In Focus | Dan Carter of Clean the Creek

In Focus is our gift to the community. A way for us to help show our recognition for the people, businesses and organizations that help make our city great. The team at KelownaNow.com is passionate about this community and the people that make it amazing. We want to show our friends, neighbours, family and colleagues that we notice them and the fabulous things that they do.

What is your name?
Dan Carter

Where are you from and how long have you lived in Kelowna?
Folding Mountain, Alberta (near Hinton/Jasper).

Who is your favourite person to spend time with and why?
My wife as she makes me a better person, is beautiful, is fun to be with, is an amazing mother and makes me laugh.

If you could go anywhere in the world right at this moment where would you go and why?
Really I would just take my camper and my family up to one of my favourite fly fishing lakes near Merritt. I’m pretty content at this point in my life compared to 10 years ago. Just love the city of Kelowna and the area around it. But yes one day I want to go to Kathmandu in Nepal and spend 6 months volunteering and exploring.

What is your favourite local store in Kelowna and why?
Trout waters they have an awesome selection of gear and flies and all the folks that work there are really nice and it’s good to catch up with them each time I visit.

What is your favourite activity?
Fly fishing for sure. I also love to snowboard and get in the backcountry but with 3 kids that’s sometimes hard so I hit a lot of side country at Big White.

If you had to choose: pizza, tacos, or burgers?
Zah for sure!

What is a hidden gem you enjoy in the Okanagan?
Can’t tell you as then everyone will be going there plus I have special permission to go there. Let’s say it a waterfall that you can cliff jump into and it’s a magical place.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you?
When I was a kid I remember my mom cooked fish for dinner and for some reason I just wreaked like fish. By lunch, the kids in school were calling me fish boy and the hot girls (grade 10) were laughing and coming up to me and smelling me. I had to go home as I smelt so bad ha ha ha.

What is the most inspiring thing that has happened to you?
Launching Clean the Creek cleanthecreek.com it’s an idea I’ve had for over 10 years and finally, I have made it a reality! Since I was young I grew up 1km outside of Jasper National Park and when I moved to the Okanagan I noticed people really love to “dump” garbage up in the hills surrounding Kelowna. The mountain bike club and the hunting club do an amazing job and cleaning these places but my App allows anyone anywhere in the world to tag dirty locations for others to see and find and get “kudos” if you clean those locations. It’s totally free and for the better of the environment. Building Apps is a lot of work as elegance is simplicity and to find simplicity you need to drink allot of coffee and have an awesome team behind you.

Tell us your favourite childhood memory.
So many but one that stands out is a River rafting trip me and my dad and his friend did on the Mcleod river near Cadomin AB. We looked at a dinky campground map thinking we could go down then shuttle back in a few hours and take the next batch of people… Really it was a 3-day trip that we did in 30 hrs. We were charged by two grizzly bears, saw wild horses, went over waterfalls, hypothermic shock and like many times with my dad “I’m going to die” when the flashlight went out and we were still cruising down the river. We did make it camp in the pitch black but its adventures that I truly crave.

Where do you volunteer or give back to in the community?
I volunteered for six months in the city of Cuenca Ecuador to build an online bus route system and lived with a family. It was a very challenging project as I first had to brush up on Spanish and the people at the city Cuenca were professors and very intelligent folks speaking at a tremendously fast speed! Also again Clean the Creek is my new passion that I wish to get people using as an App.

If you could change one thing in the world what would it be?
Just leave this world cleaner than we found it. It’s as simple as that.

What is your favourite activity in Kelowna?
I love just hanging with my family at Mission Creek park and checking out the eco centre then walking through the forest up to the kids fishing pond. Kelowna is a big playground with some many things to see and do. My wife Kristina is always bugging me to sell a couple bikes or rid of some of my stuff. I love sports and the lifestyle Kelowna provides it really has the best of everything and lots to explore.

Where would you sneak away to in Kelowna to spend some time alone?
I would go up towards connector up to some of my favourite lakes and camp out and fly fish. There are these emerald green lakes with huge fish surrounded by pine forests and for some reason, I dream of that all the time. I just love being unplugged and tuned into nature. It really depends on the time of year.

Where would you like to see positive change in Kelowna and why?
I would love to see people tagging more dirty spots around town using Clean the Creek. They don’t have to do any clean up work just take the picture. You would be surprised how many people just want to go and clean those places. I find when people work together (making a community garden, organize a block party, do clean ups) it really builds strong relationships and brings people together. Sometimes someone you thought was a jerk down the road cause the never wave is really a great person but they grew up in a big city and don’t just wave to everyone that passes by. It’s good for people to projects together big or small it brings people together and creates a common bond.

If you were granted one wish for work or in life, what would it be?
That we could provide the generations that follow us and good footprint and direction in how we live and measure or success by not money but happiness. By this I mean a more simple lifestyle, healthier, happier and more community focused. I feel that all the lawns in town someday could be gardens that are taken care of people that provide 50 per cent to you and your family and 50 per cent for them for taking care of the garden. It just seems like we have to break some trends and go a little outside the box to make this a sustainable world for future generations. I really think once we do change we will be happier and countries like Norway and Sweden are leading the way. I grew up in AB though with oil & gas all around, coal and timber. So I understand that’s a part of life and a big wheel that’s turning and difficult to change. But I think change starts with you and your community and doesn’t have to be huge just steady and forward thinking.

Tell us something that not everyone may know about you.
I used to be a sponsored skateboarder and all day now I still think about that sport. Just got a little older and can’t do it like I used too.

What is the name of your business/organization?
Clean the Creek

What does your business do?
Clean the Creek makes it easy for you tag dirty locations that allow yourself or others to then clean them. With the app you can follow others that clean up areas and easily post your finds or cleanups to Facebook. Clean the Creek gives users a simple interface to browse dirty locations around them using a list view showing the closest spots or a map view. Once you have cleaned a location people can then give you Kudos for your job well done. Your profile shows all your places you have completed and the app send push notifications to you for new locations in your area, when your given kudos and much more. Clean the Creek is a tool for tracking the good positive change your pressing forward within the world. We want to see people using the App as commonly as a selfie but when someone see another person snapping a photo of dirty area they instantly feel good about what that person is doing.

How to people connect with you through social media? (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest)
itunes.apple.com/us/app/clean-the-creek/

Where can people find your business online?
http://cleanthecreek.com

Why did you get into/start this business?
To make a difference in the world for my three kids.

What is the goal of your business?
To leave the world cleaner than we found it. This is not just about cleaning your community it's about creating new social challenges, social change, responsibilities and accountability. It's about giving kudos to people that deserve it. The greatness of what's to come will not be just healthier, cleaner environment but a social standing proving you're an exceptional human being.

What has been your biggest struggle either in work or life?
Powder days usually throw a wrench into workdays. Also, the sleep deprivation when you have kids was hard but my wife Kristina is such an amazing person with so much energy. Perhaps I complain more than her but she seems to be able to handle less sleep than me better. Besides that, I’ve been lucky. I’m very blessed to be Canadian and to live in the Okanagan.

If you could start all over again would you do things the same or would things be different?
I wouldn’t change a thing. I love my life I even drive a little slower these days just to make sure I don’t get in an accident. Love my family, friends and the city of Kelowna.

Why do you think it is important to shop locally?
Shopping local not only gives you the personal experience of meeting the people that grow your food but provides you better nutritional value through local organic foods. I also have many friends that all seem to have migrated to running their own businesses and I feel keeping it at a local level not only provides our economy more strength but reduces environmental impact, keeps our community unique and is in my mind how things will slowly have to shift over time in order for us to all survive in a happy state on this one and only planet.

Give someone that you think deserves it a shout out and explain why!
My wife, she is the one that keeps our home functional, loving and growing. I keep learning so much from her and strive to be more like her each day. She is my best friend, mother of our three children (Stella, Eva and Benjamin) and the inspiration for my continued success.

My nomination for the In Focus spotlight is:
Adam Meachum he is an amazing musician, artist and designer. He has one of the most positive attitudes of people I know and seeing where his music is taking him is very inspirational.

Other information you would like to share:
Have a good summer in Kelowna. Keep calm on the roads you will get there. Try out Clean the Creek and help make the world a cleaner place!!!!

We encourage you to leave your comments and words of support below and submit your own nomination by clicking HERE. You are also welcome to submit a form of your own by clicking HERE. Thank you, Kelowna!