
Since our Bright Cities program launched, it has grown to include 44 cities nationwide working to reduce the harm of neurotoxic chemicals for little ones and their families. These cities provide powerful examples of actions that any city can take to reduce exposures that harm babies’ brain development.
One in six children in the United States has a developmental disability, including learning disabilities, intellectual impairment, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism.
Bright Cities awarded $240,000 in grant funding to support 12 new projects nationwide in 2023. Projects in Clarksville, Pine Bluff, and Youngstown focused on lead reduction. Three cities — Boulder CO, Hendersonville NC, and Lansing MI — took action to reduce neurotoxic exposures with a climate, resilience, and/or sustainability co-benefit.
And six cities — Meadville, Pine Bluff, Eugene, San Francisco, and Montgomery — are leveraging their projects to gain additional funding from various funding sources, including the EPA’s grant programs designed to support city and community-based organization partnerships.
"Our Bright Cities grant provided a rare opportunity to plan together and think big about upcoming federal and state grant opportunities,” said Kevin Kasowski, the Director of Foundation and Corporate Giving at the Oregon Environmental Council.
Take advantage of being “Better Together” and kick-off the new year by implementing one (or all!) of four initiatives already created and piloted by Bright Cities this year:
- “100 Resilient Yards” Campaign — Volunteer program that provides technical expertise and resources to residents and/or businesses to transform 100 properties into one of five resilient yardscapes: pollinator garden, rain garden, vegetable garden, native planting, and/or organic lawn.
- Model Sustainable Procurement Policy — Procurement is an important, innovative tool for achieving an equitable, healthy, and climate-friendly future. The policy is available to use as is, or it can be tailored for use by your city. You can also use US EPA data to help identify the biggest purchasing opportunities for cities to simultaneously reduce GHG emissions and reduce toxic exposures; examples here.
- Energy (& Health) Navigator Model Program for Landlords — Innovation program that bundles building improvements to assist renter-occupied properties achieve housing resilience, health (e.g., lead remediation), equity, and climate goals.
- Housing Code Amendment to require checking pre-1978 rental housing for deteriorated lead-based paint during the rental certification process — This amendment ensures lead hazard remediation in rental properties.
Our Bright Cities team also created and implemented learning opportunities (e.g., webinars and coffee conversations); shared Bright Cities models at national meetings; enthusiastically participated in partnership events with the Mayors Innovation Project, ICLEI, EcoAmerica, and others; and shared information regularly among our innovative, dedicated, and fun colleagues.
The sum is truly bigger than the parts, and we look forward to being even “Better Together” in 2024!