Massively viral ocean-trash cleanup campaign from Mrbeast and Mark Rober achieves $30m goal on final
by TeamSeas 3 Jan 2022 21:07 PST
Hundreds of the internet's biggest influencers and 600,000 donors are celebrating the success of #TeamSeas (TeamSeas.org), a massive crowdfunding campaign to raise $30M by January 1st in order to remove 30M pounds of trash from beaches, rivers and oceans.
For every $1 raised, #TeamSeas and its nonprofit partners, Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup, will remove one pound. The $30M raise equates to cleaning up 30 million pounds of trash and plastic. #TeamSeas-funded cleanup operations are already under way and are projected to last three years.
The charity crowdfunding campaign was founded by star YouTubers MrBeast aka Jimmy Donaldson (87M subscribers), ex-NASA engineer Mark Rober (20M subscribers) and campaign director Matt Fitzgerald. Their 2019 collaboration,
#TeamTrees, raised $20M to plant 20M trees on six continents. #TeamSeas reached its $30M goal in the final hours of New Year's Day, when tech entrepreneur Austin Russell donated $4M to push the fundraiser across the finish line. In a video posted to Mark Rober's Instagram account, Russell credited his decision to having been inspired by the more than 600,000 individual donors who had gotten #TeamSeas to that point.
Indeed, in contrast to Russell's gift, the most common donation amount was just $5. #TeamSeas donors hail from 191 countries and span multiple generations. #TeamSeas received notable support from kids who donated their allowance, fundraised from the hospital, and organized bakesales at school, among others.
"It's awesome to see all the kids and families who want to do something positive for the planet," said Rober. In a celebratory tweet, MrBeast called the result "FREAKEN INSANE."
As a charity fundraiser, #TeamSeas is distinguished by the unprecedented online reach of its "big team" of supporters, the youth of its audience, and its participatory design. With over 10,000 uploads across thousands of accounts, #TeamSeas videos have earned over 850M organic views across YouTube, TikTok, Twitch and other social media platforms. #TeamSeas content creators made creative videos and livestreams about the ocean - ranging from cleaning the ocean in Minecraft, to 1 of 2 anti-plastic pop songs, to the scientific impact of removing all that trash - and called on viewers to donate toward the goal at TeamSeas.org. The audience responded in a big way.
After a surprise launch on October 29th, #TeamSeas raised $8M in its first 48 hours and trended #1 on both Twitter and YouTube in the United States. Donaldson and Rober then appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to introduce the campaign on network television. The widespread digital distribution of the #TeamSeas message then sparked follow-on contributions, and donations, from people around the world. The TeamSeas.org donor Leaderboard lists everyone from Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke to grandparents giving trash (removal) for Christmas.
All the money raised by #TeamSeas is split 50/50 between its two not-for-profit implementation partners. Ocean Conservancy is the official partner for beaches and oceans. Half of the #TeamSeas donations ($15M to-date) will fund global beach cleanups, as well as the removal of abandoned fishing 'ghost gear' from the ocean. "We are incredibly grateful to every single donor, big and small, who contributed to #TeamSeas," said Janis Jones, CEO of Ocean Conservancy. "This is the start, not the end, of a journey of ocean conservation and advocacy for so many. Together with our partners, we will deliver on our promise to remove 15 million pounds of trash from beaches and seas around the world, while working to reduce plastics and keep them out of the ocean in the first place."
For rivers, the campaign's official partner is The Ocean Cleanup. "What an amazing result for all the #TeamSeas supporters and our friends Mark Rober and MrBeast! With the money raised, The Ocean Cleanup pledges to intercept 15 million pounds of trash from rivers, preventing it from ending up in the oceans," said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO. #TeamSeas funds will support new deployments and extended operation of The Ocean Cleanup's Interceptor solutions, including the iconic vessels Rober referred to as "trash-eating robots," such as the one installed in the Rio Ozama in the Dominican Republic. #TeamSeas, The Ocean Cleanup, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) intend to scale up the operational model exemplified in the DR to more of the 1% of rivers responsible for 80% of the trash flowing into the ocean from rivers.
TeamSeas.org displays the ongoing fundraising total and will be updated with cleanup progress and volunteer events as operations proceed in 2022 and beyond. Visitors can continue to donate to help remove trash: $1, one pound at a time.
"At the end of the day, #TeamSeas is about using the internet to bring young people together to take action for the ocean, and for all of us," said Fitzgerald. "30M pounds is a beginning, not an end. Plastic and planet don't mix."