NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP EDUC FUND INC

The U.S. produces an immense amount of waste—we generate over 30 percent of the planet's waste even though we make up just 4 percent of the population. That averages out to around seven pounds of material per American every single day.

Only a third of our waste is recycled or composted while the vast majority is sent to landfills, incinerators, or the natural environment. We need to take decisive steps to address our growing waste crisis, and to get us out of the linear path of extraction, production, consumption then disposal. It’s time to move to a circular, zero-waste economy.

We're running campaigns to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic and help consumers win the right to repair devices such as smartphones, laptops and more.

For more than 40 years, we’ve been educating consumers about how to protect themselves and their rights. We work to get dangerous products off store shelves, to end exploitative practices, and ensure a level playing field in the marketplace. And we advocate for new rules, institutions and policies to defend consumers from the economic and political power of special interests. Right now, our Watchdog team is focused on consumer threats from data breaches to dangerous toys.