Easy Ways to Take Action!

NewsAbsorbent LandscapesConnected CanopiesPollinator Pathways
Written By Daniel Hanson

Looking for easy ways to take action on climate change or biodiversity loss?

Check out these simple actions you can take to get involved!

Actions:

  • Get involved in community science!

    • Visit our Community Science page to learn more and find the best program for you! The programs provide the chance to get involved in environmental action and science, with each offering varying levels of involvement.

  • Saturday, April 29th - PLAY Boulder Tree Trust / City of Boulder Forestry: Arbor Day Tree Sapling Giveaway

    • Want to plant a tree on your property, but don’t know where to get the right one? PLAY Boulder and City of Boulder Forestry will be giving out approximately 350 seedlings, including Ohio buckeye, Yellow buckeye, Sucker Punch chokecherry, European Larch, and Chinkapin oak. They will also provide resources and information on how to take care of your new tree! Trees touch everything. We need them, they need us, and it’s a long-term relationship… especially as we celebrate the city’s 40th year as a Tree City USA! Thank you for helping increase our urban forest canopy!

  • Tuesday, May 23rd - City of Boulder Forestry: Community Tree Planting at Harlow Platts Park

    • Join City of Boulder Forestry for a public, community tree planting at Harlow Platts Park! 18 trees will be planted, as well as the mulching and other minor maintenance of the surrounding trees. Sign up now to help expand and protect our community’s tree canopy!

  • Visit our calendar for more events and opportunities!

    • We have collected events, volunteer opportunities, webinars and more from our partners for you to find the best way to get involved based on your interests!

  • Grow a pollinator garden!

    • “The Little Things You Can Do for Little Things in 2023” - Cool Boulder blog

      • It is often the little things we do that make a big difference to the lives of pollinators, invertebrates and many of the little creatures we share our planet with. Read this blog to learn why little creatures matter, and the little things we can do to help support them!

      • Pollinator Garden Resources - City of Boulder

        • Steps and resources for growing a pollinator garden, how to protect pollinators from poisons, and fun facts about pollinators!

      • Xerces Pollinator-Friendly Native Plant Lists - Xerces Society

        • Xerces Society’s regional native plant lists, though not exhaustive, highlight species that have been shown to provide a number of benefits to a diversity of pollinators. These native plants can be grown across rural and urban landscapes to create new pollinator habitat or to enhance existing habitat!

      • Gardening with Native Plants - Colorado Native Plant Society

        • Why garden with native plants? Because Colorado natives have thrived here for thousands of years. They are perfectly adapted to deal with Colorado’s:

          • Climate

          • Soil types

          • Pests and diseases

          • Water, or lack thereof

        • This means your garden will have reduced needs for maintenance, fertilizer, watering, and pesticide use. And perhaps even more importantly, your garden will be attracting the native birds and butterflies everyone loves to watch, and it will also be supporting the larger natural ecosystem you live in!

    • Creating Pollinator Habitat - CSU Extension

      • Colorado State University - Extension’s Fact Sheet for creating pollinator habitat!

    • Attracting Native Bees to Your Landscape - CSU Extension

      • Colorado State University - Extension’s Fact Sheet for attracting native bees to your landscape!

    • Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden - CSU Extension

      • Colorado State University - Extension’s Fact Sheet for attracting butterflies to your garden!

    • Bee Hotel Resources - CSU Extension

      • Colorado State University’s resources for making bee hotels!

      • In Colorado, we have over 900 bee species! Approximately 30% of those bees build nests in cavities, or pre-existing tunnels including bee hotels. Leafcutter bees and mason bees are among the most common bees seen nesting in bee hotels. Cavity-nesting bees may also nest in between patio stones or other landscape infrastructure if it is the right size in diameter.

    • “Keeping Pollinators in Mind This Fall and Winter” - Cool Boulder blog

    • “How to Prepare Winter Sow-Bags” - Cool Boulder blog

      • 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)! Read this blog to find out how to make one!

  • Grow a tree!

  • Replace your lawn, or parts of your lawn, with waterwise plants adapted to our climate!

    • “Resource Central’s Garden in a Box Sale has Launched!” - Cool Boulder blog

    • 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!

  • Eat at a restaurant that has partnered with Zero Foodprint!

    • “Cool Boulder has partnered with Zero Foodprint to build healthy soil on local farm land!” - Cool Boulder blog

    • Zero Foodprint is a non-profit organization mobilizing local food economies to restore the climate, one acre at a time. 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. After years of running award winning restaurants, Zero Foodprint’s founders wanted to do more than make choices in a broken system, so they began working with other food and beverage businesses to contribute 1% of sales to change how food is grown to restore the climate!

    • When we invest in bringing the next practice to the next acre every person who grows food, every person who sells food, and every person on this planet who eats food will be better for it!

    • Read this blog for more information on regenerative agriculture, participating restaurants, and local impacts!

  • Does your yard have an apple tree, like many in Boulder? Get involved with Community Fruit Rescue!

    • “Keep Your Fruit Trees Healthy While Protecting Wildlife” - Cool Boulder blog

    • “Are You A Fruit Rescuer? Be A Harvest Leader!” - Cool Boulder blog

    • Have you ever observed the abundance of apples growing throughout Boulder? Perhaps you’ve noticed them in the fall — the deliciously sweet smell of ripe apples lingering in the air. Or maybe you had to carefully navigate around fallen fruit as you were walking through your neighborhood, local trails, or city sidewalks. There’s a reason why this surplus of fruit exists today.

    • Read these blogs to find out more about urban fruit harvesting in Boulder and how it protects our wildlife!

  • Compost your food and yard scraps!

    • The rules about what we can put in our compost bins have recently changed, why? Local compost collections have been highly contaminated with non-compostable plastics, glass, and other harmful materials that make it unusable. Composting correctly is one of the simplest ways we can care for the soil that supports out trees!

    • See the information from our local compost manufacturer, A1 Organics, to stay up to date and learn more.

    • You can compost on your own too! Check out these great resources from Eco-Cycle: Composting 101 - Eco-Cycle (ecocycle.org)

  • Build healthy soils on your property!

    • “Healthy Soils - 101” - Cool Boulder blog

      • Good stewardship of soil–at your home, school, or workplace–is one of the most important things you can do for the planet! Read this blog for quick tips on building healthy soils!

    • “Give Leaf Mold a Go“ - Cool Boulder blog

      • Many City of Boulder residents are befuddled by the change in curbside compost guidelines that went into effect April 1st. In particular, people wonder how to get rid of large quantities of leaves as they clean up their yards this spring.

      • With change comes the opportunity to rethink. Read this blog for 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!

  • Become a trained Community Resource Specialist!

    • Pollinator Advocates - The 2023 Pollinator Advocates Training begins on May 30th! (Application deadline: end of the day on May 3, 2023). Pollinator Advocates Trainings will occur each spring.

    • Tree Tenders - The Spring 2023 Tree Tenders recently graduated in late March - but the PLAY Boulder Foundation is already planning to train another cohort this Fall!

Biodiversity & Pollinator Resources for Learning More:

Daniel Hanson

Daniel graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in the spring of 2022, with a degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Geography. Daniel is currently serving an 11 month CivicSpark Fellowship with the City of Boulder, Climate Initiatives department & Cool Boulder Campaign, with the goal of building capacity within the team, and building climate and social resilience within the community.

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