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STANDING UP FOR CONSUMERS—For more than 20 years, Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski has helped us stand up against big banks and credit card companies.
Independent Research and Education
PennPIRG Education Fund is an independent, non-partisan group that works for consumers and the public interest. Through research, public education and outreach, we serve as counterweights to the influence of powerful special interests that threaten our health, safety or well-being.
Our Top Priorities
Using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation, PennPIRG Education Fund stands up to powerful interests and delivers concrete results.
STOPPING THE OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS ON FACTORY FARMS
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. We're working to protect our medicine.
CHANGING OUR TRANSPORTATION PRIORITIES
Americans are driving less and less. It's time to change the way we think about how we get around.
RECLAIMING 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. That's why we're working to reclaim our democracy.
With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, the PennPIRG Education Fund offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. The PennPIRG Education Fund works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer citizens meaningful opportunities for civic participation.
For information about a specific report, please contact the author. If you are a foundation interested in supporting the PennPIRG Education Fund's work, or if you have general inquiries, please contact us here.
For information about a specific report, please contact the author. If you are a foundation interested in supporting the PennPIRG Education Fund's work, or if you have general inquiries, please contact us here.
PennPIRG Education Fund Staff
PennPIRG Education Fund is an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation. PennPIRG Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization working to protect consumers and promote good government. Find out more about our staff
PennPIRG Education Fund and the Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups
PennPIRG Education Fund is an independent, state-based, citizen-funded organization that educates for the public interest and is a member of U.S. PIRG Education Fund.
Since 1970, state PIRGs have delivered results-oriented citizen activism, stood up to powerful special interests, and used the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, and litigation to win real results on issues that matter.
Across the country, state PIRGs employ close to 400 organizers, policy analysts, scientists and attorneys, and are active in 47 states, with a federal office in Washington, D.C. On national issues, we also coordinate our efforts, pool resources, and share expertise so that we can have the biggest impact.
What's New
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that discount stores T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods sold 19 different recalled products to consumers between 2014 and 2019. In the case of five products, the stores’ parent company TJX initiated the recall. The products included the Rock ‘N Play and Kids II inclined infant sleepers, which are responsible for a number of fatalities, rattles that can break and pose a choking hazard, and electronics that overheat or explode.
Toys sent an estimated 226,000 kids to the emergency room in 2018. The 34th-annual Trouble in Toyland report from PennPIRG Education Fund helps parents and caretakers keep kids safe from numerous dangers.
Recycling challenges vary across the country, but, overall, states are failing to both reduce unnecessary waste and adjust to a changing recycling landscape, according to a new study from U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Environment America Research & Policy Center.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its new Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States report, which estimates at least 35,000 Americans die annually from infections that antibiotics can no longer effectively treat.
Here in Pennsylvania, we want to fix our stuff.
Something breaks, or doesn’t work right. You could throw it away, but you don’t want to be wasteful so you try to figure out how to get it fixed.
According to a review of data from iFixit, a self-described “repair guide for everything, written by everyone,” more than 2 million unique users from Pennsylvania went onto their website, www.ifixit.com, to look up how to repair something in 2018.
Looking more closely into that data from iFixit, the top ten device types that Pennsylvania attempted to fix were cell phones, laptops, automobiles, gaming consoles, tablets, vacuums, desktop computers, watches, instruments, and wireless speakers. Cell phone repair guides were by far the most popular, receiving 28 percent of all the page views.
Here in Pennsylvania, we want to fix our stuff. Something breaks, or doesn’t work right. You could throw it away, but you don’t want to be wasteful so you try to figure out how to get it fixed. According to a review of data from iFixit, a self-described “repair guide for everything, written by everyone,” more than 2 million unique users from Pennsylvania went onto their website, www.ifixit.com, to look up how to repair something in 2018. Looking more closely into that data from iFixit, the top ten device types that Pennsylvania attempted to fix were cell phones, laptops, automobiles, gaming consoles, tablets, vacuums, desktop computers, watches, instruments, and wireless speakers. Cell phone repair guides were by far the most popular, receiving 28 percent of Here in Pennsylvania, we want to fix our stuff.
Something breaks, or doesn’t work right. You could throw it away, but you don’t want to be
wasteful so you try to figure out how to get it fixed.
According to a review of data from iFixit, a self-described
“repair guide for everything, written by everyone,” more than
2 million unique users from Pennsylvania went onto their
website, www.ifixit.com, to look up how to repair something
in 2018.
Looking more closely into that data from iFixit, the top ten device types that Pennsylvania attempted
to fix were cell phones, laptops, automobiles, gaming consoles, tablets, vacuums, desktop
computers, watches, instruments, and wireless speakers. Cell phone repair guides were by far the
most popular, receiving 28 percent of
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Your tax-deductible donation supports PennPIRG Education Fund's work to educate consumers on the issues that matter, and to stand up to the powerful interests that are blocking progress.
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You can also support PennPIRG Education Fund’s work through bequests, contributions from life insurance or retirement plans, securities contributions and vehicle donations.