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 Dr Helen Masterman Smith, Charles Sturt University Local residents are leading the way on sustainable community development projects at The Commons in North Albury. Established in July this year by the Goodlife Community Co-operative, The Commons is run by residents who enjoy working with others to help people, animals
By Sue Slater, Birallee Park Neighbourhood House Most of us have good intentions when planting a summer veggie garden. All those fresh tomatoes and salad greens, not to mention strawberries! We think we get everything right – the correct spot in the yard, the best quality soil, and the right
By Amber Rodd, Energy & Sustainability Officer, AlburyCity This year’s Albury Wodonga Sustainable Living Festival is better than ever with a new, improved and extended format. Our month-long program covers all of November and includes more than fifty events, from workshops, talks and films through to markets, exhibits and tours.
By Chris Halburd, B Lab Europe Advisory Board Member and Solicitor at Skinner & Associates The advertising for the new film “Deepwater Horizon” got me thinking, not of the event itself but rather of the ideology which is so deeply connected with it. For that I need to go back
By Megan Hunt, Health Promotion Coordinator at Gateway Health The Wodonga Healthy Catering Guide is here and ready for you and your workplace to use. The guide is a real menu in the making in taking initiative to encourage healthy eating behaviours in the workplace and in our community. The
By Gill Baker, Wangaratta Sustainability Have you noticed that ‘foraged’ ingredients turn up in recipes in glossy magazines these days? When I came across ‘Locally Foraged Wild Mushrooms’ on the menu of a classy restaurant, images of armies of mushrooms being chased through the forest flashed through my mind. ‘Foraging’
By Lizette Salmon, Repair Café Albury-Wodonga As you read this while munching your cornflakes, I’ll be on day two of a three day cycling holiday on the Great Victorian Rail Trail. It’s Australia’s longest continuous rail trail, running from Tallarook (just south of Seymour) to Mansfield, a total of 134km. I’ll be
By Alan Hewett, Trust For Nature Covenanter The recent debate about increasing the size of the Buffalo River dam brings into question whether there is a future for any new dams. In recent years the negative impact of dams has become well known. Numerous publications in global scientific literature document
By Gill Baker, Wangaratta Sustainability Outside our window is a huge, centuries old Yellow Box tree. It offers shared accommodation to all comers, whatever their skin type, colour or language. Reptiles, mammals, birds, and all manner of crawling creatures are accepted. Yesterday a pair of ducks were having an intense
By Bruce Key, member of WATCH – Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health In 1992 I went snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef off Port Douglas. We went fifty kilometres off shore to a location on the edge of the continental shelf. The reef and the accompanying fish life were absolutely
By Roger Findlay, Gerogery Being thrifty is not about being miserly. The dictionary defines thrifty as follows: Using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully. With this in mind, I do believe it is a sensible approach for living life. From an early age I witnessed my parents struggling
By Bruce Key, Member of Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health (WATCH) There is some good news and some bad news. First the bad news. During the next several decades most of the electricity generating infrastructure using coal as a fuel will need to be replaced. The reasons are obsolescence, air
