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 Tess Middleton, Fin Free Albury Wodonga The media so often sensationalises negative shark-human encounters that the positive, heart-warming stories often go unheard. In fact 60% of all shark stories are portrayed in a negative light. This could be for a number of reasons, most likely the “jaws” mentality. The reality is
By Janien Ferguson, Albury City Council What is going on in the world of science? Climate change, genetically modified food, windmills, vaccination…why do some issues in science become so contentious and how do we address each other’s concerns in a respectful way while communicating the facts and benefits of the science? We
By Olivia Noto, StopAdani Albury-Wodonga With another election not far away and by-elections happening left, right and centre, one must wonder what tedious mantra the leaders of the nation will take any opportunity to repeat. Anyone’s trained pet bird would’ve surely echoed last election’s ‘jobs and growth’ catchphrase the Turnbull Government
By Tess Middleton, Fin Free Albury Wodonga Good morning ocean lovers and those who just enjoy learning something new every day! Today while you eat your breakfast and sip your coffee I am going to give you 30 fast facts, all relating to our oceans, enjoy! 90% of the global shark population
By Richard Paschke, Wangaratta If you are a Baby Boomer or older you may remember the times before recycling. Drinks came in bottles, bottles came in wooden crates, which went back into the crate when empty. Crates full of empty bottles were returned to the shop where you were given a
By Cam Klose, Community Engagement for the community energy retailer project. At a national level, climate change and energy policy is mired in a political quagmire. Rather than working to solve the greatest challenge facing our country and the world, leading politicians are more interested in scoring cheap political points. A
By Jenny Indian, Stanley Despite the fact that you may currently be languishing in winter sun and actively seeking out those sunny spots out of the wind, now is the time to really think about summer shade – the why’s, the where’s and the what species. Over winter barerooted tree stock is
By Bruce Nulty, Wodonga Urban Landcare Network (WULN) The Society for Growing Australian Native plants had a strong influence in Alice Springs during the 20 years we lived there, before moving to Wodonga 17 years ago. I revisited Alice Springs early last year and was surprised to see grass in the
By Lauriston Muirhead, Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health (WATCH) Fossil evidence and observation of modern primates indicate that humans and our ancestors have lived in family groups or tribes for millions of years. The greatest punishment was always to be excluded by your tribe. Group living is better than individual living
By Jill Coghlan, Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health (WATCH) There’s a real change happening on the land today as innovative farmers and graziers understand the importance of healthy soils. They understand that sequestering carbon in soils is a means of achieving healthy soils, crops and pastures. A great bonus to this
By Lizette Salmon, StopAdani Albury-Wodonga and Wodonga Albury Toward Climate Health (WATCH) One of the highlights of travelling Europe in my twenties was a bike ride across The Netherlands, the country with the world’s largest number of cyclists and best bike paths. I assumed it had always been king of
By Tess Middleton, Fin Free Albury Wodonga By now you would have noticed all my articles have one common theme – the Shark Fin Trade. You may wonder what this trade actually is, why I care about ending it and what it means for the sharks. As I have no intention of
