About Jimmy

Yes, Jimmy is a proud Scot who grows many of his own veggies.

 

 

Hello and welcome to Sus-UK. My name is Jimmy. I grew up in Dundee and Holland and I now live in West Lothian with my wife and son.

Neil and I met at University and soon found that we shared common ideas and aspirations regarding living a sustainable lifestyle. This has evolved into SUS-UK. Neil and I both share the vision of a sustainable life which can be achieved slowly but surely without the need for extremism, hence our motto: do what you can when you can.

The list below outlines some of the changes I have made to my lifestyle in order to make a difference:

• We are lucky enough to have a large garden, complete with a greenhouse and last year we started to grow our own vegetables. To cut down on chemical-use we make our own organic spray for greenfly prevention in the greenhouse. We also use beertraps and crushed eggshells to deter slugs.

• Recycle using three bin system provided by West Lothian Council.

• Compost kitchen waste using our own garden composter.

• We reuse the carrier bags that we already have but try to avoid taking them in the first place. We have sturdy folding boxes and reusable cloth bags.

• Make our own bread using bread machine. All that is required to do this is a couple of minutes preparation and the ability to plan ahead a little.

• Use solar powered garden lights

• We reuse margarine tubs, ice cream tubs etc as freezer containers or lunchboxes. This removes the need to buy freezer bags etc.

• Any glass jars are kept and reused as containers for home-made jam and chutney.

• Reuse wrapping paper and envelopes if possible.

• Buy eggs and potatoes from local farm shop.

• We use cooking fat and stale bread to make feed for the garden birds during winter.

• Our house is double glazed.

• We insulated the hot water tank.

• We changed all bulbs in the house to low energy light bulbs

• Online newspapers are our preferred option

• We buy recycled toilet paper

• Over packaged items are avoided.

• We avoid disposable items such as wipes, sprays etc. Clothes wich are too worn to be used by someone else become cleaning rags.

• Our electricity is provided by a supplier that claims to invest in 100% renewable energy.

 

Future projects:

• Ideally, we would like a water butt in the garden with a solar powered pump to water plants in the greenhouse automatically.

• Micro-CHP and/or solar water heating for the house.

• Insulating the loft more fully.

 

I am genuinely surprised when I see my everyday actions written down. I had no idea that I did so many sustainable things. This proves to me (and hopefully you!) that the small things all add up without requiring a major lifestyle change. Imagine this multiplied by millions of other people just like you and me.

We would encourage you to browse our website and give us your comments. We are certain that there are vast topics which we have not touched upon yet, however remember that from small acorns do large oaks grow.