Inspired to inform the public about how climate change impacts Colorado, Denver native Beth Conover compiled a book, "How the West Was Warmed: Responding to Climate Change in the Rockies," of locally written essays. Nine of the contributors read from their work at the Boulder Bookstore on the Pearl Street Mall earlier this week. Among them was Laura Pritchett, a 5280 contributing editor and the author of five books, including "Going Green: True Tales From Gleaners, Scavengers, and Dumpster Divers" (via Big Green Boulder). Everything Pritchett wore to the reading, she found in the trash. "I want to see the shift of thinking that Dumpster diving is cool and throwing useful things in the garbage is oddball," she says. While the essayists look for ways to bring big environmental issues home, news bites about our resources---good and bad---are plentiful. For instance, state lawmakers are seeking to boost renewable energy standards to 30 percent by 2020, notes the Summit Daily News. And legislators could hold uranium mill operators responsible for cleanups, writes the Canon City Daily Record.