Living Lightly articles

By Michelle Wilkinson, Seed Savers Albury Wodonga and BELP (Border Eco-Living Program) Like many people living in a home built in the last 40 years we suffer when heatwaves hit.  Poor insulation and inefficient house design means our house heats up quickly and doesn’t cool off well at night and

By Glenn Wilson, Aspiring Intentional Community Member, Waterfall Creek In many countries, including Australia, a quiet revolution is taking place. Clusters of innovative, energy efficient and very comfortable homes are popping up in what are now called, ‘intentional communities’. These homes are the creation of people with similar values and

By Brian Hickman, Permi8 My garden is FUN. It seems strange that most people don’t like their surrounds – they see mowing, weeds and WORK! How does that happen when our environment can give so much. For example … My garden has attitude – my garden teaches me to slow

By Amber Croft, Regional Landcare Facilitator – North East Victoria ‘Tis the season to be jolly! In my family – and most likely yours – gathering around the table with family and friends to enjoy a Christmas feast is an important part of the celebrations. This year as I plan my

By Alison Mitchell, Friends of Willow Park and Wodonga Urban Landcare Network My sustainability journey has been running for about 30 years now.  I didn’t really have a name for it back then, but the terms “sustainable development” and “sustainability” came into view in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  In

By Gill Baker, Wangaratta Sustainability Network The fact that around 90% of the native fish in our waterways have disappeared since European Settlement is frightening…can we really have had this level of impact on our aquatic ecosystems?  Of course the answer is yes, but the good news is that a focus

By Joanne Diver, Border Eco Living Program (BELP) & the Green & Sustainable Living Association What does a mother with a pre-schooler and a new baby do after leaving Sydney and her career to embark upon a tree-change? She enrols at TAFE to study garden design – one unit a year, enough

By Lisa Tuck, Australian Youth Climate Coalition Imagine bringing thousands of young people together in 50 locations across the world to focus on global sustainability challenges, vibrant goal setting and action planning for change… It’s happening! From the 27 – 29th  of November, youth from the Albury – Wodonga region will come

By Glenn Wilson, Tallangatta Valley On a micro level “food security” may mean having enough food in the fridge and pantry to keep the family fed until the next shopping trip.  On a macro level “food security” means having all systems that are involved in supplying the world with nutritious,

By Martin Dickens, Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health (WATCH) and Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) In the context of the twenty-first century, the term “sustainability” has become ever more prevalent both in popular advertising material and organisational objectives. Whilst many readers are likely to associate the idea of sustainability with protecting our

By Anna Sullivan, Seed Savers Albury-Wodonga When we moved house I acquired two almond trees and a walnut tree. I didn’t think about them much in the first few months and soon learned how quickly cockatoos can strip a tree of nuts. The few nuts left behind had me yearning

By Jacky Cronin, Seed Savers Albury-Wodonga My husband Jim and I, have kept a vegie patch since we bought our house on a ¼ acre block in 1995. Basically we were tempted with visions of fresh, home grown produce. It wasn’t long before we discovered our distinct lack of vegetable