Home

What's New

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

New holiday cooking safety guide offers tips on how to avoid unhealthy air pollution from gas stoves

The holiday season often entails spending a lot of hours in the kitchen cooking. As millions of Americans prepare holiday meals to share with their families, a new guide from PIRG’s research partner PIRG Education Fund offers tips on how to minimize unhealthy air pollution from cooking with gas in your home.

> Keep Reading
News Release | Solid Waste

STATEMENT: Apple concedes to Right to Repair movement, reverses ban on selling parts to consumers

Apple reversed its longstanding policy against selling spare parts, providing repair instructions, and making repair software tools available to customers.

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

Healthier Holiday

This guide describes the potential health risks of cooking with gas and provides tips on how to mitigate those risks and keep your family safe during the holidays. 

> Keep Reading
Report | US PIRG Education Fund

Trouble in Toyland 2021: Counterfeit toys evade safety rules, endanger children

As millions of Americans purchase toys before the year ends, they can take comfort in the improvement of toy safety in recent years thanks to hard work from consumer advocates, elected officials, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the industry itself. 

But, even with the advances in toy safety, dangerous toys still can and do end up on the market, largely because of counterfeits and recalled toys still available.

> Keep Reading
News Release | US PIRG Education Fund

36th annual Trouble in Toyland report exposes risks of counterfeit and other dangerous toys

Even though legitimate toymakers deserve kudos for making many of their products safer over the years, too often, Americans end up buying dangerous toys for children for the holidays.

> Keep Reading

Pages

News Release | US PIRG Education Fund

36th annual Trouble in Toyland report exposes risks of counterfeit and other dangerous toys

Even though legitimate toymakers deserve kudos for making many of their products safer over the years, too often, Americans end up buying dangerous toys for children for the holidays.

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

Think globally, act locally: new electric vehicle toolkit for local governments

To successfully address the challenges under discussion at the U.N. climate change conference COP26, the United States needs to clean up its top source of global warming emissions: transportation. Transitioning to electric vehicles needs to be a key part of any plan. As Congress debates major EV infrastructure investment, a new report by Environment America Research & Policy Center, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group shows that state and local governments can pave the way for cleaner transportation.

> Keep Reading
News Release | US PIRG Education Fund

Let’s ‘Buy Less, Give More’ this holiday season

We've put together 10 ideas for holiday gifts that people will definitely use and appreciate, and, in some cases, will help create new memories. As an added bonus, they’re better for the environment than buying random stuff.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Solid Waste

2021 Brand Audit report shows why companies need to make less plastic packaging

DENVER -- The Break Free From Plastic movement released on Monday its fourth annual global Brand Audit report for 2021. The audit found that the top plastic-polluting corporations of 2021 are the same major beverage and consumer goods companies that have topped the list in previous years


> Keep Reading
News Release | US PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

Onions identified as cause of nationwide Salmonella outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday evening that a nationwide Salmonella outbreak stems at least in part from whole onions imported from Chihuahua, Mexico, and distributed in this country by ProSource Inc.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | 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.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

Make the ringing stop

Research by PIRG Education Fund shows that among 49 of the largest phone companies nationwide (those that can serve 1 million or more), only 16 have reported to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that they have completely implemented anti-robocall technology. What does this mean? It means the industry isn’t doing nearly as much as hoped to fight the crime that for years has caused so much heartache and aggravation among consumers nationwide.

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

The CFPB Turns 10

This report recaps the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s results for consumers over the past 10 years, the steps taken to return the CFPB back to its mission after three years of retrograde decisions under the Trump Administration, and our recommendations for CFPB action moving forward.

> Keep Reading
Report | US PIRG Education Fund | Antibiotics

Chain Reaction VI

The Chain Reaction VI report and scorecard ranks America’s top restaurant chains on their policies relating to antibiotic use in their beef supply chains. 

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Financial Reform

Virtual Wallets, Real Complaints

New report documents consumer complaints to the CFPB about digital wallets and peer-to-peer (P2P) apps.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post

Presenting your non-traditional present | Mark Morgenstein

You as a gift-giver can still get the vicarious thrill of your recipient’s joy. You just need to be creative in how you present your present.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post

Guide to non-traditional gifts: Classes to learn a skill or just have fun | Teresa Murray

If someone enrolled us in a class and paid for it, we might finally try something new

 

> Keep Reading
Blog Post

Guide to non-traditional holiday gifts: There are a host of tasks and chores we can offer | Teresa Murray

Some of us don’t want strangers in our home to do things we used to hire out, from babysitting our children to cleaning our windows

> Keep Reading
Blog Post

Guide to non-traditional gifts: Arts and crafts don't require much money | Isabel Brown

Many of these great holiday gifts can be “found art”

> Keep Reading
Blog Post

Guide to non-traditional gifts: Upcycle by taking 'trash' and converting it into something nice | Isabel Brown

This is different from mending or fixing something because the goal is to make something entirely new.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Not First Class: Flyer complaints soar as airlines cancel flights, deny refunds, ruin plans

When the COVID-19 pandemic turned life upside down in early 2020 and commercial flights came to a near-halt, the U.S. government gave the airline industry $50 billion to save jobs and keep the industry afloat. Since then, despite surviving because of their customers’ tax dollars, the airlines repeatedly have canceled and delayed flights, denied refunds and failed at customer service, according to complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Report: Airlines’ refund policies, scheduling problems irk flyers

When the COVID-19 pandemic turned life upside down in early 2020 and commercial flights came to a near-halt, the U.S. government gave the airline industry $50 billion to save jobs and keep the industry afloat. Since then, despite surviving because of their customers’ tax dollars, the airlines repeatedly have canceled and delayed flights, denied refunds and failed at customer service, according to complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

News Release | US PIRG

RELEASE: PIRG Consumer Watchdog associate testifies about dangerous toys at Senate hearing on hidden holiday hazards

PIRG’s Consumer Watchdog Associate Hannah Rhodes was among the witnesses asked to testify Tuesday at a U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing that focused on counterfeit toys and other unsafe products consumers can encounter unwittingly during what should be a festive season. 

Blog Post

The bikes that last 4 months

How to spot an unfixable bike designed for the dump

Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Healthier Holiday

This guide describes the potential health risks of cooking with gas and provides tips on how to mitigate those risks and keep your family safe during the holidays. 

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.

 
  • COVID-19 CONSUMER TIPS
    Avoid online scams, protect your credit and more. We have assembled a set of consumer tips and guides, and will add more in the days to come.
    OUR TIPS
  • TROUBLE IN TOYLAND
    Shopping for the holidays? Our annual toy safety report can help you spot the health hazards in the toy aisle and keep kids safe this holiday season.
    OUR REPORT
  • NURSING HOME SAFETY DURING COVID: PPE SHORTAGES
    Seven months into COVID-19 pandemic, 226,000 nursing home residents nationwide at risk.
    SEE THE REPORT
  • AUTO LOAN COMPLAINTS RISE
    Consumer complaints about auto purchasing, leasing and finance have spiked since the beginning of the pandemic.
    OUR REPORT

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 social change.