Blog
Check back regularly for the latest Cool Boulder Campaign news.
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2023 Themes
January:
New Year Kick-off & Biodiversity
February:
Garden and Habitat Planning
March:
Soil Health and Regenerative Practices
April:
Tree Planting & Tree Care
May:
Biodiverse Places and Spaces
June:
Drought & Water Use
July:
Community Heat Impacts & Mitigation Strategies
August:
Wildfire Resilient Landscapes
September:
Pollinators & Insects
October:
Harvest / Regenerative Agriculture
November:
Seeds – Adaptations & Propagation Methods
December:
Off-Season Yard Care / Compost as a Climate Resource
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Circularity & Nature-based Climate Solutions
Earth’s land is being starved of the life it once effortlessly supported, and humans can help. Through regenerative practices, of which clean composting is central, we can feed it back the bounty it repeatedly provides.
Rewetting the Sponge
An examination of restoration practices for improving landscape absorbency in the dry Front Range climate.
The 2023 Boulder St. Vrain Watershed Art Contest
The Keep it Clean Partnership is hosting the second Boulder St. Vrain Watershed Art Contest! All Kindergarten-12th grade students who live in and/or attend school in Boulder County are invited to participate in a free art contest with the chance to win art supplies, gift cards, and for your art to be featured on the Keep it Clean Partnership website. (This includes both the Boulder Valley School District and St. Vrain Valley School District)
Artwork should explore the following prompt:
Our watershed is a complex and interconnected system of land, water, air, and the humans, plants, and animals they support. Each of these members plays an important role in keeping our watershed healthy and thriving. For this art contest, we challenge you to explore the role of one of these community members in our watershed.
Deadline for Submissions: 11:59 p.m. on Friday, November 17th, 2023
Take Action: Propagate Trees!
Feeling down about climate change, wanting to do something, but not sure what? Consider propagating trees and giving them away!
Planting Rain with Brad Lancaster: Event Recap
Cool Boulder is excited to present to you an presentation by rainwater planting pioneer, Brad Lancaster, sharing stories and inspirational examples of how planting rain could help create landscapes and communities that are resilient to climate change, as well as healthier and happier places to live! Read on to find the presentation recording, watch a short film on Brad’s work, review resources provided by Brad and more!
Cool Boulder Livestream!
Tune in at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Thursday, June 29th, for a Cool Boulder livestream!
Cool Boulder is excited to offer you an evening with rainwater planting pioneer, Brad Lancaster, sharing stories and inspirational examples of how planting rain could help create landscapes and communities that are resilient to climate change, as well as healthier and happier places to live!
Brad Lancaster has worked with communities all over the world to bring both indigenous and traditional knowledge of rainwater planting together with contemporary approaches and technologies that enable us to live and thrive on the water that comes to us for free from the sky. He will share stories from his experiences with these different places and cultures.
Recognizing that Colorado’s future climate will much more closely resemble places like New Mexico, we need to learn from those who have already been adapting to a limited ground/surface water future. Brad will share the emerging lessons and best practices that are reshaping both the way we approach infrastructure development and water policy, both in his native home of Tucson, AZ (average rainfall 10-12”/yr) and elsewhere. Learn about specific approaches being taken in other communities and examples of household and community projects that are easily implemented at both levels.
Easy Ways to Take Action!
Looking for easy ways to take action on climate change or biodiversity loss? Check out these simple actions you can take to get involved!
Give Leaf Mold a Go
With change comes the opportunity to rethink. Let’s take five minutes to consider two ideas that may reduce or eliminate your need for yard bags: using some fallen leaves to mulch landscape plants, and using the rest to create leaf mold.
Healthy Soils - 101
Good stewardship of soil–at your home, school, or workplace–is one of the most important things you can do for the planet!
Cool Boulder has partnered with Zero Foodprint to build healthy soil on local farm land
Food systems are a critical force for averting and adapting to the climate crisis. By creating an economic connection from consumers and business back to farmers and ranchers, we can restore soil health and sequester carbon.
Resource Central’s Garden in a Box Sale has Launched!
Resource Central’s Garden in a Box provides everything you need to remove water-thirsty pants like grass and replace them with a garden that uses much less water. The ‘box’ includes professionally designed plant by number maps and instructions to help you design your waterwise garden, care guides and info sheets with maintenance suggestions, as well as the option to plant a perennial or vegetable garden (vegetable garden kits available in the spring).
With an average of 60% of residential water use occurring outdoors, replacing parts of your lawn with a xeriscape, or waterwise landscaping with plants adapted to our semi-arid climate, is an easy way to drastically reduce your water bills!
Nature-based Climate Solutions & the Cool Boulder Campaign
We can make our community more resilient and equitable by tapping into the natural systems and processes that regulate our climate, which nature has developed over a timespan much longer than humans! This approach is called nature-based climate solutions (NbCS).