GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Installed just a few weeks ago, Grand Rapids now has seven new air quality monitors.
The project is a partnership with the Community Collaboration on Climate Change (C4) and JustAir. The latest round of monitors are installed in the 49507 zip code.
The goal is to give residents air quality alerts if something is in the air on a neighborhood level.
"Everybody saw the smoke in the air and knew the air quality was poor," said Ned Andree, C4 project coordinator, "But what these monitors do is they link you to a dashboard that allows you to get an alert, even when you look up it's blue sky and sun, but there's still something in the air that you don't want to be breathing."
Downtown area received these monitors a couple years ago, but these new seven in the 49507 zip code were determined for a specific reason.
in the BIPOC community," said Andree, "we see that due to the legacy of racism and white supremacy, people being redlined into the oldest housing stack, and the cities, and low lying land that climate change has really impacted the BIPOC community first and hits them worst. Air quality is no different."
Andree said many BIPOC communities in Grand Rapids are next to highways, industrial sites, and heavy traffic. So, it is more than just monitoring wildfire smoke.
C4 brings awareness to how Black, Indigenous, and people of color are affected by climate change more than other communities.
Thursday night, there is an Air Quality Workshop for the 49507 neighborhood. It is from 6pm to 8pm at 1530 Madison Ave SE.
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