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 Thea McCarthy, Wangaratta In my parents’ and grandparents’ time it was an era of austerity and there wasn’t much stuff around. The experience of scarcity, of material things being limited and valuable, is now largely history. In our throw-away society we accumulate more because it usually costs less to buy
By Sue Slater, Projects Manager, Birallee Park Neighbourhood House Inc Had a bumper crop? Don’t know what to do with your excess? Maybe the solution for you is Food Swap. The idea of a food swap or exchange is not new. Our ancestors bartered with produce, between families, between villagers
By Leanne Murphy, Beechworth I’m a recent convert to the wonders of pressure cooking, and wanted to share the benefits of this efficient way to cook all manner of meals, from steaming vegetables through to cooking hearty stews. We’ve had our pressure cooker for a couple of years now, and I love
By Tess Middleton, Fin Free Albury Wodonga “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead So many people question how they can make a difference; they feel they must need to be a part
By John Lloyd, Benalla Sustainable Future Group Next time you accept a degradable plastic bag at a store, think again – you may be doing little to help the environment and adding dangerous microplastics to rivers and oceans, experts say. This warning has prompted a Senate committee to call for
By Roger Findlay, Gerogery West For me this time of the year is the best. We are so fortunate having beautiful places like Beechworth, Mount Beauty and Bright that seem to come to life through the cool seasons. Out here at Gerogery West the vegetable gardens are thriving with winter greens,
By Alan Hewett, Trust For Nature Covenanter After 200 years of European occupation Australia has the highest rate of mammal decline and extinction in the world. One significant reason is the introduction of invasive animals, particularly foxes and cats. They are responsible for the extinction of at least twenty mammal
By Wolfgang Huber, Repair Café Albury-Wodonga member How are your small garden tools looking? A bit blunt or rusty and in need of some TLC? The Repair Café, run by a dedicated group of volunteers with a focus on fixing things, has seen increasing interest in servicing of garden tools. It
By Cath Newell, Consultant to Sustainability Victoria Top winner of the Premier’s Sustainability Awards in 2015, a group of caring parents known as St Kilda Mums, Geelong Mums and Eureka (Ballarat) Mums, is now encouraging other sustainability groups to enter the 2016 Premier’s Sustainability Awards to celebrate their work. The
By Chris Halburd, B Lab Europe Advisory Board Member and Solicitor at Skinner & Associates In the aftermath of the global financial crisis and with a maturing understanding of the interaction between humanity and the planet there has been a growing acknowledgment that business as usual is no longer a realistic long-term
By Alison Mitchell, a Friend of Willow Park One of the best ways to live lightly is to find out about the impacts of our purchases on people, animals and the environment and then choose to limit those impacts as much as possible. However, if you were to start researching
By Melissa Kane, Eco friendly Mum … And I’m not talking about A Game of Thrones, but like our favourite Throners it is time to prepare to do battle (with winter around your home). I would like to share a couple of life hacks with you to make winter more
