In this summer heat, it’s tempting to enjoy a cooling splash in the river – but do you really know what’s in it?

A recent report by Greenpeace shows all is not as crystal clear as it should be.

They found:

• All 13 UK rivers tested contained microplastics.

• A total of 1,271 pieces of plastic, ranging in size from straw and bottle-top fragments to tiny microbeads less than 1mm across.

• The River Mersey was proportionally more polluted than the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – containing equivalent to 2 million pieces of microplastic per square kilometre.

• More than half the rivers tested contained plastic pellets called ‘nurdles’, which are used as a raw material in the production of plastic products.

• Five out of 13 rivers contained microbeads – which were partially banned in 2017!

This is on top of any chemicals that have leached into our rivers from agriculture.

Now the Government is due to place before Parliament the first environment bill for 20 years!

Read also: Woodland littered with alcohol cans

Contact your MP to say you want him/her to back a strong environment bill that tackles plastic pollution and restores nature.

Even more important, the Government’s own Committee for Climate Change (CCC) has issued an updated report at https://tinyurl.com/y527sqyk this month stating the Government is not taking sufficient action the UK to adapt to the effects of climate change. They have laid out the necessary actions in words of one syllable so there can be no misunderstanding.

You can take action.

Badger your MP to support the action we know needs to be taken.

Refuse all plastic freebies, including bags.

Reduce your consumption of everything: clothes, electricity, water, gas, new furniture and furnishings and ‘stuff’ generally. Reduce car use. Use buses. Car share. Learn to ride a bike, walk. For heavy shopping, buy a shopping trolley.

Reuse as much as you can – not just jars or boxes but making new things from old. Eg. old T-shirts make great peg bags. Insert wire clothes hangar into neck opening. Sew up bottom hem. Cut opening mid-chest to put in clothes pegs. Voila.

Recycle responsibly: there is no excuse for not recycling properly. Binzone on SODC’s website advises which bin to use.They have a Facebook page with info.You can ask questions there.

Join a sustainability group. Help spread the word.