Living Lightly articles

By Joy Grinham, member of WATCH (Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Change) Headlines in July, “Crops burn in Drought:  corn soars on drought fears” have implications for the world food system as US crop losses are massive.  More than half is shipped worldwide and is a major supplier to China.  As

By Natasha Stafford, Albury I moved to Albury from Lismore, in Northern NSW, four months ago. In Lismore I was deeply concerned about the impacts of coal seam gas (CSG) mining on the community and was therefore shocked to learn that CSG exploration might occur in the Corowa region too.

By Juliette Milbank, Baranduda When I was 20, I finally owned my first car. I still remember the feeling of sheer, exhilarating freedom, the intoxicating power of being able to go anywhere, as often as I liked. Up until then I had relied on my mother or, when I moved out

By Matthew Charles-Jones, Yackandandah Sustainability As you will probably recall, An Inconvenient Truth was a ground breaking documentary movie focused upon the contemporary scientific understanding of climate change.  The 2006 production, featuring Al Gore (past USA presidential hopeful) has been widely credited (and criticised) for leading a massive global surge in understanding

By Joy Grinham, WATCH (Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health) Rising energy costs have hit the headlines.  Much of the present increase in electricity is due to “wires & poles” investment, and it is clear that the use of fossil fuels will become more expensive in future.     It is a good time

By Geoff Williams, Australian Platypus Conservancy The platypus is widely recognised as a uniquely Australian animal.  By comparison, relatively few people know that the Australian water-rat (Hydromys chrysogaster) is a genuine native rodent that was a natural part of our environment long before its pest cousins – the black rat

By Gill Baker and Karen Retra, Wangaratta Sustainability Network and Border Eco-Living Program Living Lightly isn’t always easy. Different folks have different priorities and interests, and so will make different choices in their efforts to live lightly. Just finding out about the options can be challenging. Therefore, it makes sense and

By Helena Foster, Community Gardener at Wodonga Middle Years College Worms are without doubt man’s greatest ally, if only we had the wisdom to see it. They are our little unseen and unsung ecological heroes, quietly burrowing just under the surface of our Earth. Their entire life’s purpose is keeping our

By Lizette Salmon, member of WATCH (Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Change) What do slot cars, detective novels, beans and wardrobes have in common? These were all items being given away to Border residents on the Freecyle website a few mornings ago. Day in, day out, the offers just keep coming. It’s

By Chris Sobey, Albury  “Living lightly” – a slogan so many of us know and would like to aspire to.  Maybe when we retire and have more time!  However, I firmly believe there is a greater urgency in this imperative.  With the possibility of the global collapse of the economy and

By John Dent, Principal, Glenroy Public School Students from Glenroy Public School have been involved in a state wide program sponsored by the NSW Department of Education and Communities called Climate Clever Energy Savers.  Over a ten week period the students have been exploring energy in their Science lessons and working

By Lexley Sewell, RSPCA Albury  In this era of the fair trade, organic soy chai skinny latte, it’s easy to see where consumer preferences are taking us. At home, and when eating out, people are increasingly choosing food that is produced ethically; be it better for farmers, the environment, animal welfare