Home

What's New

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

U.S. PIRG resource guide for Supreme Court oral arguments on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau case

Resources and interview opportunities for Tue., March 3 hearing when the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Higher Ed

Automatic textbooks billing: an offer students can't refuse?

New report says deals with publishers could make college textbooks more expensive

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Higher Ed

Deals with publishers could make college textbooks more expensive

A new report reveals insufficient or disappearing discounts, structures designed to force students into the program, and missing information. This all leaves students, professors, and college administrators in the lurch.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center | Solid Waste

The best way to fight plastic pollution? Ban single-use plastics.

U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group released comprehensive fact sheets about plastic pollution on Thursday. Banning Single-Use Plastics puts forward specific policies to ban or restrict the worst plastic pollution, including plastic bags, foam cups and containers, and plastic straws and utensils.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center | Solid Waste

Beyond Single-use Plastics

Every day, we use millions of plastic bags, straws and utensils, and foam cups and containers for just a few minutes before tossing them, and then they can pollute our environment for hundreds of years. We can protect our health and marine animals by banning or limiting these products, as hundreds of communities and nine states have already done. Banning Single-use Plastics describes the specific problems, actions, and best practices for reducing these polluting items.

> Keep Reading

Pages

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

U.S. PIRG resource guide for Supreme Court oral arguments on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau case

Resources and interview opportunities for Tue., March 3 hearing when the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Higher Ed

Deals with publishers could make college textbooks more expensive

A new report reveals insufficient or disappearing discounts, structures designed to force students into the program, and missing information. This all leaves students, professors, and college administrators in the lurch.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center | Solid Waste

The best way to fight plastic pollution? Ban single-use plastics.

U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group released comprehensive fact sheets about plastic pollution on Thursday. Banning Single-Use Plastics puts forward specific policies to ban or restrict the worst plastic pollution, including plastic bags, foam cups and containers, and plastic straws and utensils.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection, Food

New investigation: Supermarkets failing to warn public about food recalls

Americans are not hearing about food recalls, and that communication breakdown is having serious repercussions for public health. A new report finds that most grocery stores -- which should be one of the best places to learn about recalls -- don’t make it easy for consumers to uncover this information.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Hack doesn’t absolve Equifax of being careless with consumers’ data

Congress must hold companies accountable for failing to protect condumers' confidential information.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Result | Food

Researching How Tax Dollars Become Twinkies

U.S. PIRG research found that since 1995, $17 billion in agricultural subsidies have gone to corn syrup and other junk food ingredients. That’s enough to buy 2.8 billion Twinkies, and vastly more than has gone to apples and other fresh fruits and vegetables.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Higher Ed

Automatic textbooks billing: an offer students can't refuse?

New report says deals with publishers could make college textbooks more expensive

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center | Solid Waste

Beyond Single-use Plastics

Every day, we use millions of plastic bags, straws and utensils, and foam cups and containers for just a few minutes before tossing them, and then they can pollute our environment for hundreds of years. We can protect our health and marine animals by banning or limiting these products, as hundreds of communities and nine states have already done. Banning Single-use Plastics describes the specific problems, actions, and best practices for reducing these polluting items.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection, Food

Food Recall Failure

Our research found the majority of grocery stores fail to warn the public about hazardous food recalls. While they collect significant information about Americans shopping habits to sell us more food, they aren't doing enough to use that information to protect the public health.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Highway Boondoggles 5

Highway Boondoggles 5 finds nine new budget-eating highway projects slated to cost a total of $25 billion that will harm communities and the environment, while likely failing to achieve meaningful transportation goals.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center | Transportation

Trouble in the Air

People across America regularly breathe polluted air that increases their risk of premature death, and can also trigger asthma attacks and other adverse health impacts. In 2018, 108 million Americans lived in areas that experienced more than 100 days of degraded air quality. That is equal to more than three months of the year in which ground-level ozone (the main ingredient in smog) and/or particulate pollution was above the level that the EPA has determined presents “little to no risk.” These Americans live in 89 large and small urban areas,* and in 12 rural counties.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post

What we learned in 2019 | Faye Park

Our work standing up for consumers always starts with research. We examine problems and evaluate policies through hard-hitting reports, then use those reports to earn media coverage and build support for meaningful solutions. Read on for a recap of 10 things we learned in 2019 from Faye Park, President of U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Public Health

On the road for the holidays? This restaurant guide is a must have | Curtis Morris

Traveling on the road or through airports to get to your holiday destinations? Before you grab a quick bite, use the Chain Reaction scorecard to see which top restaurants are sourcing meat raised without routine antibiotic use. 

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

AutoNation: Stop selling recalled used cars, don’t spam | Adam Garber

When our new report revealed every single one of the 28 AutoNation dealerships we surveyed across the country was selling a recalled car with a dangerous safety defect you’d hope their response would be: “we’re on it.” It wasn't.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Solid Waste

What does “compostable” mean? | Alex Truelove

This product is certified compostable. Increasingly, this phrase is appearing on a variety of everyday goods -- from paper coffee cups and plastic forks to molded pulp packaging.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post

After U.S. PIRG Education Fund report, Wells Fargo eliminates some student debit card fees

After U.S. PIRG Education Fund reported on problems in its debit card practices, Wells Fargo took steps to eliminate some "surprise" fees on student cards.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post

After U.S. PIRG Education Fund report, Wells Fargo eliminates some student debit card fees

After U.S. PIRG Education Fund reported on problems in its debit card practices, Wells Fargo took steps to eliminate some "surprise" fees on student cards.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

U.S. PIRG resource guide for Supreme Court oral arguments on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau case

Resources and interview opportunities for Tue., March 3 hearing when the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Automatic textbooks billing: an offer students can't refuse?

New report says deals with publishers could make college textbooks more expensive

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Deals with publishers could make college textbooks more expensive

A new report reveals insufficient or disappearing discounts, structures designed to force students into the program, and missing information. This all leaves students, professors, and college administrators in the lurch.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center

The best way to fight plastic pollution? Ban single-use plastics.

U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group released comprehensive fact sheets about plastic pollution on Thursday. Banning Single-Use Plastics puts forward specific policies to ban or restrict the worst plastic pollution, including plastic bags, foam cups and containers, and plastic straws and utensils.

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center

Beyond Single-use Plastics

Every day, we use millions of plastic bags, straws and utensils, and foam cups and containers for just a few minutes before tossing them, and then they can pollute our environment for hundreds of years. We can protect our health and marine animals by banning or limiting these products, as hundreds of communities and nine states have already done. Banning Single-use Plastics describes the specific problems, actions, and best practices for reducing these polluting items.

Solid Waste

New federal bill calls for U.S. to move beyond plastic

On Feb. 11, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall and U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal introduced legislation that would phase out unnecessary single-use plastics, which commonly end up clogging our landfills and polluting our environment. It also provides funding for recycling and composting infrastructure, and would shift the financial burden of managing waste and recyclables from town and city governments to the manufacturers.

 
  • 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
  • Why are health experts alarmed?
    More than 93% of doctors are concerned about the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms, yet factory farms still use up to 70% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S.
    Learn Why
  • Reclaim our Democracy
    Our democracy is based on the principle of one person, one vote, but our research shows the increasing dominance of big money in our elections.
    Get the facts
  • PROTECT YOURSELF
    We've created consumer tips to help protect you from unfair bank fees, identity theft, loan rip-offs and more.
    Get The Tips

Support us

Your tax-deductible donation supports U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s work to educate consumers on the issues that matter, and the powerful interests that are blocking progress.

donate today

Learn More

You can also support U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s work through bequests, contributions from life insurance or retirement plans, securities contributions and vehicle donations. 

Find out more



U.S. PIRG Education Fund is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to getting things done.