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 Jenny Indian, Beechworth Urban Landcare and Sustainability In last week’s Living Lightly, we considered how important shade is and looked at the importance of being a resilient gardener and so creating a resilient garden, able to withstand changes in the climate. The next thing to consider, after shade, is
By Jenny Indian, Beechworth Urban Landcare and Sustainability I’m often asked…’how can I continue to garden with the changing weather patterns effecting everything so quickly?’…’what can I do to mitigate the impact of ferocious temperatures day after day and reduced rainfall?’… No simple answers I’m afraid but perhaps this might
By Emma Street, Permi8 member Whenever I put on the local ABC talkback radio at the moment the discussion seems to be about the situation at SPC Ardmona. Mainly regarding the potentially devastating impact on farmers and workers around Shepparton, but there is another side that worries me too. One
By Charlie Robinson, Beechworth Urban Landcare & Sustainability One of the quandaries facing those who grow their own fruit and vegetables is that, sooner or later, you will have an excess. We have developed a number of strategies to deal with such an eventuality. Freezing. Depending on the crop, you
By Karen Bowley, Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health (WATCH) and Wooragee Landcare We all have too much stuff! Consumption has become our way of life. We, along with many other Western countries, have become a nation of consumers. In the USA, for example, 99% of stuff purchased has been thrown out within
By Elizabeth Leathbridge, Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health (WATCH) Who remembers their science teacher closing a fist with thumb out to demonstrate that running a current through wire wrapped around an iron bar would induce a magnetic pole in the bar, which pointed north in the direction of the thumb?
By Narelle Haw, Building Biologist and Feng Shui Practitioner Sustainable Living or should we say Healthy and Sustainable Living, is a concept that takes our homes beyond the popular “green” initiatives and to ensure that your home is NOT built from; contain; or requires any substance that has the potential
By Beth Simpson, Albury What we as parents and teachers do now towards minimising our impact on the environment will have an influence on the attitude of our children eventually. Last week I described some of the quaint “living lightly” behaviours of my family when I was a child. For
By Beth Simpson, Albury I grew up on a ¼ acre block on the northern beaches of Sydney. Looking back on that time, I realise that my parents were “living lightly” well before their time, much to my frequent embarrassment. My mother did not, and still does not, drive. She either
By Matthew Charles-Jones, Yackandandah Sustainability Seldom do we have an opportunity to join with many thousands throughout Australia to express a collective desire for a more positive and hopeful future. Tomorrow looks set to become one such opportunity! Local people across the Border area are gathering in Albury to voice
By Elizabeth Leathbridge, Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health (WATCH) I was thinking the other day – what would we do if, let’s say, our electricity grid was permanently overloaded, and we no longer had a reliable electricity supply? This is the norm for much of the world’s population. How would we
By Narelle Martin, Burgoigee Creek Landcare How can people in small communities make linkages with other groups? Bowmans Murmungee is a community without a shop, school or church but it does have a rebuilt hall, and an active community, including the Burgoigee Creek Landcare Group. We lie in the triangle
