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 Olivia Brozecki As a first generation Australian, it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise my olive-skin is read as ‘white’ in every way that matters. I’ve never been refused a job due to the colour of my skin. I’ve never had someone grip their handbag tightly upon
By Alan Hewett The plans of the Victorian government to proceed with shooting brumbies in the Alpine National Park has seen another outbreak of protest. Culling any animal species is an emotional issue, especially if they are native, but brumbies are an introduced species so why the outrage? In October
By Kirsten Coates On my nature strip stands a 160 year old tree. I often wonder what this tree has seen, who lives in it and what will become of it. As it is an English Oak tree, I know it has only been here since European settlement and I
By Jonathon Howard Can animals be married? According to the dictionary marriage is a ‘legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship’. There is no such thing as ‘legal recognition’ for animals, but we can recognise when two individuals have close lifelong partnerships. Shingleback
By Debbie Rodda There are three main reasons why people like to keep bees. One is to pollinate their fruit trees and vegie gardens. Another is to “save the bees”. A third reason is to provide honey for family and friends. To my thinking, the honey bee (Apis mellifera) doesn’t
By Karen Retra, Wodonga Urban Landcare Network Winter has never been my favourite time of year. I ‘feel the cold’, as they say. The shorter daylight hours feel constrained compared to when they extend into the evening. Previously, my approach to winter was perhaps like animals that hibernate or avoid
By Graham Parton In the winter months who doesn’t like a nice warm fire to warm the house up. Unfortunately, this may be something we should be giving up if we want to preserve native species such as koalas and gliders. The main driver for species extinctions in Australia is
By Ian Davidson and Chris Tzaros – Wangaratta Landcare & Sustainability Quite a few species of birds occurring throughout the north-east region feature conspicuous black and white plumage. This includes many common and familiar species such as the Willie Wagtail, Magpie-lark and of course the Australian Magpie, but one black
By Jonathon Howard As we emerge from isolation during the Covid pandemic, now is a good time to exercise both your body and soul. Something that might take your fancy is ‘Forest bathing”. The concept of forest bathing emerged in Japan in the 1980s as a physiological and psychological exercise
By Bruce Key, member of Wodonga Albury Toward Climate Health (WATCH) Saul Griffith is an Australian inventor, entrepreneur, engineer and author of a number of books aimed at reducing emissions so that the earth remains liveable. His most recent book is The Big Switch which describes the wonderful assets that Australia
By Jonathon Howard There is increasing interest in ‘regenerative’ agriculture. It is a system of farming that promotes a reduction in external inputs, such as chemicals and synthetic fertilisers, and focuses on ‘regenerating’ the natural assets on the farm. In doing so there is evidence to suggest the approach reduces
By Lizette Salmon, Wodonga Albury Toward Climate Health (WATCH) Philip Sutton may not be the household name that Greta Thunberg is, but the outpouring of tributes since his recent death are testament to his profound impact on the climate movement. For me it began when Philip co-authored ‘Climate Code Red’
