he did bring down team trees a bit too much. I’ve watched other videos on the impact of 20 million trees, and the effects are really good, and not just for climate change. But I get why Simon Clark is concerned. I’m not leaving a dislike, and people should watch this. But team trees will do so much good, and for more reasons than just pulling carbon out of the atmosphere.
Tree companies plant way more a month
I know it’s not the solution. But seeing as Mr Beast and Mark Rober can’t change peoples lifestyles, and people don’t want to change their lifestyles, what they’re doing is one of the most beneficial things, even if it’s not the solution
@@nancyvandermeer4480 Except climate change isnt the moral failing of the individual, Nor is it the individual that is responsible. 100 companies put more carbon in the air than the rest of humanity put together (71%). Even if every single one of those individuals started living perfectly nothing will change if those companies still exist. So to say that Team Trees is a problem because it gives people an excuses to not do anything is absolutely asinine. Team Tree's was literally nothing but a benefit (if only a tiny one) to not just the C02 problem but the loss of habitat problem and it has been incredibly useful in helping stop landslides that result from all the loose soil from the California wild fires. All of which wouldn't have happened without Team Tree's and without team trees no one would have give one single fuck comparatively.
@@nancyvandermeer4480 I didn't mean to imply that the individual shouldn't do anything. I said its not the responsibility of the individual, but the mark of a good person is voluntarily taking on responsibility that is not required of you for the benefit of All. What I am trying to explain is that Team Tree's Good is not "reversed instantly" because someone decided to eat a hamburger afterward.
@@nancyvandermeer4480 You say big movements start small, but then say team tree's doesn't spread the message well because more tree's are being cut down than planted. But its as you say, Big Movements start small, planting some tree's to offset the ones being cut down, even if only a little bit, is better than nothing, its a start. 2000+ trees are still being planted a day because of it. Its an acknowledgement from millions of people, backed by their own hard earned money, that there is a tree issue. Its an acknowledgement that cutting down the rainforest trees is bad. Team Tree's is good for the environment, good for people and the start of a not so small movement, given team seas its successor, has made 10 million dollars in 72 hours. Team sea's and Team Tree's have got more people to care about and pay attention to the environment than any other thing like it. My disagreement with you isnt about whether or not people need to do something about the environment. We agree that people need to do something. I am not even disagreeing with what needs to be done. What I disagree with you about is that you seem to think that team tree's is somehow detrimental because it doesn't perfectly fit what you think need to be done to fix the issue. you don't get to just disregard the merits of a solution just because it doesn't perfectly solve all issues.
2:06 excuse me but my dad still refuses to put the heating on before it drops below -10
-10 is warm, anyone who says otherwise says bath like bath instead of bath
@@1224chrisng where tf are you from, Antarctica?
@@Xwhitton22X bit further north
I hope that's in Celsius?
Shadiester nah kelvin
Now shall we talk about the people in Chile who cant even water their own land or wash themselves anymore because of the big farmers that have moved in and taken over growing thousands of acres of avocados to be shipped all over Europe and the States.
You are.
Capitalist sharks lololololol
@@PasscodeAdvance Capitalism has nothing to do with it. Capitalism can be done in several ways: Sell food, build houses, selling fans, sell chairs, sell good products, even plant trees. The problem is when capitalism is done in a bad way, as was the case with slavery and deforestation to create farms. We cannot stop an entire system that has brought us modern world because of the bad things that certain companies do. It's like cutting off your pen1s to prevent pregnancy.
@@reinofederaldemaltiva3923 that is soooo true
@@reinofederaldemaltiva3923 You are completely wrong. I live in Chile and, in fact, I live in a small town where small farmers are losing their land because we are going through a drought period, and all available water is being used for industrial farming and mining operations. That is a direct consequence of capitalism: in 1973 a right-wing military dictatorship backed by the US implemented the "purest" form of capitalism in my country, mainly through the privatization of pretty much everything, which among other things made it possible for water rights to be bought and sold in the market. The natural consequence of this is that the mega-monopolies that were strengthened by the privatization process proceeded to buy something like 95% of all available water, and we are now seeing the consequences.
Also, note that capitalism is not defined by the simple act of buying and selling commodities. After all, in Ancient Greece merchants often bought and sold their wares on the town square, but that society was definitely not capitalist (it was a feudal and slave economy). What defines a capitalist economy is the existence of capital and its domination over all other forms of production.
This is such an important video. It saddens me that so many people disliked it just because they felt attacked or something
It's not a matter of feeling attacked. It's a matter of A. Clickbait, which he kinda admits in the first like minute of the video and B. Individual action whether good or bad does not really have that much of an impact on climate change. 70% of global carbon emissions are caused by just 100 companies. Collective action, like team trees, is the only reasonable way to combat climate change.
@@jpg99999 I do not agree.
1) the video is not clickbait. Saying that planting trees is a good thing does not mean that team trees isn't harmful. As stated in the video planting trees can be part of a solution but planting a few million trees does not make a meaninful difference. What the campain does is make us believe we're solving the problem while the real issues are not takled at all. It discourages meaningful action on climate change both on a personal level and on a political and systemic level.
2) you say we can't change everything through individual action and I very much agree. However team trees is not a collective action and as I said has no significant effect. Collective actions are pressuring our governments to take climate action, boycotting corporations that emit most of the CO2 we produce, pressuring our cities so that local transport can move away from private cars and towards public and sustaiable transport, etc...
@@andreafarina385 I'd push back and say, even though you're right in acknowledging the general scale of the team trees effort, team trees is a form of collective action, albeit a fairly weak one, and does not have the negative consequences that are assumed in this video. You are correct though in your assertion that government action is the real best way to solve climate change, but achieving government action is really hard, boycotting corporations, doubly so. I'm not saying those are impossible to do, but getting a mass movement of people to put up with general inconvenience in their lives is harder than you think. Team trees is an easier form of collective action to take part in because it means almost no inconvenience for those taking part in it. It is not nearly enough, but decrying it as an excuse for people to leave a larger "carbon footprint" is counterproductive and wrong.
Watched a lot of your videos recently, you make good points. I just wish there where more actions and less doubting others efforts even if they maybe not so good as they look or even if they are done for personal PR. Keep up the work tho, very educational.
We have "progressed" to a point in which any reasonable and deeper analysis seems pretty ODD
can't agree more.
Yeah like refuting religion. Just let people treat religious stories as facts and indoctrinate kids ?!😩
Human tendency you know!
It's always good to hear different prespectives on something
All in all, an excellent informative video, thanks for shedding light on this reality! Such a shame that so many people refused to listen... 😕
Bruh, Team Trees is just a bunch of yt's with influence. I think that this says a lot about how if we all worked together to fight against climate change, the changes would be quickly noticed. In general, I like to think that Teamtrees is an experiment on what we 'could' be doing unanimously.
The changes won't be quickly noticed though. 1.9m tonnes of carbon is what the world emits in like... A few days.
Yea but they could probably have done something more efficient while having the same effect on people and awareness
Good video, enjoyed and agree. Would maybe do a different title next time because most people dont have the patience to watch the whole video and actually think about the meaning behind it so they will just dislike.
@MU'AZ BIN MOHD NIZAM Moe But the title is clickbait...
@MU'AZ BIN MOHD NIZAM Moe i get the point of the vid
but the title says “ teamtrees is more harmful than good”
that is clickbait because he says that it is good
this video is barely about team trees
and more about how people justify things
and i disagree with his statement
@@D0wNhiLL the title isn’t clickbait bruh. It says team trees *could* do more harm than good and he proves that by talking about how people think they don’t have to do anything about climate change if they helped plant trees. But, since the average person’s attention span is 10 seconds you probably didn’t see that part and just disliked the video and claimed it was clickbait in a fanboy rage.
@MUHAMMAD AQIEL BIN MOHD ARIFFIN Moe ye dude this is my main acc asal do guna moe *regret*
@MUHAMMAD AQIEL BIN MOHD ARIFFIN Moe :o
@Simon Clark Thanks a lot for your work, i appreciate your videos a lot. But I was missing two main factors in your video: 1. The Albedo, you can't plant trees wherever you want as you reduce the Albedo of the planet significantly. Peer reviewed studies shows that you could do even more harm than good trying to cool down the planet by planting trees. 2. Of course you can store a lot of carbon by planting trees, but you add also a lot CO2 to the natural cycle as trees come a long with animals and the leaves are decaying also. Thats why a wildfire itself isnt that devasting regarding only the CO2-Bilance. Of course, the bilance is still postive, but not as much as most people think and of course, deforestation increase the problems we already have as we make it even worse. I wished you have mentioned that more instead of the focus on the psychological aspects.
can you link these studies?
Very few people actually care about saving the environment, most people only care about the spectacle of saving the environment.
Appreciate the idea of the start of the video, it's a good point
It won't do "more" harm than good. I get the point you are making, but the clickbait is misleading and you can't ask for people not to respond or react to that title.
thank you so many people just overlooked this-
Agreed. Title should be "why teamtrees isn't too effective" or something.
wat. The video is literally an explanation of how it could do MORE harm than good. People thinking they have 'done their part' and because of that misplaced belief they are less willing to make life-style choices, therefore they end up causing more global warming .
Ramschat, no im late, but i like that you use your nrain ears, and give people a chajce, unlike someother people
@@hendrafour7824 Never too late, the debates about climate change are far from over :)
I think it's fascinating that human psychology can end up causing such a paradox. Planting trees is objectively good for the environment. But due to humans being irrational, a tree planting project can end up making people less willing to change their lifestyle. I think the solution is to still plant trees, but to also communicate very clearly that this does *not* save the world, and that lifestyle changes are far more impactful.
Thank you so much for making this Simon.
Long comment short, this sums up my thoughts on team trees fantastically, gives me a lot more to consider about climate change and is getting me to think of lifestyle changes I can make.
Thanks again and know we love you.
( And not just for your degree :) )
A well thought out argument. Good video 👍
Wow! This is such an important message to share! This video should be seen by everybody!
Brilliant video Simon! It's always important to be aware of the disadvantageous that are associated with such large projects. There hasn't been enough critique surrounding this topic, creating a gap. This video helps to fills that gap. I enjoyed the editing too!
This is a good way of looking at the issue and helping people to realize that there is a lot of work that must still be done to help the Team Trees initiative have any significant effect.
A lot of comments are saying that this guy is saying that this project isn't going to save the world, but it isn't the only thing he says, he also says that because of that project, some people will think that they are allowed to pollut even more since this project will remove all the pollution anyway.
So less people will recycle, and stuff like that.
Very good video which puts things into perspective.
Hey Simon. As an interesting secondary impact from what Team Tress have done could it not be considered that the total reach of Team Tress presence in doing this means a huge audience are now more aware, engaged and willing to make changes to their own lifestyle rather than just the impact of Team Trees planting? The main video had 38 million views alone.
However, it could also mean those 38million are also increasingly complacent that, well, someone else is sorting out the problem for them.
Have no idea how you’d measure this either way but the ripple effects of these actions can have other consequences 👍
Great point. Not just raising awarness but instilling in the younger generation the importance of climate change in contrast to the older generation who seem to think migration (nee: racism) is the bigger problem.
Impossible to measure, it would be like trying to measure the number of people globally who have been bitten by mosquitoes. I would say though climate activism is important to get greener parties voted in, who can do something on the scale that is required.
I also got aware that ppl actually do something. So I also wanna do something for the environment! Teamtrees is a good start!
Actually, 45M views
Team tree might actually have the complete opposite effect as mentioned in 8:46
I’m glad I saw this. It’s a good reminder that it will be a marathon and not a sprint!
I already diet well. I hate that every time I try to criticise the system I hear that I should do more. The people buying fast fashion and consuming in mc Donald’s tell ME to step up MY game. I now try to protect forests myself by protecting the people who care for the forests like indigenous people. I don’t want them to be killed by climate change. If that means to go out of my way. I‘ll do it.
The like to dislike ratio tells me that most people who found this didn't actually watch the video...
idk about the other people ,but I watch his video in full and still dislike it.
@@RandomKnowledge168 Can I ask why?
@@VitaeLibra Because he don't have a clear answer to the question that he presenting he said that it could be bad , but he sound too afriad of Mr Beast to offend him. the whole video is like" it bad ,but......" or " it good ,but......" and also a few point that he said that made him sound like he didn't even watch the Mr Beast video that him suppose made this video about.
@@RandomKnowledge168 Well this video is meant to be open. He isn't telling you that it is bad but rather that it could be. You shouldn't expect him to tell you that it is definetily bad because it isn't. He's giving us the information but not the answer. I don't think the expectation to be told what is good and what is bad is a healthy one. This isn't a critical analysis. Just like with Team Trees this video aims to open up a discussion. I think it does so very well
@@VitaeLibra 👍
I got Suga in a BTS bias quiz and I'm pretty sure that means I have to disagree with you on every point
In all seriousness though, this was great and would have been a great thing to have on the donation confirmation page for Team Trees
What u trying 2 tell
Bit late to the party here, but I feel like the campaign's success is mainly making thinking about the climate trending. A lot of people are still ignorant when it comes to ways they impact the environment. Most people I talk to still have the "I'm only one person what can I do" mindset. This campaign showed people that a lot of small acts/donations together can have meaningful impact.
I think that because of initiatives like Team Trees, a lot more people will actually become aware of the impact of climate change and the impact of their individual action. So although it may be so that some will think enough is being done, I think it will inspire a lot more to take action.
It's also pretty clear that nations and industries on a global scale have to do a lot more, too.
it's funny how consumers are still the most talked about emitters even though it's but a small fraction of the total amount of emissions...
almost a century of lobbying is going to have that effect
I've seen this problem a lot, nice to know there is an official name for it!
Like people saying they already do enough for the environment because they drive a hybrid...
This man has a PhD for a reason! Well said!
I checked out this video thinking it might be yet another attempt by someone to justify doing nothing in the face of the crisis we face. Instead, I found a very sensible and well presented argument about the importance of making lifestyle changes as well as supporting carbon sequestration. In fact, it was possibly the most sensible clip I've ever seen on this issue. Well done!
You forgot to say how trivial it is to plant trees when the majority of oxygen is produced by ocean plants.
the ocean is screwed, we can only rely on trees now since pollution in all forms is literally killing the ocean
Really good video, putting into proper words what I've been trying to squabble out my mouth at people for a while. Thanks Dr PhD!
the positivity and civility of the top few comments on this amaze me. you have an awesome community here simon
The like to dislike ratio on this vid is disgusting! It truly shows just how many people are immediately prepared to put down someone else for trying to educate simply because it disagrees with their personal beliefs and biases.
Thanks, I appreciate this video!
I think this is an incredibly important message and couldn't imagine it being put in a better way. I really hope people actually watch before criticizing it!
I hope that this project will motivate people to look further into their carbon footprint instead of being just a feel-good measure. For example, I found that eating healthier also reduced by use of plastic packaging dramatically. Win-win for everyone.
I really like your videos and I think you raise an important point here as well, what I am missing in this video though is the impact that industry and countries have vs. the individual footprint (which is a term phrased by oil companies for exactly this purpose - to put the attention elsewhere).
Awesome vid =)
I have one question, and sorry if this sounds dumb.
Let's say I had to take a flight to somewhere, but I chose to not fly and isntead took a less carbon intensive transport.
The flight I was going to take is still going to fly, I just wouldn't be on it. The aviation turbine fuel expended would largely be the same.
Individual change of this nature would only have a significant effect if a large enough number of people do that, forcing airlines to make their flights less frequent. In no way is my individual action making a difference there.
Yes but the exact problem is everyone has spent the last 200 years going "well its ok if just I do it". We can all at least be personally accountable for our decisions and should encourage others to do the same where its appropriate.
That's the whole point. If a significant number of people start taking fewer flights instead of indulging in self-licensing, we would see a positive change. Of course, this conflicts directly with the interests of airline companies, which is why individual action needs to be accompanied by changes at a higher level.
Excellent vídeo Simon!! I searched for something like this back in december when it started and finally found it! Very nice points you made. Very informative! Thank you.
Thank you. I always thought planting a few trees and patting each other on the back was ridiculous.
This is really informative video. 👍
Great video, deserves far more views!
I just love these videos Simon, and I actually didn't know that my good old beef would do so much harm, that really get us thinking about the plurality of situations such as the climate change. I'm really enjoying your videos on this topic, thanks for such a good form of information, which is funny and charismatic, well done.
Beef is the worst (mainstream) meat environmentally, followed by lamb. If you aren't ready to give up meat but want to reduce your ecological impact, chicken and pork are better. (Not sure where fish fits in)
@@stevieinselby we all should get used to eating insects or integrating more into our diet as an alternative to beef, so much more water and energy efficient and they generally have higher protein and vitamin contents and lower fat content
@@IAOIceland1984 Or just go vegetarian or vegan? All the nutrients you ever need are in plants and milk products and eggs.
"In Isolation".... haha foreshadowing
Haha
Excellent perspective.
It's like diet and exercise : if someone does a lot of exercise, they see that as allowing them to eat more.
Keep making good content bro I like your channel
This is more or less what I thought when the campaign was going on. Like, yeah, good that people are raising awareness of such things and it's nice that people are giving towards such an effort, but it's ultimately a miniscule step compared to the scale of the problem. If people then mistake their act of good will as "enough", the effort is ultimately a waste, or even harmful.
Whenever people throw big numbers around that this and that will save so many tons of emissions without actually comparing it to the real scale of the problem, it just sounds like you're trying to mislead people for your own good. Like I wouldn't have known anything about Mr. Beast if not for this campaign, so it just sounds like the whole thing is a massive publicity campaign for himself.
better tiny steps than no steps at all, right?
Atleast its trying its best to help hbu wat did you do good to help
Yeah it’s such a tiny step so let’s not do anything at all 🙄
And now he blew half a million worth of fireworks
It is observed that the whole fireworks around the world on the new years eve is very very tiny contribution to overall pollution.
Rather you wont believe eating meat is indirectly 30-40% contributor of pollution overall.
So its everyone's fault who gobbles up resources like crazy from meat to chipset..
Even the production of Rice plant is a huge contributor.
@Skyle Andria Are you sure about that? He’s drawing attention to poorly run, inefficient charities that will end up wasting the majority of their money. He’s choosing charities based on what makes him look cool rather than what actually does the most good. Imagine if instead people donated to causes that are 10 times more efficient.
1:42 my mom always talks about how she has to do more cycles with the laundry in her HE machine than the old regular one. I assume over the years that HE machine has used a lot more water than the other one with roughly a similar load
All the dislikes from people who didn't watch the vid and just saw the title
I saw the vid and the title and I still disliked just because of the clickbait
@@CarbonMonoxide798 ? What clickbait
@@tyomikshkolnik7988 the title said "why team trees could do more harm than good" while in the video he said that team trees won't do that much good
@@tyomikshkolnik7988 and don't you dare be r/wooooshing me
@@CarbonMonoxide798 uhh no it wasn't a joke now I get what you mean
This is such a good message, hope lots of people see it so more people are aware Team Trees is, was, and will never be the be all end all for solving global warming
Obviusly
@@elvisariasrios5810 thank you for your helpful comment bro
Nightcore
Not so obvious for some other people. It’s purely subjective.
I think most that donated will be intelligent enough to know that! Its a good start for many young ppl to actually get in touch with this overall subject of environmental protection and renaturation. I dont see anything bad!? Cant change everything at once...
ok...sure...then we'll just sit around talking about it while these guys are actually doing something
Hey I just wanted to throw in the "go paperless" project just means that timber companies will stop planting trees and use the land for something to make them a different financial gain
love this video! 7.5k dislikes is evidence that people would rather pat themselves on the back for donating 20$ than actually doing what is necessary to address the real issues.
I don't know about anyone else - but as far as my family is concerned, we were inspired to do even more to lower our carbon impact, and I continue to chip away at our emissions to this day. I'm glad to say that not only have we stuck with the changes, it now feels natural to do so.
As a result, we now save a minimum of £20 and as much as £40 per 'month' on our electricity bill (depends on time of year).
I grew more of our own food this year (always tastes better. Watercress and rocket is fiery hot when homegrown. Love it).
I've not stopped with the $20 worth of trees I donated to the cause 2 years back. I've been raising trees from seeds and cuttings for donkey's years, and have gone from planting them just in my own gardens to guerrilla gardening.
pollution has left the chat
Hi Simon, I'm glad you are pointing out the phenomenon of self-licensing with regard to the #teamtrees campaign, but I think you are WAY overstating the impact of individual choices to help curb climate change. There are 100 companies that are responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions, no amount of individual actions are going to undo that. The only way to effectively slow climate change at any significant level is through policy; carbon taxes on corporations, tax incentives for sustainable practices, etc. The reason it's so hard to actually implement this change is 1) people hate paying taxes, and corporations hate paying taxes even more and will do anything and everything to avoid regulation 2) a lot of people see bold action in this direction as "government takeover" of an industry (à la green new deal) and 3) those aren't sexy or cool solutions to stopping climate change, and so they don't excite or energize people the way these cool-sounding projects like teamtrees do. I lament the realities of human psychology.
Companies respond to individual demands. Some of those companies create food; a lot of money in food is from meat. If we reduce our meat consumption, then the companies will reduce meat production, therefore reducing emissions. This applies to literally everything, like energy (burning fossil fuels), vehicle fuels (refining and burning as fuel).
@@aidangrey00 I agree with you... the sad part is that humans already have so many problems in their lives that most just can't switch to solving climate problems. For everybody to change their diet, to change their use of transport, that would need a lot of willpower, which is for most people already taken away by casual stuff of our lives, like job, relationahips, etc., etc. One who cares about climate change is either a person who already solved most of Maslow's pyramid bottom levels' needs or somebody extraordinary. In order to solve the climate change, our species as a whole must have a change of heart, on fundamental level of cognition. And I ain't seeing any Persona5-esque MetaVerse, so this is going to be an extremely slow and hard process... I'm afraid in 50-70 years humanity will be messed up badly, softly speaking.
And I'm not trying to separate myself from this mess... I'm just like others. Not any better at all.
@@OneNamelessHero I totally get what you mean by most people not being able to focus on it because they're just trying to get by, but if you raise awareness and educate people about it they can find ways to do their part; even if they don't necessarily change their daily habits or their meal plans, they can vote for people who promise to do things about climate change (i.e. switch the country to renewable energy, make public transit systems and fund research into sustainability). Not only that, but here (in America) meat is more expensive than most other types of proteins, especially beef. Beef is expensive and also the worst for the climate, so reducing how often you eat it would have financial, health and climate benefits.
@@aidangrey00 Exactly! These companies create unsustainable products BECAUSE WE BUY THEM!
They took down a water park and a park to plant trees 🥺 I loved that park
something not specifically mentioned in this video is, that not only is 1.6million tons of carbon not a dent in pollution, 20 million trees do not even put a dent in deforestation.
We lose 15 billion trees every year which at their own numbers is a loss of 1.2 billion tons of carbon sinks every year.
Or to compare it, team trees in total only does a 750th of good compared to the annual loss in trees.
And that is on top of the 10 billion tons excess emissions we have each year, which team trees only does a 6250th of in 100 years. Or a 625000th of per year.
So to keep in line with the metaphor in the video.
It isn't just like trying to stop a train with a super soaker. It is like trying to stop a train with a super soaker, while the engine is still on and accellerating, while someone also is using a firehose to push against the train from the other side.
What do you think about his current mission with #teamseas? Edit: never mind..saw your new video and watching that right after this! Thank you for making this, great points!!
Simon, you pointed out exactly the right spots. I completely agree with you. But
I think the part of 'creating awareness' by #TeamTrees is the best part of the whole idea of planting trees. As I speak for myself, due to Team Trees I am now much more aware of my ecological footprint and I am currently searching to find a job where I can make a difference by trying to convince others to take eco-responsible decisions. I hope and pray you are all inspired by #TeamTrees! 💪
I understand his points, but planting 20M trees is still a good first move. There are billions of trees being cut and burned down each year and planting 20M helps fight deforestation.
Thanks for confirming my suspicions about this. I don't know enough about ecology to make any statements, but afforestation never seemed like a viable solution to me, despite it being one of the most popular solutions where I come from.
The 12k who disliked are just ignorant
This also applies to those who clicked it by a mistake XD
I agree that a lot more needs to be done. Team trees is doing good but it isn’t the only thing we should be encouraging.
Team trees aimed to open up discussion on the topic. It has accomplished that. The aim now is to continue talking about it. Donating is nice but doesn't help if you think you've done you part now