I have something to admit. Having grown up in this beautiful city that is the gateway to the spectacular Rocky Mountains, I can’t help but be an arm-chair environmentalist. Growing up and in school during the 1960s-70s, the subject of environmental awareness was a huge issue, and we all learned first hand what it meant to keep our land, water and air clean, and actually saw a difference over the years.

I remember driving up Clear Creek Canyon with my family and seeing trash and beer cans thrown out of car windows. Almost every large rock had something spray painted on it.

But as the ‘70s progressed, the trash started to disappear, the rocks were cleaned up as the people of Colorado started to take great pride in how clean the state is, and do their best to keep it that way. But there are still a lot of environmental issues that have an impact on our area, as well as throughout the rest of the world.

That’s why, for the seventh year, the Colorado Environmental Film Festival will happen at the American Mountaineering Center. It’s an amazing collection of 50 films that will be showing from Thursday then Sunday.

The kickoff event will be the screening of “Watershed: Exploring a New Water Ethic for the New West” at 7 p.m. Thursday. The film was produced and narrated by Robert Redford and explores the threats to the Colorado River.

The American Mountaineering Center is at 710 10th St. in Golden. For a complete schedule visit www.ceff.net.

I know that it’s the middle of winter, so for most of us thoughts of gardening and landscaping are not hitting the top of our priority lists. But once the April Showers hit, you aren’t going to see anything growing in May unless you thought ahead and planted something, right? Well, for those who have a green thumb and are looking forward to Spring, the city of Golden is partnering with “ReSource” offering some great ways to get started including several “Garden in a Box” ideas.

Its 2013 selection will include three different perennial xeric garden kits, designed for sun or shade, and my personal favorite, the “Spaghetti Dinner” vegetable garden that includes basil, eggplants, tomatoes and more. Each kit includes 15-30 plants, and terrific instructions. They cost between $55 and $134.

You can order them now for pickup in May. Visit http://gardenstore.conservationcenter.org or call 303-999-3820 ext. 217.

Not to be outdone, the city of Golden Parks and Recreation Department will offer small trees. These will include six species of pine trees in 3’-5’ sizes at $50 each and five species of deciduous 6’-10’ trees with approximate trunk diameters of 1.25” that run $45-$85 each.

There are only about 100 trees available, so don’t wait too long. They go on sale March 1. Visit www.cityofgolden.net/links/TreeSale for more information, or contact Dave High, the City Forester, at 303-384-8141 or at dhigh@cityofgolden.net. 

John Akal is a well-known jazz artist/drummer and leader of the 20-piece Ultraphonic Jazz Orchestra. He also is president of John Akal Imaging, professional commercial photography and multi-media production.