Three important PIRG victories from 2024

PIRG is a different kind of consumer advocate.

We don’t just work for an honest and transparent marketplace. We also work for one that wastes less, reduces toxic threats to our health and considers impacts on the next generation, not just the next quarterly earnings report.

Together, our staff, members and other supporters delivered positive results in 2024 on each of these fronts and more. Here are three of the highlights:

1: We cut plastic waste

Thanks to PIRG supporters like you, the public is becoming more aware of the costs hidden by the convenience of plastic. Whether it’s a tiny plastic pellet, a highly toxic plastic-making chemical, or a discarded plastic bottle or bag, too much plastic ends up as waste, polluting our communities and harming our health. 

This year, PIRG supporters and staff challenged some of the biggest plastic users to reduce their waste. 

Together with our national network and other allies, we won a commitment from Amazon to eliminate some of its worst single-use plastic packaging. And earlier this year, California finally banned single-use plastic bags in grocery stores once and for all — but we still have more work to do.

2: We promoted the right to repair

Along with thousands of do-it-yourself repair enthusiasts, PIRG supporters have been asking a question with major consequences for resource consumption and pollution: Why is it so darn hard to repair so many of the products we own, especially tech-heavy gadgets like smartphones? 

This year, manufacturers including Apple, Google and Microsoft have made repair more accessible. That will mean fewer perfectly good phones being thrown away. And thanks in part to our national network, five states now have strong electronics Right to Repair laws on the books.

3: We helped protect the bees

PIRG supporters get it: No bees, no food. And the toxic neonicotinoid pesticides that are killing so many bees pose risks to our environment and our health as well.

For years, PIRG has called for restrictions on neonics. Today, 1 in 4 Americans lives in a state that has restricted the use of bee-killing pesticides, thanks in part to the work of our national network.

Supporters like you make it all possible

When we stand up for our health, safety and wellbeing, that often means standing up to powerful interests with a stake in the way things are. Thanks to the action and support of people like you, we’re able to point to the way things could be — and move things in that direction.

We hope you’ll join us for more advocacy and action in the public interest in 2025.