Daniel Heitz is a 28 year-old Graphic Designer from Freiburg, Germany.
It can take a journey to Kazakhstan to organize a Carrotmob on 10/10/10 in Freiburg, Germany. Daniel Heitz has been working as a professional graphic designer for eight years and currently runs his own marketing agency, Gebrüderheitz, with his brother. In 2009, he took a break from his business in Germany to spend three months working with an environmental NGO in Kazakhstan. The project was organized by the ASA program, a network of young Germans who are actively working for fair South-North relations.
But the learning experiences did not end in Kazakhstan. When he returned from his trip, Daniel participated in an ASA workshop about public action that could be taken at home. There, he learned about the concept of Carrotmobs – targeted purchases by a coordinated network of consumers to reward selected businesses for making the most environmentally or socially responsible decisions. The creativity and energy of Carrotmobs inspired the young creative professional. Daniel set out immediately to develop an online version of Carrotmobs (https://www.carrotshop.org/), and is now an organizer of the second Carrotmob in his home town of Freiburg.
“I choose creative and positive actions over complaining and boycotts,” says Daniel, “and I am passionate about getting people together for a common higher goal like climate protection.” Carrotmobs are a very concrete way of getting to work – and a smart way to use actions in daily life to change society and push politicians. “If politicians don’t act, we need to do it. And I believe it is a clever way to motivate businesses to be part of the change.”
Daniel is one the coordinators of the Carrotmob in Freiburg, with a lead role in social media outreach for the event. He is also responsible for design of the website https://www.carrotshop.org/.
For more personal stories from other European organizers, check out the European Personal Stories page or watch for more stories from this series on the blog.