It shouldn’t be just left to the water companies to protect our rivers - Yorkshire Post Letters

People are quick to complain when the water companies are polluting our rivers, and rightly so. But there are things we can do as well alongside calling for better monitoring.

The problem is serious because none of our rivers have good chemical status and most are ecologically poor.

The three major sources of river pollution are agriculture, wastewater and runoff from roads and we can help with all of them.

Road runoff is particularly nasty, containing heavy metals, toxic chemicals and carcinogens from car tyres. The DNA of aquatic life is damaged, causing cancers and goodness knows what else.

You can help by using your car less. Walking and cycling is good for you and is ideal for shorter journeys and public transport causes less pollution overall.

Our farming practices have led to higher yields at the expense of our environment, with runoff from manure and fertilisers. Careful shopping and management can avoid waste and will save us money which could be spent on buying more organic produce. Animal agriculture has a high impact, so shifting to a more balanced diet also helps.

Finally, we can reduce the wastewater by avoiding paving over green spaces and avoiding waste in our homes.

The good news about the changes we can make are that they can actually improve our own health as well as protecting our rivers.