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For 35 years, Illinois PIRG Education Fund has educated consumers about misleading practices by big banks and credit card companies, dangerous toys on store shelves, and more.
INDEPENDENT RESEARCH & EDUCATION
Illinois PIRG 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 MISSION
With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, Illinois PIRG Education Fund offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. Illinois PIRG Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation.
THE FEDERATION OF STATE PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUPS
Illinois PIRG 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, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups.
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.
Our Top Priorities
Using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation, Illinois PIRG 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.
Illinois PIRG Education Fund Staff
Illinois PIRG 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. Illinois PIRG Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization working to protect consumers and promote good government. Find out more about our staff
What's New
For several years, Illinois PIRG and our allies have been working to hold Peoples Gas accountable for its troubled pipe replacement program. As documented by the Illinois PIRG Education Fund report released in June, the program is mismanaged, misdirected, and a bad deal for Chicago.
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.
Peoples Gas released its third quarter report Friday on its troubled pipe replacement program, which was the subject of a highly critical Illinois PIRG Education Fund report in June. The report shows that for the seventh consecutive quarter -- a period that spans every quarterly report on the project -- the program is behind schedule and over budget.
Illinois is failing to make progress in its recycling efforts, according to a new study from Illinois PIRG Education Fund. The second annual State of Recycling in Illinois highlights structural challenges, the rise of plastic, effects of failing to recycle, the state’s new chemical recycling law, and trends in the state’s recycling data.
Across the United States, our recycling system is faltering. Local governments from Jackson, Mississippi to Sierra Vista, Arizona are ending their curbside recycling programs. Many other municipalities have reduced the list of materials they will accept. Even when recycling does end up in a blue bin, it may be immediately landfilled or burned --until earlier this year roughly half of Philadelphia's collected recycling was being sent to incinerators. These are not isolated incidents but are increasingly our new normal. What went wrong? Why are we moving backwards on recycling, an important tool for fighting environmental pollution and climate change? And why is plastic to blame?
Support us
Your tax-deductible donation supports Illinois PIRG Education Fund’s work to educate consumers on the issues that matter, and the powerful interests that are blocking progress.
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You can also support Illinois PIRG Education Fund’s work through bequests, contributions from life insurance or retirement plans, securities contributions and vehicle donations.