Hear from founder of Sustainability Champions, Daniel Hartz!

For our EarthAllies segment this week, we've asked Daniel five questions about his journey with SustainabilityChampions.

When did you first get involved in environmental advocacy and why?

I got involved in environmental advocacy and started Sustainability Champions in January 2019 because I love nature and wanted to do my part to protect and heal it. I started with a podcast and then expanded to other platforms in order to learn about and showcase the work people are already doing to protect and heal the planet.

How does Sustainable Champions contribute to the environmental movement?

Sustainability Champions contributes to the environmental movement by showcasing people who are taking action to positively impact the environment. The idea is that these stories motivate and inspire others to also take action.

I find that the media focuses too much on the negative side of the environmental challenges. All of this doom and gloom can make many people feel either eco-anxiety or apathetic, neither of which is helpful to take action. So with Sustainability Champions, I aim to show the other side: there are many people all over the world who are choosing to do something to make a difference. The goal is to motivate and inspire as many people as possible all over the world to also get involved and to take action.

With this idea, we have built a great Instagram community, which currently has over 119,000 followers. We also have a community on LinkedIn that has over 15,000 followers.

What is the greatest challenge that you face as an environmental advocate?

The greatest challenge we face at Sustainability Champions is helping people believe that we can reach the 1.5-degree climate goal and feeling confident about the future of our life on the planet.

What keeps you motivated with campaigning for the environment?

Seeing the countless people we feature on Sustainability Champions who are working hard to find and create solutions to protect and heal the planet. There are so many people all over the world who are choosing to take action and do whatever they can to make a difference. It reminds me that we can do this - the more people who get involved, the more momentum we have toward protecting and healing the planet for a bright and safe future.

What is one piece of wisdom you would give to someone who is interested in participating in collective environmental action for the first time?

There are so many ways that you can get involved to protect and heal the planet and all of them are helpful! Start with just one or two projects that you're most passionate about. You don't need to fix every problem in the world right away.

Thankfully, there are people all over the world who are also working hard to protect and heal the planet. Together we can all make a positive impact.