People power for the win
Together with our campaign groups Environment America and PIRG, Fund for the Public Interest has a proven track record of success. Here are just two examples of the countless results we've helped win:
Environment America and the Fund: Banning the worst uses of bee-killing pesticides
We've all heard for years that bees are dying at alarming rates and colonies are collapsing. In an effort to address this, Fund for the Public Interest worked with Environment California — canvassing across the state to save the bees by building people power and public support for a statewide ban on some of the worst bee-killing pesticides — neonicotinoids (or “neonics”).
Neonics are a class of pesticides that attack bees' brains, paralyzing and then killing them. Eliminating these needless and easily replaceable pesticides will make a big difference for bees in peril across the state. Since the summer of 2017, we've knocked on tens of thousands of Californians' doors, engaging the public on this environmental crisis. And it worked! We spent years organizing the public and persuading California leaders to care about bees, largely through our canvassing. Environment California held thousands of conversations, lobbied elected officials and collected 30,000 petition signatures in support of saving the bees.
California became the 10th of 12 states to ban some of the worst uses of these bee-killing pesticides. We couldn't have won this vital bee-saving action without canvassers like you building support across the state. This new law will make a big difference for California's bees, including the 1,600 native bee species that buzz throughout the state. And as the world's fifth largest economy, California's action will set a strong example for the rest of the country that we don't need to use bee-killing pesticides.
This victory is an example of the type of work you will do, and the impact it will have. You'll be part of an entire team building support for a campaign like this.
Next, we're building on this momentum to ban seeds coated in neonics and calling on governors to lead this effort and help save the bees.
Watch the video below for highlights from California's offices and their work to build people power to save the bees!
PIRG and the Fund: Moving our country beyond plastic
Each year, an estimated 16.5 million tons of plastic waste enter our oceans worldwide, much of it used just once before being thrown away. The best way to reduce plastic waste is to stop using the plastic items we don’t need — but the companies that should be leading the way aren’t doing enough. So, the Fund has been helping PIRG build consumer support around this issue through canvassing.
Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer and generates more than 208 million tons of plastic waste every year, much of it unrecyclable and therefore bound for landfills or our waterways and oceans. That’s why in 2023, PIRG and its allies delivered over 138,000 petition signatures calling on Amazon to eliminate wasteful plastic packaging from its shipments.
And it appears that the company listened. Amazon committed to phase out plastic air pillows from all North American shipments by the end of 2024 — eliminating 15 billion plastic air pillows per year.
But there’s still more work to do. Now we’re urging Amazon to set a hard deadline for its transition away from all plastic packaging waste.
PIRG staff and supporters drop off thousands of petition signatures to
Amazon headquarters urging the company to reduce plastic packaging.