We get that the focus of our advocacy – fighting for improved air quality – is at the intersection of social justice and public health. Air pollution, while it affects all of us, does not affect all of us equally.

 

That’s why we are embarking on a new initiative called the Amplify Project. Our goal is simple: To help amplify the voices of people in our community that need to be heard – among them our young people and those who live in neighborhoods most impacted by poor air quality and public health issues it exacerbates.

 

GASP has been on the forefront of local air quality activism for more than 50 years, but we recognize that there’s a time to talk and there’s a time to listen. We want to focus on listening. Because the only way to enact real, meaningful change is to understand the issue you are championing from all sides.

 

We want to hear your side. We want to hear about how air pollution affects you, what changes you’d like to see on the local, state, and federal levels. We want to know about your hopes and your fears. We want to know how we – and others in our Pittsburgh community – can use our skill sets to be agents for positive change.

 

So we want to formally invite you to be our guest: We want to help amplify your voice, whether it be through a blog, a video, a photo essay, poem, or song. We’d like to help showcase your story.

 

Getting started is simple: Just email our communications manager Amanda Gillooly at amanda@gasp-pgh.org and let her know you’d like to get involved. 

 

In the meantime, we wanted to showcase our first entry: A blog written by North Allegheny High School junior Aryun Narayan, who shared with us two things he thinks Allegheny County can do to help bolster local air quality. We hope you check it out, and we hope it inspires you to share your own story.

 

Check back – this page will be updated to include all of our guest submissions.