In the mid-1990s, Communities for a Better Environment developed a low-cost air sampler called a bucket that people living near petrochemical plants could use to learn what was in their air. They made it the centerpiece of a model for community organizing called a bucket brigade.

Over the next decades, bucket brigades empowered communities all over the world. Denny Larson, Founder of Global Community Monitor, was a driving force behind the buckets. After Denny’s death in 2019, we worked with Public Lab to make sure that communities would still have access to everything they needed to build buckets and set up bucket brigades.

We helped create a trove of resources on how to build and use the buckets.

We participated in an Open Hour bringing together bucket brigade participants from all over the world.

We continue to work with other organizations to develop a network of bucket users that communities can tap into.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE PROJECT INCLUDE:

Public Lab ○ South Durban Community Environmental Alliance ○ groundWork South Africa

Funding for the project was provided by the 11th Hour Project, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation.