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 Lizette Salmon, member of WATCH (Wodonga Albury Toward Climate Health) & Seed Savers Albury-Wodonga We all know the meaning of the word investment, but what about divestment? Divestment is the selling of an investment, such as the shedding of unethical investments. For those of us keen to live more
By Wendy, Benalla Sustainable Future Group Inc. Often the question is asked, but the answers don’t come easily. It is complex. In today’s world we are increasingly being asked to consider the long-term consequences of the lives we choose to live. The ‘needs’ we think we have today require more
By Jenny Indian, Beechworth Urban Landcare and Sustainability We recently extracted our first honey and for two absolute rookies it was all very exciting. Seemingly attached to everything by fine threads we spun and dripped and eventually captured many jars of golden produce – and all with great porridge potential.
By Natasha Stafford, Permaculturalist Anyone involved or interested in agriculture was this month invited by the Australian Government to make a submission to the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper Taskforce. A white paper is an authoritative report helping understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Ultimately the process
By Alison Mitchell, Friends of Willow Park and Wodonga Urban Landcare Network Maybe I’m alone in asking that question, but it does raise a bigger question – how do I know which is the best alternative of any product if I want to live more lightly? One tool to help
By Alan Hewitt, Chiltern Landcare member Moving from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne to a 53 hectare property overlooking the Indigo Valley didn’t appear daunting at first. Of course my partner Joan and I didn’t know we would have to fight a bushfire, contend with drought, master new skills and
By David Thurley, Albury Councillor When we think of living lightly we often think of reducing our consumption of fossil fuels by driving less and using a bicycle, cutting our energy consumption by switching off appliances and taking shorter showers and reducing the amount of water we use. All of
By Bart Citroen, Friends of Willow Park Maybe it is the Dutch blood in me, but when I live in a town with 80kms of bike paths winding through and around it, I cannot help but think how lucky we are here in Wodonga to inherit such an amazing infrastructure. Still it
By Alison Mitchell, Friends of Willow Park and Wodonga Urban Landcare Network I have been attempting to reduce my impact on our life-giving planet Earth for many years now. I have found that it is not only an exciting work in progress and journey of discovery, but also an exercise
By Lizette Salmon, Seed Savers Albury-Wodonga and WATCH (Wodonga & Albury Toward Climate Health) Kimchi, kefir and kombucha. No, you haven’t stumbled on a conversation in a Japanese bath house and these aren’t brands of kimino. Rather they’re the latest and greatest menu items in up-market metropolitan cafes. If you’re
By Anne Stelling, Wooragee Landcare member and Facilitator, Wodonga Urban Landcare Network To mow or not to mow? Obviously the preferred answer is not, especially in the orchard with all those trees to manoeuvre around. At our place in Wooragee, we have had a small success in getting someone else
By Maureen Cooper, Wooragee Landcare Most Living Lightly readers will know by now that our Federal Environment Minister, Mr. Greg Hunt, has caved in to the mining magnates thus allowing permits to dump dredge spoil on the Great Barrier Reef and mine Bimblebox Nature Refuge in the Galilee Basin for
