Anxiety about climate change is hitting the youngest of us hard. And if you’re too young to vote, it may feel like there’s nothing you can do to change what your future looks like. But students in the Boulder Valley School District proved otherwise this past school year. A group of high school students successfully campaigned for the school board to adopt the Green New Deal for Schools resolution - a policy demanded by the Sunrise Movement.  The youth-led climate activism organization held a summer camp in 2023 that helped inspire two Fairview high school students to advocate for the res ..read more

Longmont author and journalist Stephen Robert Miller is fascinated by climate disaster stories. He says they’re often teachable moments. “There’s so much to be learned from looking in the past — environmental histories and histories of instances of when people have tried to control nature and ultimately it's failed,” Miller said. In his new book, “Over the Seawall,” Miller examines the deeper impacts of some of these failures. He investigates how governments and people are using infrastructure to slow or stop the effects or the symptoms of climate change – giant concrete barriers in Japan me ..read more

While Colorado is known for having breweries on every corner, there's a new trend in town: cocktails - without the alcohol. The popularity of non-alcoholic drinks is soaring – especially among young adults – and more bars and restaurants are starting to feature creative mocktails on their menus.  Currently, Colorado has only a few completely sober spaces where alcohol isn't served at all. But some mixologists are hoping to change that. KUNC reporter and host Emma VandenEinde visited some of these spaces and talked with mixologists who are focused on making exciting and delicious non-alcoh ..read more

Colorado is one of the healthiest states in the nation when it comes to physical fitness. Perhaps that’s no surprise given how much there is to do in the outdoors. But when it comes to mental health, Colorado ranks in the bottom half of states, according to a 2023 report by Mental Health America. While there are a few reasons for this poor ranking, we’re going to zoom in on one factor that has to do with the culture of mountain resort life, and how it affects the people living and working there - alcohol and drug misuse.  Eric Turner is one such resident who was surprised to find himself ..read more

Today we’re listening back to a conversation with aquaponic chicken farmer Sean Short of Blooming Health Farms, located in Greeley, Colorado. And just what is aquaponic chicken farming?  Short says the farm uses aquaponics, “a fancy way of saying that we have some fish, and we use the fish water to grow plants.” In other words, aquaponics combines fish farming with hydroponics. Short is also using that fish water to grow chicken feed. He said that system helps him clean up wastewater from the messy process of producing the feed. All of this is connected to Short’s organic egg production ..read more

It's spring… and a handful of Northern Colorado farmers markets are opening up for what's likely to be a busy season – at least, if the last few years are any indication.  We've come to expect throngs of eager shoppers waiting in long lines to buy western slope peaches by the crate, boxes of Olathe sweet corn, Pueblo chiles, and other locally grown produce. But farming in Colorado comes with a lot of challenges  – the growing season is short, the sun is scorching, and the rainy season can be very unpredictable.  Coloradans seem to appreciate how difficult it is for farmers, whi ..read more

The risk of wildfire is a reality that is beginning to define life in Northern Colorado. This last weekend, tens of thousands of people in Boulder County were left suddenly without power for days when Xcel shut it off in anticipation of high winds and potential loose lines.    Today we’re listening back to an interview covering a 2023 report from the company CoreLogic, which showed that thousands of homes in Northern Colorado are susceptible to damage from wildfires. In Boulder, nearly 10,000 homes are at risk. In Fort Collins, that number rises to more than 14,000. Statistics in th ..read more

Have you ever wondered how NPR came to be? It certainly didn’t happen overnight. The history of National Public Radio is long and convoluted, starting in the early twentieth century with university-housed stations scattered across rural areas. These stations broadcast things like cooking lessons, and how to use indoor plumbing. But with the Communications Act of 1934 came the first congressional control over what was heard over the airwaves. With this, commercial media outlets enjoyed greater lobbying power than noncommercial broadcasters. This meant public media needed to evolve to meet the d ..read more

Northern Colorado’s unique weather patterns can be a challenge for backyard gardeners. The climate is dry; the growing season is hot and short. And of course, we’re no strangers to wind and hail events. But new research out of Colorado State University can help gardeners choose crop varieties that thrive in those conditions.  KUNC's rural and small communities reporter Rae Solomon spoke to the researchers about what they learned. Just in time for early spring garden planting – she sat down with In The NoCo's Erin O'Toole to share intel on the best tomatoes and peppers to grow in Northern ..read more

Immigrants are the backbone of a lot of mountain communities in Colorado. That’s because many work in service industry jobs that keep these towns thriving. But for immigrants in these places, certain disparities are more pronounced, like access to transportation. In one part of Summit County, this particular issue had become dangerous in the snowy winter months. “We need to walk on the roads where cars are running all the time,” said Miriam Garcia, an immigrant and employee of an advocacy organization called Mountain Dreamers. “And then there was an issue with one of my neighbors, she was hi ..read more