Environmental protests are now frequently reported in the media, and the green movement is, at last, getting the attention it deserves. But most of the focus is on the activities of groups, such as Extinction Rebellion, which are not strongly rooted in working-class organisations and communities.

This is a problem because, if we want to build the broad-based support necessary for a radical transition to sustainability, we must recognise and build on all strands of environmentalism, especially that of the working class.

As a working-class woman who became an environmental justice academic, I have campaigned, researched and written extensively on “environmental classism” – the problem of mainstream environmental policymakers, practitioners, activists and academics often failing to understand and support working-class people. This leads to inequitable environmental burdens and alienation from mainstream environmentalism. Working-class people have, for centuries, been the most active and courageous environmentalists and this is often not recognised.

The majority of the working-class people I interviewed for my new book said they were put off engaging with mainstream environmental organisations because of negative experiences.

In spite of this, many had organised their own local environmental campaigns, including to address pollution, preserve green space and resist toxic developments. Their activities rarely reach the media unless they are particularly creative or dramatic.

One interviewee described how during a campaign to end a fly infestation caused by food waste being stored outside in their neighbourhood, a few activists “chased [the mayor of the city] around … dressed as a fly, which was interesting” and resulted in news coverage of the issue.

Some interviewees had also engaged in individual campaigns, such as one woman who had the water supplied to her house tested for pollutants.

“I refused to pay the water bill, so they took me to court,” she said. The judge ordered her to pay, but also ordered for the water to be tested and it was found to be polluted. “They say they can’t do nothing about it. So what I do, rather than not pay the water at all, I pay what I think it is worth, for the flush of the toilet, and that’s what they’re going to have.”

These largely unrecorded events are part of a hidden history of working-class environmentalism, which has been responsible for many successful campaigns. Mass trespass on Kinder Scout in the Peak District in 1932 was a working-class struggle for the right to roam versus the rights of the wealthy to have exclusive use of moorlands for grouse shooting. It had a far-reaching impact, and helped secure walkers’ rights in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act in 2000.

There is also the “environmental justice” movement, which originated in the United States during the 1980s, when working-class ethnic minority communities protested about hazardous industries being disproportionately located in their neighbourhoods.

Around the world, environmental justice movements have since prevented the siting of toxic facilities in many working-class communities and there are similar struggles happening all over the country right now. These local battles can remain hidden because the people involved usually do not have the professional friends – in the media, in government and in academia – who could help draw attention to their work. This contributes to the illusion that environmentalism is the domain of middle-class people.

We should also not overlook the massive trade union contribution to environmentalism through the struggle for health and safety in the workplace. Environmental standards are often developed only when illnesses among workers become too glaringly obvious to ignore. Although we assume that substances being used are safe, this is often not the case, as a 2017 Lancet report on pollution and health revealed.

We are literally at the coal-face of environmental deterioration because we tend to work in the most hazardous environments

Even if not actually killed by those whose vested interests were threatened, drawing attention to the ecological damage or human toxicity of production has often meant the loss of a job and livelihood for trade unionists. The bravery of these working-class environmental heroes overshadows that of many middle-class environmentalists.

There are numerous studies on byssinosis, silicosis, asbestosis and other conditions that show how concern for environmental health at work has had an impact on wider society and ecology. In 1899 the UK Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) led a campaign against the use of lead in the manufacture of pottery, which was causing blindness, convulsions and death among the mostly female workforce, as well as affecting their unborn children. As a result of their work, we no longer use lead-glazed plates and cups.

For almost 50 years, trade unions internationally have been calling for a “just transition” to sustainability. These struggles demonstrate that working-class people have been, and continue to be, environmental leaders. We are both metaphorically and literally at the coal-face of environmental deterioration because we tend to work in the most hazardous environments, live in the unhealthiest neighbourhoods, and are the least able to find individual solutions such as changing jobs and homes. With a greater direct experience of environmental degradation, we have a strong vested interest in achieving sustainability.

The Green New Deal policies advocated by congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the US and the Labour party in the UK build on this understanding, putting the labour movement at the forefront of a green transformation. Working-class environmentalism is alive and kicking. Let’s recognise and support that to create the broad-based green transition we so desperately need.

• Dr Karen Bell is a senior lecturer in human geography and environmental justice at the University of West of England, Bristol. Her book Working-Class Environmentalism: an Agenda for a Just and Fair Transition to Sustainability will be published by Palgrave in November.