Each month, we highlight a new Supermom of the Month, a member who has gone above and beyond to advocate for clean air and children’s health.
This month, we are celebrating Brittany Keyes. Brittany was nominated by Wisconsin Field Organizer Jayne Black for supporting Moms’ advocacy for electric school buses in her school district and helping to spearhead an air quality monitoring program in her city, Beloit.
Beloit, Wisconsin, is a historically industrial community that is heavily dependent on cars and just south of a large methane gas plant. In other words, Brittany’s community feels the health impacts of three major sources of air pollution—industry, transportation, and power plants. In 2020, Brittany was elected to the Beloit City Council and learned the full magnitude of this pollution. For the health of her two young children, she launched a community science project, using low-cost consumer air quality sensors to measure soot pollution in her city.
Tell Congress: Commit to Climate Investments and Clean Air Progress
We asked Brittany a few questions about this project and her motivation as a Moms volunteer:
You’ve experienced a major personal victory in advocating for cleaner air in your community. Tell us about the air quality monitoring project you launched in Beloit.
Following the recommendation of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, I organized a local air monitoring effort in partnership with Healthy Climate Wisconsin and Thriving Earth Exchange. We participated in EPA’s Air Sensor Loan Program, and with a diverse group of community partners, we completed community research measuring soot pollution (a.k.a. PM 2.5) throughout our city.
The preliminary results supported our hypothesis and concerns about the poor quality of our air. Data collected by our sensors also contributed to a global study by IQAir, which found our community to be the most polluted regional city (that is conducting air monitoring) in the entire United States.
While this title is not a victory, the process has been full of wins along the way. We established a regional Clean Air Coalition, engaged local high school students in mounting and maintaining air monitors, grew community awareness around air pollution, increased public participation in monitoring, and increased efforts to not only acknowledge but address the problem. While there is still work to do, our coalition efforts to date are worth celebrating.
Why did you join Moms?
I was drawn to the national network of moms fighting the same things I’m fighting at home—air pollution and climate change—for the same collective “why”—our children’s future. Moms Clean Air Force provides consistency and community that lets volunteers like me know we are not alone in this struggle.
Moms also cultivates hope in action and gives us a platform for our voices to be more powerful, elevated, and heard. Individually, we can make a difference, but together we can change the world.
How do you see the connection between air quality and public health?
From the micro to the macro level, air pollution negatively impacts public health.
Macro: According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is responsible for nearly 7 million premature deaths every year.
Micro: Over the past six months, two children on my street were diagnosed with asthma.
There is powerful research that shows air pollution negatively impacts fetal and childhood development, contributes to autism and autism spectrum disorder, results in poorer academic outcomes, and negatively impacts mental health.
Air pollution’s impact on community health became so important to me that I recently changed lanes from working in a formal patient care clinic to working as the Clean Air Coordinator for Healthy Climate Wisconsin. Now I advocate for clean air solutions for communities across the state of Wisconsin as my full-time job. Addressing pollution and cleaning our air will result in an immediate improvement in community health and save lives. Together we can!
What advice would you give to other caregivers who want to get involved in environmental activism?
Your voice and your story matter. You will encounter obstacles but do not be discouraged—you can make a difference. Lean into your community, challenge the harmful status quo, and trust your “mom intuition.” We need everyone to achieve the greater system changes necessary to address air pollution and climate disruption and improve public health. Find what you enjoy and join the fight!
What is your favorite eco-friendly activity to do with your family?
We enjoy being active outdoors! From planting native plants in our yard and volunteering at our school garden to biking, kayaking, and “plogging” (picking up garbage as we walk or jog), we enjoy staying active and taking care of our environment together.
Tell Congress: Commit to Climate Investments and Clean Air Progress