Coweta teen to speak at State Capitol in support of water pollution clean-up day

A fifteen-year-old Coweta girl will speak on the Oklahoma State Senate floor this week in support of a state day to get rid of water pollution.

Evelynn Cannella reached out to her senator, Julie McIntosh, who set it all up.

Letter to the Capitol

A letter from a 15-year-old encouraging the Senate to create a state-wide water pollution clean up day worked.

"I wasn't expecting it to actually happen, and I was honestly surprised because I was like, this was not exactly supposed to become a day!” said Cannella.

Her request garnered the attention of Senator Julie McIntosh (R):

"When Evelynn Cannella reached out about Water Stewardship Day, her passion and initiative immediately stood out. At just 15, she’s already demonstrating the kind of civic engagement we should all encourage in Oklahoma’s next generation. It’s an honor to support her efforts to bring awareness to water conservation and pollution prevention. Young leaders like Evelynn give me great hope for the future of our state."

Earning Badges

Writing a letter to a lawmaker is one of the dozens of ways Cannella could earn a badge in the American Heritage Girls program.

She's been a part of it for more than five years.

"I was also working on another badge that was freshwater marine biology, so it was already talking about water pollution and all of that, so I wrote a huge presentation about water pollution, so I was like, we're just going to turn this into a letter,” said Cannella.

Helping the Environment

The Coweta teen feels like getting rid of water pollution is something everyone can support and anyone can do.

"Oklahoma's water is a big part of our environment here, and if we want further generations to enjoy it, whether it's wildlife generations or people, thern why would we trash the whole thing?" said Cannella.

Group Effort

Cannella hopes this day will inspire other groups to get involved.

"We're going to probably do a water clean-up day for the scout troop, and hopefully more scout troops over in other parts of Oklahoma will bring together and do some water clean-up days in their areas,” said Cannella.

Making a Change

She says it’s not too hard to make a difference.

"Try to change if you can change the future for future generations,” said Cannella.

What's Next

Cannella gets to speak at the Capitol on Tuesday, May 13th.

The clean-up day would be on September 6th, and Cannella is hoping in the future to make it an annual event on the first Saturday of September.