Anybody fancy a pint?

Green adjective concerned with protection of the environment; (of a product) not harmful to the environment.

Caretaker noun a person employed to look after a house or building.

Caretaker is a bit of a misnomer, if I had conceived the idea I might have used a different title. For most people the word caretaker suggests a school janitor, the guy with the mop and bucket when the kids have thrown up in the hallway. Somebody employed to maintain a building, pick up the rubbish, clean the walls, sweep the grounds, maybe oil a squeaky door, and lock up at the end of the day.

One Brighton is a development of 172 apartments in the very centre of Brighton, right next to the train station. It’s the world’s first fully accredited ‘One Planet’ residential development, a set of ten principles which are designed to minimise the use of resources and ensure the building process has a low environmental impact and residents live sustainable lifestyles. The principles cover: Zero carbon, Zero waste, Sustainable transport, Sustainable materials, Local and sustainable food, Sustainable water, Natural habitats and wildlife, Culture and heritage, Health and happiness.

I’ve been employed as the Green Caretaker for three months. In a nutshell, I’m at One Brighton to promote the use of the One Planet principles as the construction team leaves and the residents get settled in and to encourage a sustainable community into the future. You get a lot of London commuters living here but the demographic really covers all social strata with varying interest in the ‘Green’ theme.

Yes, the ten principles cover a lot of different and challenging issues but to most people I’m still very much the caretaker and not so much the ‘Green’ caretaker, so, I’ve been finding it particularly difficult finding the time and energy to devote to developing the community. I’m currently the concierge, binman, janitor, events coordinator, repair man, cleaner, community worker, website updater, security guard, gardener, social accountant, travel planner, grounds keeper, parking warden, environmental educator, parcel delivery man and even compost doctor. I’m the guy to go to when the neighbours are being anti-social (however serious or trivial). I’m also the target when the heating isn't working or there’s damage to a door or you can’t find your keys. The list goes on and I feel like I’m doing it all. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

I’ve worked in busy jobs before, the kinds of jobs where you have to act more on instinct than anything because there just isn’t time to find the rule book and if there were one it would be unlikely to have the solution for the particular situation you’ve found yourself in. The difference between this job and previous ones is that there are clear solutions but with the varying situations I find myself in, I need to change my frame of mind very regularly from the cerebral to the physical e.g. from giving a tour of the development or updating the community website to helping with the delivery of wood chip fuel or sorting out the recycling bins.

It’s physically, mentally and at times emotionally draining and it can be very lonely, despite all the people I work amongst and who pass by for a brief chat. I haven’t generally worked in the type of job where you can’t go for a pint with your colleagues at the end of the day. I guess the biggest problem is that I’m different things to different people at the moment. I don’t blame anybody for this. I expect this is part of the deal of landing in a role that hasn’t been tested before on a development that is an experiment in itself.

Of all the jobs that I have, the one that I think is the most important is defining the boundaries of my job description. When I’ve created the boundaries of what a Green Caretaker is and a job description that works and have seen it being applied to another development then I know that I really will have done my job. I met some people recently who will be working on a similar development in Middlesbrough in the near future and it excites me to think I might be asked for advice on what to expect.

At times I’ve felt a little discouraged; at times I’ve felt like I might as well just be called a ‘Green’ Janitor or ‘Green’ binman. Even the word ‘Green’ seems to suggest a green washing to some people, as British Petroleum might have done when they changed their logo from a green and yellow shield to a green and yellow flower and announced that they were “Looking to a Greener Future”. Am I just a value added version of a Caretaker?

I’m sorry if this sounds like I’m venting into cyberspace because a lot of the things that have happened to me over the past three months have been profoundly positive, I’ll tell you about them if you pop by this blog again some time. In a word, my work is a challenge, but it feels like the kind of challenge that at the same time feels like a bit of an adventure. I’m learning new things and meeting really interesting people and I’m applying the experiences that I’ve built up over the years in a constructive way.

To be completely honest, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now.