PIRG’s 2024 highlights

 In 2024, PIRG’s advocacy and action helped make our society healthier, safer and more sustainable, and the marketplace a little more honest and transparent for consumers. Here are some of the highlights:

1. We cast a spotlight on consumer fraud and abuse

Our Consumer Watchdog team held companies accountable for a range of questionable business practices in 2024. As a result, airline travelers will find it easier to obtain refunds for canceled or delayed flights; companies that post fake reviews will face stiff fines; more consumers will know how to spot a robocall, email or text scam; and Maryland consumers will enjoy the nation’s strongest data privacy protections.

Photo: PIRG’s RJ Cross talks about retailers’ collection of customers’ data on CNBC. Credit: CNBC

2. We reduced plastic waste

Following years of action by conscientious consumers, many of whom were spurred to action by PIRG, Amazon announced a plan to phase out plastic air pillows from its packages by the end of 2024. Other companies, including Costco, Disney, Marriott, Mattel and Hasbro, also pledged to reduce their plastic waste after consumers and shareholders urged them to do so. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to finally ban all plastic grocery bags, a priority for CALPIRG.

Photo: CALPIRG campaign staff at an event calling to strengthen California’s ban on single-use plastic grocery bags. Credit: Andy Smith

3. We expanded the Right to Repair

Millions of consumers will be able to more easily repair electronics and other products after PIRG helped win new Right to Repair laws in Colorado, Oregon and California. These state Right to Repair laws are motivating some companies, such as Apple, to make it easier for consumers to repair their products nationwide.

Photo: Right to Repair supporters, including CoPIRG’s Danny Katz (far right), and sponsors pose with Gov. Jared Polis (third from right) after the signing of the new Right to Repair bill. Credit: Ted Gotwals 

4. We’re helping consumers avoid toxic threats

Nobody chooses to drink water contaminated by lead, PFAS “forever chemicals” or other toxic substances. Yet due to our society’s “use first, ask questions later” approach to chemical safety, they’re hard to avoid. Our Toxics Program helps consumers reduce the toxic threats in their lives. Our Get the Lead Out campaign supported the new 10-year deadline for utility companies to replace lead service lines and urged the government to do more and do it faster to protect school kids. PIRG also supported the classification of two PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances, as well as new limits on PFAS levels in drinking water. State PIRGs also successfully advocated for restrictions on PFAS chemicals in firefighting gear in Massachusetts; in cookware and other products in Colorado; and PFAS-contaminated fertilizer in Connecticut.

Photo: MASSPIRG’s Deirdre Cummings (top row, second from right) looks on at Gov. Maura Healey’s event signing the new law to ban PFAS in firefighting gear. Credit: Leise Jones Photography

5. We helped make transportation cleaner

If you’re planning to buy a new car in the next few years, it will be cleaner, thanks to new PIRG-backed Clean Car standards that will reduce soot emissions by 95%. If you own an electric vehicle, it’s easier to find the best places to recharge on a road trip to a state or national park, thanks to PIRG’s new interactive map. If you have a child in school, their ride soon will be cleaner if you live in one of the 280 school districts that were granted funds for clean electric buses under a PIRG-backed provision in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill of 2021.

Photo: CoPIRG’s Danny Katz speaks about the state of electric school buses in Colorado. Credit: Staff