Living Lightly is a collection of local stories about sustainable living.
The column commenced in 2012 and until 2023 was published in the Border Mail newspaper each week.
The content is community sourced – groups, organisations and individuals have written and contributed each of these informative and entertaining articles – all overseen by a local volunteer coordinator.
We are currently considering a monthly schedule for articles, stay tuned as we explore this option.
Here you can browse and search previous articles or subscribe to receive an email each time an article is published.
The Living Lightly coordinator is always keen to receive articles! Use the link below to find out how you can submit an article for the column.
With a big thank you to all the Living Lightly authors for contributing to this wonderful collection of articles.
By Anne Stelling, Parklands Albury Wodonga Ever since the Albury Wodonga Corporation gifted environmental lands to the community in the 1990’s, local people have demonstrated the value of that gift. Individuals young and old, University and TAFE students seeking to apply their knowledge, school classes from pre-school to U3A, local businesses
By Jonathon Howard I’ve built a series of ‘leaky weirs’ on my property. A leaky weir is a structure designed to slow water flow, filter the water through the vegetation, and reconnect the water to the surrounding floodplain. People might be familiar with these structures if they have seen Peter
By Alan Hewett Since the Covid lockdowns and restrictions dog ownership has increased to such an extent that there is now a shortage of pooches and people are prepared to pay thousands for one. Dogs are loveable of course, (unless you have one next door barking incessantly.) For over eleven
By Anne Stelling, Parklands Albury Wodonga By 2050, the climate in Albury-Wodonga is predicted to be more like that of Forbes in NSW, with fewer frosts and more heat waves, days of 40°C twice as common and heat waves lasting longer. We can expect intense storms in summer dumping more summer
By Charles Robinson Autumn is compost-making time and I love it. About twelve years ago I planted an extensive deciduous forest comprising English Oaks, Liquidamber, Claret and Golden Ash, Tulip Trees, Ginko Biloba, Red Oaks and Pin Oaks. These trees have many benefits but, best of all, they provide masses
By James G Sloan Some people think electric cars are a partial answer to climate change. They are not. We need fewer cars not different cars. Air quality is not the only problem. Moving to all-electric cars, to the extent they replace existing petrol cars, is positive but inadequate. Our
By Jenny Indian A friend recently commented that she found autumn beautiful and yet a little depressing. This stopped me in my tracks – as one prone to fret about heat and summer, autumn is simply the finest of times. Not just the colour and light from those wonderful deciduous
by Anne Stelling, Parklands Albury Wodonga Now seems a perfect time to take a fresh look at what we do in our everyday lives, to rethink our mindsets, to change our habits and routines. After all, we’ve all rolled with the punches throughout a pandemic as a matter of necessity
By Kirsten Coates After months of deliberation and soul searching, we came to very sad decision last week. At the rear of our house stands an old pear tree, estimated to be at least 100 years old, gnarled, wizened and full of character. We have often mused at what that
By Mick Webster The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) map shows only a sparse distribution of Banksia marginatas in North-East Victoria today – in fact in only about 30 known locations North of the Divide. And yet 150 years ago these were amongst the commonest trees in our forests –
By Clare Cunnington If you have ever worked in a commercial kitchen you may be familiar with the term “dish pig”. Usually, the term refers to the person who lands the task of washing most of the dishes and, as the name implies, it is not one of the most
By Ian Davidson and Chris Tzaros – Wangaratta Landcare & Sustainability The Weebill is Australia’s smallest bird, measuring just 8-9 cm. The name Weebill comes from its relatively short beak. However, its song sounds like a musical ‘weebill’, so maybe this describes both its beak and its song? These tiny
