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Blog Post | Consumer Tips, Food, Solid Waste

How to Save Food and Prevent Waste | Danielle Melgar

We all play a role in creating food waste, so we can all be part of the solution.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund, NRDC and Fashion FWD

Going Out of Fashion

PFAS use in apparel and other consumer products is coming under increased scrutiny from lawmakers. However, apparel manufacturers and retail stores don’t need to wait for the law to catch up to the proliferation of toxic PFAS. They can get out in front of the regulatory curve and protect their customers and the planet from PFAS pollution by immediately adopting policies to end the use of PFAS in clothing, footwear, and accessories. Indeed, some already have. 

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Burger King commits to eliminating toxic “forever chemicals” in food packaging globally

Restaurant Brands International (RBI), parent company of Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes, announced Wednesday evening a new global commitment to eliminate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging used in its restaurants by 2025.

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips

Tips to protect yourself against cyberattacks from Russia (or anywhere else) | Teresa Murray

The new threat of cyberattacks may have you wondering what you can do to protect yourself. It’s a great time to remind you about best practices you should already be following.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Tips

Release: As bills from 2022 medical care arrive in mailboxes, patients should know their rights

 Patients who received medical care in January and February are starting to receive their medical bills for those services. That’s why, in recognition of National Consumer Protection Week, it’s timely to remind people to check their bills carefully and make sure they know their new legal protections against surprise billing.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Solid Waste

Statement: Consumer, environmental advocates welcome Coca-Cola’s commitment to reuse

ATLANTA--- The Coca-Cola Co., the world’s top plastic polluter according to a recent Global Brand Audit, announced on Thursday a new commitment to use refillable or returnable glass or plastic bottles – or refillable containers at fountains and dispensers – for at least 25% of global beverage sales across its entire brand portfolio by 2030.

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

Food recalls decline in 2021, but that doesn’t mean food is safer

Significantly fewer foods and beverages were recalled in 2021 than in 2020. But fewer recalls doesn’t necessarily mean food was safer last year.

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News Release | PennPIRG | Transportation

Statement: Pittsburgh bridge collapse highlights need for focus on infrastructure repair and maintenance

Ten people were injured when a bridge near Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood collapsed Friday morning.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Solid Waste

Shareholders call on Whole Foods to eliminate single-use plastic packaging

Grocery stores like Whole Foods have a major part to play in the fight against plastic pollution.

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Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

Make the ringing stop

The FCC is finally fighting back against robocalls, but phone companies overall aren't doing enough to block spoofed calls and scam calls, despite the new law.

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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. 

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Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

Virtual Wallets, Real Complaints

Consumers are increasingly using digital payment apps -- Venmo, Cash App and Zelle are a few --  for convenience. The apps were originally marketed as a way for friends to split expenses. However, the ease of opening peer-to-peer (P2P) accounts, the ease of obtaining information about other users and a variety of ways to trick consumers have created new fraud risks to users.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Looking Inward

We surveyed nearly 1,000 personal care products from 26 popular cosmetics companies and scored them on ingredient safety and disclosure. The major takeaway: most companies need to do a lot more to inform their customers about what ingredients are in their products.

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Report | PennPIRG | Consumer Tips

Getting off the Hook of a Predatory Tow

PennPIRG Education Fund identified 14 common sense towing protections that should be available to consumers in every state, and researched which states offer those safeguards.

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Blog Post

How to recognize fake online reviews of products and services | Hannah Rhodes

A fake review could be done by the company itself, by posting a fabricated positive review on its own site or by posting concocted negative reviews on a competitor’s site.

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Blog Post

The results are in! Pennsylvanians across the political spectrum support Right to Repair. | Emma Horst-Martz

New survey data collected by PennPIRG confirms what we’ve known for a long time: Right to Repair is something we can all agree on.

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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

Tips to find out about important food recalls

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.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

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.

News Release | PennPIRG Education Fund

70 groups support action to get lead out of school drinking water by School District of Philadelphia

On May 4th, administrators from the School District of Philadelphia presented the 2022-2023 budget for City Council and announced a detailed plan to replace old water fountains with lead filtering hydration stations by 2025. Following the announcement, PennPIRG Education Fund, the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, and the Black Church Center for Justice and Equality, released a letter co-signed by 70 community organizations.

Blog Post

Campaign for Columbia Sportswear Commitment to Eliminate PFAS Launched Today

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.

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.

  • 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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