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Blog Post | Consumer Tips

Tips to find out about important food recalls | Teresa Murray

We see hundreds of food recalls every year. Some lead to people being hospitalized or even dying. Consumers should consider what they can do to help protect themselves and their families by finding out about food recalls quickly.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund

The Auto Lemon Index

A new report by CALPIRG Education Fund, the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) Foundation and Frontier Group reveals the auto manufacturers that are sued the most and least often under California’s auto lemon law, compared to their market share, over selling seriously defective cars in the Golden State. 

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

Statement: Safe Sleep for Babies Act signed into law

After decades of danger and more than 200 infant deaths, President Joe Biden signed the  Safe Sleep for Babies Act into law on Monday.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund and NRDC

Consumer advocacy groups launch campaign to get Columbia Sportswear to phase out toxic ‘forever chemicals’

 

U.S. PIRG Education Fund and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) launched a campaign on Tuesday calling on outdoor gear and apparel brand Columbia Sportswear to phase out the use of PFAS in its products and supply chains. Last month, the company received low marks in a scorecard report released by the advocacy groups. The report found that Columbia Sportswear has failed to adopt policies that ban PFAS chemicals or provide up-to-date, publicly available information on any ongoing efforts to phase out these toxic chemicals from their products.

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Blog Post

Campaign for Columbia Sportswear Commitment to Eliminate PFAS Launched Today | Emily Rogers

Today U.S. PIRG Education Fund and NRDC launched a campaign to urge Columbia Sportswear to eliminate toxic PFAS in their products and supply chain by 2024. The campaign will engage everyday consumers through a petition drive and mobilize the public impacted by PFAS contamination.

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News Release | US PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

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.

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund

New report: 28 Million Californians Experienced Over 100 Days of Dirty Air in 2020

Over 28 million Californians —about 70% of the state’s population— experienced over 100 days of unhealthy air quality in 2020.

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund

Report examines America’s waste problem over past 3 years

Every year, the average American throws out nearly 1,800 pounds of trash. On Thursday, CALPIRG Education Fund, Environment California Research & Policy Center, Frontier Group and Community Action Works released a new report, Trash in America: Moving from destructive consumption towards a zero-waste system. The report examines America’s waste problem and recommends 10 steps the United States should take to build a “zero waste” economy.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Antibiotics

PIRG Education Fund urges McDonald’s to meet commitment to reduce antibiotic use in beef supply

 PIRG Education Fund is calling on McDonald’s, the single largest purchaser of beef in the United States, to fulfill its commitment to reduce antibiotic use in its beef supply chain. 

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News Release | US PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

Statement: New congressional report paints scary picture of toxic metals in baby food

A congressional report released Wednesday found the problem of toxic heavy metals in baby food is even worse than many suspected.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Highway Boondoggles 5

Year after year, state and local governments propose billions of dollars’ worth of new and expanded highways that often do little to reduce congestion or address real transportation challenges, while diverting scarce funding from infrastructure repairs and key transportation priorities. Our 5th annual Highway Boondoggles report features the proposed High Desert Freeway east of Los Angeles. This $8 billion project would lead to more driving and more pollution, along with sprawling desert development.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Get The Lead Out

Our children need safe drinking water – especially at school where they go to learn and play each day.  Unfortunately, lead is contaminating drinking water at schools and pre-schools across the country. As our report shows, states are failing to make the grade when it comes to keeping lead out of drinking water at school.  Instead of waiting for more testing, we need to proactively remove the lead pipes and plumbing at the root of this toxic hazard for our children.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Glyphosate pesticide in beer and wine

To explore how much Roundup we’re drinking, U.S. PIRG tested beer and wine for glyphosate/Roundup. As we’ve confirmed in this study, Roundup is found in beer and wine. This confirms past studies on the topic, which found that glyphosate is found in almost all adult beverages. For example, in 2016, beer testing in Germany also revealed residues of glyphosate in every single sample tested, even in independent beers. After that study was released, German brewers managed to severely limit the amount of glyphosate used in brewing, and saw marked improvement in a 2017 follow-up study.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund

Glyphosate pesticide in beer and wine

To explore how much Roundup we’re drinking, U.S. PIRG tested beer and wine for glyphosate/Roundup. As we’ve confirmed in this study, Roundup is found in beer and wine. This confirms past studies on the topic, which found that glyphosate is found in almost all adult beverages. For example, in 2016, beer testing in Germany also revealed residues of glyphosate in every single sample tested, even in independent beers. After that study was released, German brewers managed to severely limit the amount of glyphosate used in brewing, and saw marked improvement in a 2017 follow-up study.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

How Safe Is Our Food?

Americans rely on a vast network of farms and businesses to provide safe food daily.  But in recent years, a string of high-profile recalls ranging from romaine lettuce to millions of pounds of beef to Ritz and Goldfish crackers have called into question the system developed to ensure safe food reaches people’s plates. The ubiquity of the problem can make grocery shopping a game of Russian Roulette where what a family has for dinner could make them seriously sick.

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips

National Consumer Protection Week 2022 | Teresa Murray

Every day during the first week of March, PIRG is providing consumer protection tips and tools to help Americans address some of the most common consumer issues.

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Blog Post

PIRG hosts webinar with MythBusters' Adam Savage on Right to Repair | Gina Goldenberg

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Blog Post

Why is nobody talking about outdoor gear's PFAS problem at Snow Show? | Emily Rogers

Much of our outdoor clothing and gear is waterproofed using toxic PFAS chemicals, but a few industry leaders are beginning to recognize it's not worth the impacts on our health and environment.

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Blog Post | COVID-19

How to keep food safe during a power outage | Isabel Brown

When the power goes out, the food in your refrigerator and freezer can get up to temperatures that make it no longer safe to eat.

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Blog Post | COVID-19

Dealing with winter storm Kenan: Protect yourself, your home and your finances | Teresa Murray

With the massive winter storm that's expected to hit the East Coast this weekend, here are some tips to help consumers protect themselves during and after a disaster, including how to spot possible opportunists, bad deals and con-artists.

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Blog Post

Smart Money, Smart Kids: Tips for teaching financial literacy and privacy protection to kids of all ages

There are lessons for pre-schoolers, pre-teens, high schoolers and certainly, young adults going off to college or moving out.

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund

CALPIRG’s national affiliates file groundbreaking greenwashing lawsuit against methane gas utility company

 

U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Environment America Research & Policy Center – which are national affiliates of CALPIRG — and ClientEarth filed a lawsuit against Washington Gas in District of Columbia Superior Court on Thursday over misleading customers on the environmental impacts of natural gas, which is mostly made up of methane. The groups have found examples of both PG&E and SoCal Gas similarly greenwashing the environmental impacts of methane gas in customer-facing communications. 

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Statement: Congress passes Reese’s Law

Manufacturers will need to ensure that the battery compartments that use button or coin batteries are not easily accessible by children age 6 and younger.

Blog Post

Why you can now have faith in good faith estimates

Here are the steps to getting a written good faith estimate before receiving scheduled medical care. 

Blog Post

UPDATE: High cost of groceries isn’t just due to inflation, it could also be due to food waste

Solid Waste

PIRG hosts webinar with MythBusters' Adam Savage on Right to Repair

Our national network and the Right to Repair team organized a summit featuring keynote speaker Adam Savage from MythBusters. He shared his thoughts with us on the movement and we discussed our current progress on the Right to Repair campaign.

 
  • 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
  • THE FIX IS IN
    Our survey shows that independent shops are struggling to access parts, service information and repair software which is necessary to fix phones — which manufacturers won’t let these independent shops have.
    OUR REPORT
  • FOOD RECALL FAILURE
    Will your supermarket warn you about hazardous food? Our survey grades 26 of the largest grocery stores in the country to determine the efficacy of their policies and practices notifying consumers about food recalls.
    OUR REPORT
  • CHAIN REACTION V
    The overuse of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can cause life-threatening infections in people. Our report ranks restaurant chains on their policies relating to antibiotic use in their beef supply chains.
    SEE THE GRADES

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