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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

New car seats made without toxic flame-retardant chemicals

Car seats are supposed to keep our youngest children safe. But though they may protect infants and toddlers during accidents, car seats have a history of containing toxic flame-retardant chemicals.

That’s finally changing.

Today, a coalition of groups including U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Ecology Center’s “Healthy Stuff” program released test results on car seats in a new report, Hidden Hazards:Flame Retardants and PFAS in Children’s Car Seats. The authors collaborated with researchers from Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame.

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

Popular toys contain toxics and other hazards

This holiday season, watch out for dangerous and toxic toys. U.S. PIRG’s 33rd annual Trouble in Toyland report found toxic amounts of boron, which can cause nausea, vomiting and other health issues, in slime products as well as fining that Amazon failed to appropriately label choking hazards.

Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Trouble In Toyland

For over 30 years, PIRG Education Fund has conducted an annual survey of toys to look for safety problems. This research has led to more than 150 toy recalls and other regulatory actions over the years. Our work has also helped educate the public and policymakers on the need for continued action to protect the health and well-being of children. This year, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) passing, which strengthened protections against dangerous consumer products.

News Release | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Arizona PIRG Education Fund’s Annual Trouble in Toyland Report Finds Dangerous Toys on Shelves During Holiday Shopping Season

The Arizona PIRG Education Fund’s annual Trouble in Toyland report once again found potentially hazardous toys on store shelves and online.

Blog Post | Solid Waste

Major Arizona Municipalities Are Below the National Recycling Rate | Diane Brown

To mark America Recycles Day, the Arizona PIRG Education Fund thought it would be helpful to shine a light on the recycling and compost rates for ten of the most populated municipalities in Arizona and offer solutions for improvement.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

New car seats made without toxic flame-retardant chemicals

Car seats are supposed to keep our youngest children safe. But though they may protect infants and toddlers during accidents, car seats have a history of containing toxic flame-retardant chemicals.

That’s finally changing.

Today, a coalition of groups including U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Ecology Center’s “Healthy Stuff” program released test results on car seats in a new report, Hidden Hazards:Flame Retardants and PFAS in Children’s Car Seats. The authors collaborated with researchers from Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame.

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

Popular toys contain toxics and other hazards

This holiday season, watch out for dangerous and toxic toys. U.S. PIRG’s 33rd annual Trouble in Toyland report found toxic amounts of boron, which can cause nausea, vomiting and other health issues, in slime products as well as fining that Amazon failed to appropriately label choking hazards.

News Release | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Arizona PIRG Education Fund’s Annual Trouble in Toyland Report Finds Dangerous Toys on Shelves During Holiday Shopping Season

The Arizona PIRG Education Fund’s annual Trouble in Toyland report once again found potentially hazardous toys on store shelves and online.

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

Chain Reaction report urges burger restaurants to beef up policies to eliminate routine use of antibiotics

Two growing burger chains, Shake Shack and BurgerFi, stand out from the herd when it comes to serving beef raised without the routine use of antibiotics in the burger industry. They were the only restaurants to earn an “A” on the fourth annual Chain Reaction scorecard released today by six major consumer and environmental organizations. The vast majority of hamburger chains — 22 of the top 25, including giants such as McDonald’s — got an “F” grade because they lack established policies restricting antibiotic use in their beef supply chains.

News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

U.S. PIRG response to reports of Facebook security breach

Facebook announced today that earlier this week, "attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code that impacted “View As”, a feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else. This allowed them to steal Facebook access tokens which they could then use to take over people’s accounts."

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Result | Transportation

Arizonans Call For Passenger Rail

The Arizona Department of Transportation recently held open houses to gather public input on passenger rail between Phoenix and Tucson. The Arizona PIRG Education Fund provided ADOT, the public, allies and the media with key principles to be considered for a successful rail line — including ridership potential, integration with other public transportation services, and reliable funding.

Result | Safe Energy

More Clean Energy For Arizona

The Arizona PIRG Education Fund helped lead efforts to have one of the strongest energy efficiency standards in the country enacted in Arizona. While this standard covers Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power, it does not cover the Salt River Project. Working with allies, we successfully secured a commitment from the Salt River Project to also ramp up its energy efficiency and clean energy standards.

Result | Budget

Budget Transparency Earns High Marks

The Arizona PIRG Education Fund worked with the State Comptroller to ensure some of the best practices in budget transparency websites were brought to Arizona. Due in part to our recommendations, Arizona moved from the bottom into the top five state websites for showing taxpayers how our money is spent.

Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Trouble In Toyland

For over 30 years, PIRG Education Fund has conducted an annual survey of toys to look for safety problems. This research has led to more than 150 toy recalls and other regulatory actions over the years. Our work has also helped educate the public and policymakers on the need for continued action to protect the health and well-being of children. This year, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) passing, which strengthened protections against dangerous consumer products.

Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Safe Energy

A Citizen's Guide to Reducing Energy Waste

The future is here—but we’re living in the past.

Clean energy from the sun and wind can provide for our energy needs without the global consequences of pollution, yet we’re still producing and consuming virtually all of our energy in ways that do lasting damage to our environment, our health and our climate. To make matters worse, much of the dirty energy we produce goes to waste.

Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Equifax Breach: 1 Year Later – How to Protect Yourself Against ID Theft & Hold Equifax Accountable

The purpose of this report is to make sure consumers have the information they need to protect themselves as much as possible, review what has happened in the last year, and point out the need for Congressional action to prevent breaches as bad as this one from ever happening again.

Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Safer School Supplies: Shopping Guide

With this Safer School Supplies: Shopping Guide, parents, teachers, and students can make more informed decisions while shopping for school supplies this Back to School season. We want to give parents and teachers the option to choose school supplies that do not contain toxic chemicals. This Shopping Guide should serve as a handy tool for finding products free of several types of toxic chemicals.

Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Highway Boondoggles 4

America’s infrastructure is in rough shape. Many of our roads, bridges and transit systems are aging and in need of repair.

Yet, 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 21st century transportation priorities.

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Blog Post | Solid Waste

Major Arizona Municipalities Are Below the National Recycling Rate | Diane Brown

To mark America Recycles Day, the Arizona PIRG Education Fund thought it would be helpful to shine a light on the recycling and compost rates for ten of the most populated municipalities in Arizona and offer solutions for improvement.

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Getting good data on rate designs is worth the effort | Diane Brown

There’s been good national conversation in recent years around the need for transparency and responsiveness from electric utilities and regulators when it comes to data on rates and pilots, assessing impacts on consumers, and consumer outreach and education. At the local level, though, it can take quite a bit of work to turn guidelines into reality.

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Tucson Unanimously Adopts the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code | Aaron Kane

Last night, Mayor Rothschild and the Tucson City Council unanimously adopted the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code as recommended by the Tucson-Pima County Joint Consolidated Code Committee. The Committee’s recommendation was developed as a result of a rigorous, ten-month-long stakeholder process open to all interested participants. We are quite pleased with this vote.

Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Let's Celebrate Energy Efficiency | Aaron Kane

Energy Efficiency Day celebrates and recognizes energy efficiency as the quickest, cheapest, and cleanest way to address our growing energy needs. With technological advances and increased energy consciousness, consumers now have more ways than ever to make our homes and businesses more efficient, reduce our energy usage, and save money on our electric bills.

Blog Post | Democracy

Let’s Keep Breaking Voter Turnout Records | Diane Brown

The majority of counties in our state recently broke their record for voter turnout in a primary election. The uptick in voters in these counties contributed to a new voter primary election turnout record not only for individual counties but also for our state. While we applaud the increase in voter turnout, we know Arizona can do better.

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Energy Efficient Arizona

Arizonans are experiencing the impact of recent rate increases on their electric bills. We're urging the Arizona Corporation Commission to oppose cuts to energy-saving programs.

Learn more
21st Century Transportation for Arizona

Arizona is experiencing a shift in how we travel. We're driving fewer miles per person, and looking more to public transportation to get around.

Learn More
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
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

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