Living Lightly articles

By Geoff Williams, Australian Platypus Conservancy The platypus is regarded as one the world’s strangest animals.  It has a bizarre mix of mammal and reptile features plus many special adaptations, such as a unique electroreception system in its bill to help locate its food. This fascinating species is popularly believed to

By Laurison Muirhead, WATCH (Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health) Don’t let anyone tell you that man made climate change is definitely not happening.  I cannot tell you that it definitely is but I can suggest the most sensible response. There is a game of chance, generally played by men unhinged by

By Sarah Mayes, WATCH (Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health) It can be challenging to read the climate science and not descend into despair.  It can also be difficult to observe political responses to climate change and not harden with cynicism.  For me, the antidote to both despair and cynicism has been

By Matthew Charles-Jones, Yackandandah Sustainability After many months of piloting and planning, a large group of Border area community sustainability groups have come together and quietly launched a terrific new website, ‘Ecoportal.’  This website is for local community based environmental and sustainability groups to share ideas, activities and events. Ecoportal, which

By Glenn Wilson, Waterfall Creek When some people view a dot picture puzzle, the hidden image is fairly obvious.  But joining the dots in the puzzle that is modern civilization, the earth, the ecosystem, the oceans, the natural resources, the atmosphere and our future is easy for some, difficult for others

By Dr Ben Habib, Wodonga and Albury Toward Climate Health (WATCH) Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi once famously encouraged his countrymen to “be the change you want to see in the world”.  Living lightly is a meaningful and inclusive way of taking up Gandhi’s challenge.  Our commitment to living lightly should ideally cover

By Helena Foster, Community Gardener at Wodonga Middle Years College With my admiration for these marvels of nature firmly established in last week’s issue, now a few tips to encourage worm activity in our own backyards. Nature works in wonderful ways: as soon as the conditions are right, the creatures move

By Sue Mahon, Kergunyah South We have recently relocated from Ultima, 32 km west of Swan Hill.  We sadly left our five acres of red dust, where the grass never grew and saltbush provided a staple diet for our horses and chooks.  Our large permaculture garden of six years finally started

By Catherine Byrne, Rural Community Support Officer – Wodonga FoodShare Foodbank Victoria in partnership with the Albury Wodonga Regional Food Share, is involved in rescuing a range of nutritious food that is suitable for consumption. In rescuing food, Foodbank Victoria not only aims to create a sustainable food source to

By Lisa Tuck, Area Coordinator, AYCC Albury Wodonga It is the younger generations in this region that will suffer the brunt of human induced climate change and will be dealing with its consequences in the years to come. Personally, I have been interested in environmental issues and sustainability for quite a

By Kirby Browne, Permaculture student, National Environment centre, Thurgoona. The thing I am most grateful for right now is a wonderful new awareness, a sense of connectedness to everything around me.This is something I experienced as a child, on a sensory level, many times. Crouched under a low frond in my mum’s

By Mez Moffat, Member of Baranduda Landcare, participant in Nest Box Watchings, Clean Up Australia Day and Plant Trees events. Living lightly is great terminology to use with our children and as a parents of three boys, we do our best to live as lightly as possible. When asked to write