South African born Dan Hunt is a passionate supporter of environmental and social upliftment projects. Dan Hunt was inspired to reclaim a beautiful, but neglected stretch of Witwatersrand water. Funding it himself, he set out to clean up a 2.5km stretch of the Sandspruit in Edenburg, Sandton and drove the project to today’s success, covering many public spaces in the greater Sandton area with plans to extend the project to the whole of South Africa.
How did the City-Zen Community Project come into existence – and how has it impacted your life?
When we moved to Rivonia we bought a lock-up & go apartment overlooking the Sandspruit. The state of the river & surrounds were unsafe & appalling. We started out cleaning the river on the weekends with Moses, & the bug bit and this turned into every weekend. The more we cleaned the results just became so noticeable!
While working on the river we met several of our neighbours, one which was Najen Naidoo. He encouraged us to start a NPO, which is now City-Zen. Besides cleaning the river we started discovering where the garbage was originating, which led us to start cleaning Rivonia & the surrounding areas. This has become my hobby; my psychiatrist & my crew are my family.
If you had a theme song, what would it be?
Wind Beneath my Wings – Bette Midler
You Raise Me Up – Secret Garden
What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
Tackling the Sandspruit Project from my own pocket without any financial backing from anyone.
If Mars were liveable, would you accept a one way ticket there?
NO
If you were given one thousand acres of land what would you do with it?
Develop a total self-sufficient lifestyle without depending on anyone else & using this as a looking glass & training facility for the community.
Are you more of a hunter or a gatherer?
Hunter
How many pairs of shoes do you own?
SEVEN pairs of shoes
If we came to your house for dinner, what would you prepare for us?
A delectable delicious VEGETARIAN meal
How would people communicate in a perfect world?
Face To Face, & in person
When you have 30 minutes of free time – how do you pass it?
Meditate
If you woke up to 300 unread emails, how would you prioritise which ones to answer?
First respond to the people I love & who are closest to me
Where do you go and what do you do to find peace and recharge?
Go for a long ride on my VESPA
If you could know the absolute answer to one question, what question would you ask?
Why are we here ?
If you could write one new law that everybody had to obey, what would it be?
Extreme penalties for littering
What, if anything, have you ever re-gifted?
SHOES
What is the most interesting thing you have seen or read this week?
8 day old Goslings on the Sandspruit
What skill or craft would you like to master?
To learn to speak isiZULU
If you could dedicate your life to solving one problem, what would it be?
To repurpose the millions of tons of garbage polluting our waterways
