Blog
Check back regularly for the latest Cool Boulder Campaign news.
Continue to the next section to review our full blog!
2026 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 Spaces & Urban Agriculture
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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Opportunities in March & April
Looking for opportunities to act on climate change? Cool Boulder’s themes for March and April are Soil Health & Regenerative Practices and Trees, respectively. Read on to see how you can get involved and engage with these topics, or check out our events calendar for even more opportunities!
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!
Registration is Open for PLAY Boulder’s Tree Tender Training Tuesdays Next Month!
Tree Tenders are given the tools to plant and care for trees in their own communities. The specialized trainings involve learning all about tree identification, tree biology, debunking common tree myths, tree planting and irrigation, tree care and pruning, and community organizing in this multi-day workshop hosted by the PLAY Boulder Foundation's Tree Trust.
You will be joining a network of tree lovers with the goal of growing the urban tree canopy in the City of Boulder. Plus, all Tree Tenders will receive a tee shirt, field notebook, badge, and certificate, and at the end of the third day, everyone will help plant a tree!
The Little Things You Can do for Little Things
It’s the little things that matter. Learn about some easy ways to support pollinators.
Cool Boulder Event on January 31st - Recap, Q&A’s & Recording!
Thank you to everyone who attended Cool Boulder’s Biodiversity, Climate and You event, both in-person and virtually! We reached full capacity for this free event, so were very happy to offer a remote option to follow along on a livestream. On the night of the event, we had up to 70 attendees present in person to listen to the presentation and panel, as well as participate in an activity to personally get involved in climate and biodiversity action!
Cool Boulder Event on January 31st - Save the Date!
The world’s governments met in Montreal last month to hammer out an agreement with specific goals and targets to save the world’s biodiversity. Why are the world’s living systems critical to each of us and how is protecting biodiversity deeply connected to climate change and solutions that address both? But most important, why should an international agreement matter to us and what can each of us do to make a difference?
Winter Tree Care Tips and Information about the PLAY Boulder Foundation’s Tree Trust
Learn about best practices for tree care during winter in Colorado, to keep trees healthy and happy all year long!
UN Biodiversity Conference - COP15 in Montréal: Context
In preparation for the upcoming COP15 Montreal UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Cool Boulder would like to provide context regarding the three UN Conference of the Parties conventions that are critical to addressing the global threats of climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification trends.
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).
How to Prepare Winter Sow-Bags
Sow-bags are small, reusable bags that are used to make germinating seeds much easier during the cold winter - like a mini greenhouse! Sow-bags are easy to prepare, and can be a fun, quick activity to give back to the planet (and you can give them as gifts)!
How OSMP Utilizes Native Seeds for Ecological Restoration
Learn about how the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Department (OSMP) uses native plant species for ecological restoration.
Seeds: Nature’s Bounty
All summer long, plants have been working hard, flowering, attracting pollinators, photosynthesizing, etc. for one overarching purpose: to produce seeds that will become next year’s plants. With such an investment in the next generation, plants have evolved many strategies to spread their seeds far and wide, ensuring that some will find a place where they can sprout, grow and thrive. See below to learn about 5 examples of the amazing adaptations and strategies that seeds have developed over time!
Boulder Urban Heat Mapping: A Story Map
Boulder was one of 14 cities this year to participate in this international event in coordination with NOAA and CAPA Strategies, in which community scientist volunteers drove designated routes to collect temperature and humidity data. Those community scientists are the first members of the Boulder Heat Watch Team, who will be working with Cool Boulder to continue to track heat in the Boulder community. This data will hopefully be used to help inform nature-based cooling solutions like tree planting.
Recipe Suggestion – Gluten-Free Flour Tortillas
Nothing really takes the place of homemade wheat flour tortillas made with lard! But, these are pretty darn good, especially on day one. It is always challenging to store GF products as they tend toward dryness and getting hard. So—get a pot of pinto beans cooking (add lots of chopped garlic to those and make yourself some tortillas to eat with them ASAP.
Harvest Recipe Suggestion – Apple & Pear Crisp
Are you looking for a good way to use your locally picked apples and other fruit from this year’s harvest? (See our recent blog post, written by Melanie Hill, from the Community Fruit Rescue) Or, are you searching for that perfect and easy, fall-themed recipe? Look no further than this Food Network recipe, courtesy of Ina Garten!
Look No Further Than Boulder’s Backyards for Your Fall Apple Picking
Boulder is basically one big urban apple orchard with an abundance of fresh, healthy, affordable fruit for all!
Keeping Pollinators in Mind This Fall and Winter
Many insects that live in our yards, parks, and natural landscapes are well adapted and have varied strategies to persist through the cold winter and shoulder seasons since they require the sun’s warmth to be able to move and function. Where do the insects go and what happens to them during these colder months and how can you support them?
The Joy of Connecting
A reflection on connection and community building through Pollinator Habitat gardens.