When your grandparents were young, the thick smoke in Pittsburgh’s sky blocked the sun and made the city appear dark even in broad daylight. We were known as a “two-shirts-a-day town” because just standing outside turned your clothes black with soot.

Thankfully, much of the industrial pollution that earned us the title of “Smoky City” is long gone. But our region’s air quality still ranks among the worst in the nation.

Soot and smog levels in southwestern Pennsylvania are higher than in most places in the U.S. These invisible particles come from car tailpipes, wood burning, diesel engines, coal-fired power plants and industry smokestacks. They can travel deep into your lungs and lead to heart and lung disease, asthma and even early death.

Not only does air pollution affect our health, it impacts our economy. Poor air quality puts added regulatory burdens on business, increases healthcare costs and makes it harder to attract workers and companies to the region.

That’s why The Heinz Endowments launched The Breathe Project in the fall of 2011. We are a coalition of businesses, government, organizations—and people like you—working to clean our air for healthy families and a strong economy. Our goal is to make sure everyone in the Pittsburgh area has clean air to breathe everyday.

To learn more about the Breathe Project and find easy ways you can be part of the solution, visit breatheproject.org. You also can like us on Facebook and join the conversation @breatheproject on Twitter.