Consumer Watchdog
COVID-19
10/22/2020
What to do before you go to vote, what to take with you and how to stay safe while you’re at your polling place
10/21/2020
Plastic “recycling” makes us more dependent on the material in surprising ways, and that makes our pollution problem much worse
10/20/2020
The tale of Peter Mui’s broken infrared toaster oven, and how repair can help fix our broken relationship with stuff.
10/8/2020
Public Health Campaigns Director Matt Wellington and Dr. Syra Madad detail how people can safely gather this holiday season in the era of COVID-19.
10/2/2020
The CDC implemented the eviction freeze on Sept. 4 to reduce the number of people on the streets who could get infected with and spread the COVID-19 virus. Landlords and other groups filed lawsuits attempting to strike down the halt on evictions, so the future of the policy remains uncertain.
10/2/2020
The FDA doesn’t have the authority to stop retailers from selling dangerous over-the-counter products such as toxic hand sanitizer. Our safety system is broken, and we need to fix it.
9/22/2020
Here’s a guide to your rights depending on how you pay
9/17/2020
On Friday, August 20, Governor Pritzker released a set of new energy principles for Illinois, “Eight Principles for a Clean & Renewable Illinois Economy.” Much of the attention surrounding the announcement has been on proposals to hold ComEd and Exelon more accountable, which is understandable, given the current scandal. But, the announcement also included support for a policy Illinois PIRG has been advocating for years: ending the 2013 law granting a bill surcharge that Peoples Gas and other gas utilities are using to spend billions of dollars outside of the normal regulatory process.
9/17/2020
Unnecessary costs for course materials, such as paying for access codes, are making a bad situation worse.
9/15/2020
From mask mandates to capacity limits, the largest public transit systems and ride share companies have new procedures