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 Jacky Cronin, a member of Seedsavers Albury Wodonga Seed saving brings out that child-like wonderment in me. Do you remember growing wheat on damp cottonwool as a kid? Or grass heads made with mum’s old stockings? That primal urge to grow something, especially food, may have started with these simple
By James Sloan, Albury The truth is often painful. No one likes been told they are fat and lazy! But sometimes we have to confront unpleasant realities. Especially when our behavior is not just harming ourselves but also the other 6.99 billion people we have to share this little planet with.
By Donna Page, Beechworth Urban Landcare and Sustainability I live in an old Miners cottage in Beechworth and a few years ago I decided that my priority was to retrofit rather than renovate. What’s the difference? Renovation generally implies getting rid of the old and bringing in the new. Retrofitting refers
By Gill Baker, Wangaratta Sustainability Network Sunday September 11 is National Sustainable House day, and what better way to spend a spring Sunday than visiting four fantastic sustainable homes and gardens in and around Wangaratta. The Eco Living Precinct, at the Barr Reserve, Schilling St, also open for inspection, has directions
By Jenny Davies, WATCH (Wodonga & Albury Towards Climate Health) In 1990 I moved to NE Victoria with my husband. We bought a great block of land in Bethanga overlooking the mountains and Lake Hume and built a passive solar house, powered by off-grid solar panels. The locals thought we were
By Kelly Cartwright, Wodonga Diamonds Football Club President The Wodonga Diamonds Football (soccer) Club (WDFC) are leading the way in implementing energy and water saving infrastructure to combat climate change and save dollars along the way. The WDFC, through Sustainability Victoria, have been awarded a grant to implement and monitor energy
By Di Mant and Sue Slater, Coordinator and Treasurer, Birallee Park Neighbourhood House With rising utility costs, escalating food prices, and food shortages due to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters Australia wide, there is a need to provide healthy locally grown food, whilst also addressing the issues of climate change.
By Glenn Wilson, Tallangatta Valley ‘Sustainability’ is a word, and a concept, that has been hijacked, demeaned, diluted and dismissed by many people, organisations and governments. Yet without true sustainability everything we need and depend on will be depleted. What then? Many in society have improved their standard of living over
By James Sloan, Albury I was walking down Kiewa Street the other day; a friend in his car gave me a toot and a wave. He was on his way to work. The distance from his home is about 1.5 kilometres. He was driving a very large 4WD. There was no
By Emmo Willinck, Albury Vegetable growers know the use of raised vegetable beds provides many advantages – for example: more accessible height; contains weed and pest problems; holds in your valuable mulch, soil, fertiliser and compost; and improves drainage. With a family (especially wife) that endeavours to “live off the fat of
By Di Pritchard, Wodonga One of my earliest memories as a little girl in Peakhurst, a suburb of Sydney, was my grandpa and I picking carrots from his vegetable garden. In those days (early 1950’s) Peakhurst was an outer suburb of Sydney and grandpa had a small farm there with vegetables and
By Lauriston Muirhead, WATCH (Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health) The answer of course is no and yes! Carbon dioxide (CO2) is just like any other compound: in the right quantity, the right place and at the right time it is not a pollutant but if any of those rights are wrong,
