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Blog Post | Public Health

Victory: EPA bans pesticide linked to brain damage in children | Aaron Colonnese

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Blog Post | Solid Waste

Channel your inner Woodsy Owl, the original zero-waste influencer | Mike Litt

Celebrating my favorite government mascot’s 50th birthday by sharing the zero-waste tips I have made a part of my life.

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Blog Post

Apple* and John Deere* shareholders file resolutions questioning their anti-repair stances | Nathan Proctor

Shareholders press these leading Right to Repair opponents to explain themselves as regulatory pressure mounts 

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips

PIRG's consumer watchdogs get to work in wake of massive T-Mobile data breach | Aaron Colonnese

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips

18 tips to reduce robocalls and protect yourself from scams | Teresa Murray

The good news: Illegal robocalls seem to be declining a bit. The bad news: They'll probably never go away completely. Consumers need to remain vigilant to protect their personal information and their money. 

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News Release | U.S. PIRG

Broad Right to Repair bill introduced in Congress

Consumer, environmental, repair advocates cheer Rep. Morelle’s new bill to help Americans fix modern products 

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News Release | Consumer Protection

Senate confirms Lina Khan as Federal Trade Commission commissioner

The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Columbia University Professor Lina Khan, a noted antitrust and anti-monopoly law expert, as a Federal Trade Commission Commissioner. U.S. PIRG supported President Joe Biden's nomination of Khan to the FTC and called on senators to confirm her based on her almost unparalleled qualifications. 

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News Release | US PIRG | Public Health, Consumer Protection

Statement: Beech-Nut to stop selling some rice cereal over arsenic concerns

Beech-Nut will stop selling all single grain rice cereal after Alaska state officials discovered high arsenic levels during routing sampling, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) said in a statement released Tuesday.

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News Release | US PIRG | Public Health, Consumer Protection

Statement: CPSC vote to regulate infant sleep products will save lives

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission approved tough new standards Wednesday to regulate several infant sleep products for the first time.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Financial Reform

Debt Collectors

Report: Our latest report based on the CFPB's public Consumer Complaint database reviews the most-complained about debt collectors. Funny, a new CFPB complaint "snapshot" does not. The report comes as the CFPB's acting director threatens to make the database non-public. If the CFPB both shuts down the public database and continues to issue industry-friendly reports that don’t give out any real information, the public and marketplace harm is even greater.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Financial Reform

Shining A Light on Consumer Problems:

Our report, Shining A Light on Consumer Problems: The Case for Public Access to the CFPB’s Financial Complaints Database, details why it is important that the highly successful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau database of over one million consumer complaints remain open to the public, so consumers, researchers and others can study the financial marketplace.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Electric Buses: Clean Transportation for Healthier Neighborhoods and Cleaner Air

Buses play a key role in in our nation’s transportation system, carrying millions of children daily to and from school and moving millions of Americans each day around our cities. Buses reduce the number of individual cars on our roads, make our communities more livable and sustainable, and provide transportation options for people of all ages and abilities. Yet, the majority of America’s buses remain dirty – burning fossil fuels like diesel that put the health of our children and communities at risk and contribute to global warming.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

In Your Face

The negative health effects of asbestos are well-known. Most people may associate asbestos contamination with the workplace or decades-old construction material, but alarmingly, recent media reports have found asbestos contamination in kids' makeup from popular stores. U.S. PIRG Education Fund (PIRG) decided to do its own asbestos testing at an accredited laboratory.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Plugging In

The adoption of large numbers of electric vehicles (EVs) offers many benefits for cities, including cleaner air and the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Electric vehicles are far cleaner than gasoline-powered cars, with lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower emissions of the pollutants that contribute to smog and particulate matter.

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips

What to know about Amazon’s new A-to-z claims process

Amazon’s new policy comes at a time when courts have been asked the question who is responsible for defective products when they are bought from an online platform that is acting as the go-between for the seller and the purchaser. 

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Blog Post | Financial Reform

Efforts continue to make climate change a financial regulatory priority | Ed Mierzwinski

Half the country faces fire and wind, the other half wind, rain and flood. Despite nay-saying from some members of Congress, the Biden administration's financial regulators continue to make the global climate change crisis a financial regulatory priority. 

Cover graphic by Ron Mader via Flickr, some rights reserved.

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Blog Post | Solid Waste

Our environment pays the price for plastic, and so do consumers

It’s the plastics industry’s worst-kept secret: a huge percentage of their products are designed to be used once then thrown away -- and yet it’s us, the consumers, who are left to pay for the cleanup.

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Blog Post

Global climate report underlines urgency of reducing emissions | Aaron Colonnese

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips

In the path of Hurricane Ida? You can take steps to protect your finances now | Teresa Murray

Hurricane Ida is projected to make landfall in Louisana late Sunday. Residents can start thinking now about how to protect themselves from opportunists and scam artists.

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Blog Post

Zero Hunger campaign aims to end hunger on 10 college campuses

From Oregon to Kentucky, California to Maryland, students at college campuses across the country are teaming up to end student hunger by cutting food waste.

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Blog Post | Transportation

Our 'Driving into Debt' report highlights the impact of risky auto loans and car ownership

Talk about a captive market: For most of us, it's next to impossible to work, shop or go to school without a car. Auto lenders are taking full advantage.

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Blog Post | Solid Waste

More than 10,000 people pledge to skip the straw

More than 10,000 Americans said "no" to plastic straws in February. Feb. 22 marked the third annual national Skip the Straw Day—a day created by Michigan middle school students who were fed up with plastic pollution and its impact on wildlife and the planet.

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Blog Post

YouTube town hall attracts thousands who want the right to repair our stuff

If you're frustrated because it's easier to buy a new phone, computer or appliance than repair your old one, you're not alone.

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Blog Post | Public Health

Study finds weed killer in beer and wine

The last thing you want to think about when you pour yourself a glass of wine or a cold beer is whether it contains even small levels of a potentially carcinogenic weed killer.

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Blog Post

Resources I used to prepare my advance directive

Advance directives are legal instructions that include a living will (different from a regular will) and a health care proxy. In them, you state what treatments you do or don’t want at the end of your life and who you want making health care decisions for you if you can’t. 

News Release | U.S. PIRG

STATEMENT: U.S. PIRG applauds HHS proposed rules on arbitration guidelines in No Surprises Act

Blog Post

It's time for McDonald's to keep its promise and help save our antibiotics

Blog Post

How to spot fake online reviews

With the overwhelming number of reviews found both on website listings and social media, we pulled together the best tips to spot fake reviews when shopping online.

News Release | US PIRG Education Fund

Consumer guide: tips to help consumers avoid cars damaged by flood water

The current shortage of used cars on the market -- and correlated increased prices -- could make consumers more desperate and vulnerable to falling for a bad deal.

Antibiotics

It's time for McDonald's to keep its promise and help save our antibiotics

Back in 2018, PIRG helped convince McDonald's to make a plan for cutting down on the overuse of medically important antibiotics (a practice that makes antibiotic-resistant diseases more common) in its beef supply chain. McDonald's said it would set reduction targets by the end of 2020 — but the fast food giant still has yet to follow through.

 

Solid Waste

Trash in America

The United States produces too much waste. Find out more about what’s in our trash, where it goes — and what we should do with it.

 

Public Health

Somehow, asbestos is still legally allowed in products in the U.S. This bill would change that.

PIRG is urging Congress to pass the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill that would prohibit the manufacturing, processing or distribution of asbestos and any products that contain it.

 

Public Health

EPA moves to strengthen clean water protections

The EPA has announced it will update standards for controlling two major sources of water pollution: meat processing plants, and manufacturing facilities that leach toxic PFAS "forever chemicals." PIRG was part of a nationwide organizing effort to submit nearly 30,000 public comments urging the EPA to act quickly against PFAS contamination.

 
  • STOP THE OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS
    The World Health Organization has identified antibiotic resistance as one of the top 10 global health threats. That's why reducing antibiotic overuse in food production is so important.
    TAKE ACTION
  • How safe is our food?
    Nationwide recalls ranging from romaine lettuce to millions of pounds of beef to Ritz and Goldfish crackers underscore that there’s a growing public health crisis we need to address.
    Find out
  • WATCH OUT FOR UNSAFE TOYS
    Our “Trouble in Toyland” report found boron in slime, choking hazards without the proper warning labels, “connected” toys that pose a privacy risk and more.
    GET THE FACTS
  • HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?
    One year after Equifax announced the worst data breach in history, a U.S. House committee has recommended weakening data breach laws. Tell Congress to protect Americans, not Equifax.
    TAKE ACTION

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