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 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
By Gill Baker Back in the day of my youth the BBC ran some excellent children’s programs, and my favourite presenters of wild life shows was David Attenborough. So, unlike most of the world’s population, I was privileged to meet pangolins, armadillos and rainforests via this medium, thus gaining a
By Tess Middleton World Wetlands Day was first celebrated on February 2 1997 and was created to raise awareness about the value of our wetlands for both humanity and the planet. Celebrations by non-government organisations, not-for-profit organisations, government agencies and community groups are held to celebrate and recognise the importance and
By Julianna Toth The first time I travelled to Japan, I remember being shocked at how much plastic was used on a daily basis – individual fruits wrapped in plastic; pastries placed into plastic bags, then bagged up again in plastic; brand new shoes individually wrapped in plastic bags. Excessive
By Lauren Salathiel I have a confession to make. This week, I considered bribing my local librarian to allow me to sleep in the library overnight, so hot was my house. Living in an old un-air-conditioned house isn’t too bad for the first two days of a heatwave. But the
By Elvie Rooney A friend of mine and I recently returned from a backpacking trip from England to Croatia and all the while we couldn’t help but make comparisons. We compared things from the pigeon populations to the ancient city architecture, from the weather to the fashion, but one constant
By Tess Middleton Did you know that one garbage truck worth of plastic goes into the ocean every minute? In the last decade on Aussie beaches alone, more than 2.53 million plastic pieces, almost one million cigarette butts and 512,400 pieces of plastic bags were collected. Tragically more than 100,000
