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 Jonathon Howard I came across a spider the other day. It was crawling across the flyscreen that covers my back door. My guess is that it was looking for somewhere to escape the dry. I recognised instantly as a spider belonging to the family Deinopidae, distinctive for its long
By Gill Baker, Wangaratta Sustainability Greta Thunberg organised a ‘Youth Strike for Climate’ in her native Sweden last year because she realised that her generation was going to have to deal with the effects of rapid human induced climate change, and that many of the leaders of world today either
By Tess Middleton, Fin Free Albury Wodonga How to have an egg-cellent Easter? Eat sustainably of course! This article is your go-to guide for what fish and seafood to feast on this Easter weekend. Picture this – you’re lining up with what feels like 100 other families, all just wanting
By Emma Avery, Founder & Owner of Cloth Baby Single-use plastics have become something of a taboo of late, and thanks to the ABC TV series War on Waste we are all adapting our behaviours. However, in spite of this growing awareness, there is a single-use plastic that is still increasing
By Alan Hewett We don’t speak about it much, going to the toilet that is. We have even developed a lexicon to describe it. We go to the bathroom, the dunny, the john or the loo. The latter expression is particularly interesting. It evolved from the French, “regardez l’eau.” This
By Tess Middleton, Fin Free Albury Wodonga The lights are out but everybody’s home, it must be Earth Hour! At 8.30pm on Saturday March 30, 2019 (AEST) hundreds of millions of individuals and thousands of businesses, in more than 180 countries, will be switching off to switch on to sustainability.
By Jonathon Howard March 22 is global World Water Day, when we should think about the significance of fresh water and sustainability in managing fresh water resources. This year’s theme is “Leaving no-one behind”. Unfortunately, current water use practices don’t benefit everyone. Globally, 80 percent of the people who must use unsafe and
By Doug Westland, Yackandandah Folk Festival Since its inception, a goal of the Yackandandah Folk Festival each March has been to achieve true sustainability in consumption of resources and energy through the work of its voluntary “Green Team”. This has led to many initiatives over the years, bringing the festival
By Tess Middleton, Fin Free Albury Wodonga Clean Up Australia Day has celebrated a milestone 40 years this year. The idea started back in 1989 when Ian Kiernan had a desire to tidy his local area, Sydney Harbour, after a sailing competition, in 1987; Ian saw the level of pollution
By Sarah McAlister, Yackandandah Toy Library When my partner and I had our first child, we were acutely aware of the stuff that came with having said child, and would quickly fill the space in our small house – the pram, the car seat, the cot, the teeny tiny clothes, the
By Jade Miles, Beechworth Food Co-op Now in its third year, the North East Fair Food Farmers and Followers gathering on Sunday, February 24 is a gritty convergence of like-minded local people who embrace, support and farm fair. A day of connection, sharing, learning and solidarity, it’s an uplifting event that
By Di Pritchard As I opened my eyes to a warm 6am temperature last week, I noticed something splashing about in the water bowl in the garden near my bedroom window. Something was struggling to get out of the slippery sides of the half-full bowl. Thinking it was a trapped
