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 Alan Hewett How many photographs did you take on your last holiday? Did you share them on the multitude of platforms that now exist? More importantly, where were you positioned when you took those photographs? Were you perched precariously on a cliff? Did you scramble up a tree or tramp
By Graham Parton In October the 2019 NSW Local Councils Conference debated the question of whether or not they should declare a climate emergency. The “No” case was championed by former Liberal MP Phillip Ruddock, now the Mayor of Hornsby Council, who said he didn’t like “vague statements”. He was
By Lizette Salmon, Gardens for Wildlife Albury-Wodonga Project Officer As we head into uncertain seasons, what should we be thinking about when planting into our parks and gardens? Does our changing climate mean we need to think differently about retaining and improving biodiversity, and how should we do that? This
By Eli Davern There is this misconception that young people are oblivious to what’s going on around them, but what I saw on Friday, September 20 at the School Strike 4 Climate, I think we are proving them wrong. Because I believe that as young people it is our moral
By Jonathon Howard Isn’t it funny how once you notice something, it has flow-on effects? I live on small farm and a dead tree had fallen across my boundary fence some months ago. While I fixed the fence to prevent my sheep escaping, I’d left the rest of the tree
By Lizette Salmon, Coordinator Repair Cafe Albury-Wodonga If Time can publicise its 100 most influential people, Cleo its 50 eligible bachelors and Forbes its rich list, we think it’s time for Repair Cafe Albury-Wodonga to publish its 10 ‘most popular’. On the eve of our fourth birthday we’re revealing everything
By Joy Grinham Recently the Border Mail reported on the collection of REDcycle plastics, naming a Lavington supermarket as having the lowest collection rate of recyclable plastics in the state. Three Wodonga supermarkets were in the top third, and the Albury store recycled 693kg of soft plastics. Shoppers were commended
By Graham Parton Recently as an aspiring ethical shopper I faced a choice between two grapefruits on sale at the local food co-op. This is a magnet for the locals who want to support local growers and buy food that is not from “factory farms.” The first grapefruit was from
By Alan Hewett It seems ironic that while the Australian Prime Minister was in Washington being wined and dined by a man who thinks that climate change is a Chinese invention, Greta Thunberg was in New York at the centre of a global protest against government inaction to address the
By Lauren Salathiel Recycled cardboard placards aloft, more than 2000 concerned residents of Albury and the region joined millions of others around the globe to call for proactive climate policy change at Friday’s Climate Strike. Uniformed school students walked out of school to lead the gathering, a gesture symbolic of
By Jonathon Howard World Rivers Day, the last Saturday in September, is a celebration of waterways, striving to increase public stewardship of rivers around the world. There is good reason to celebrate the Murray, the lifeblood of our region. It produces much of Australia’s wool, cotton, wheat, sheep, cattle, dairy, rice,
By Jenni Huber, Knitting Nannas for Renewables On the September 20, young people around the world are going to strike. They will leave their classrooms and take to the streets in a quest to ask adults join them in protecting our planet’s future. A group of Albury-Wodonga adults – Knitting
