A group of seniors has taken the coastal erosion crisis to heart. They've been busy for some time trying to come up with a solution to the problem.
For this group of Lusher seniors, the last year or so has been full of trial and error.
"I think if you don't care than you might not understand the severity of the problem because this effects all of us," said Chloe Cazayoux, a senior.
Their mission, helping combat Louisiana's coastal erosion.
"I'm very proud of my group and what we've managed to accomplish," said senior Autumn Routt.
"The best way to help restore the coast is to leave it alone," said Cazayoux. "Stop doing harmful things, but the second best way is to plant vegetation because the roots hold the soil together."
Last summer, several group members participated in the Chevron Design Challenge, and were tasked with finding a way to help plant marsh grass in the wetlands. They took their idea a step further in their senior Engineering Class, making it a reality.
"It's been a lot of fun and it's been cool to see everything start from an idea to now we actually have a prototype that we're coming out to test," said Finn Phayer. "Basically we have a PVC tube for the grass to go through, and on the end of it we have these big, we call them dibble scissors, to make the hole. It's kind of like two shovels so that way we can open up a hole, and then send the grass down the hole and push it in and hopefully that will stay in the ground."
Marsh grass is usually planted in warmer months, because the person has to get wet to do it. However, their device lets people plant it without having to get in the water.
"So there's a lot of reasons planting cordgrass off the side of the boat is helpful, but the biggest is you can plant it all year round," said Cazayoux. "Because a lot of times the water is too cold and they don't let volunteers in. Also it's dangerous because of alligator attacks and stuff you might step on since you can't see it in the water. Walking around also actually destroys the roots of the grass."
"What we're facing right now in Louisiana is nothing short of an environmental crisis," said Britt Aliperti with Common Ground Relief.
The group is dedicated to planting and helping restore the state's wetlands.
"We plant about 5,500 trees a year and we do about 16-20 miles of wetlands grass planting each year," he said.
So to see the students getting involved brings hope.
"It's really, really amazing to see what these kids have done,," he said. "The passion they've shown about tackling this issue. We really need to tackle this from all different angles and this is one angle we can really tackle this efficiently."
The latest test run didn't go quite as planned, but it didn't sink the students' passion to keep trying.
"You don't have to wait to be an adult to make a change in your community and do the things you're interested in doing," said Routt. "You can go ahead and start now."
Because for these students it's not about getting recognition, it's more about solving a problem, they say, could help keep the beauty of Louisiana alive.
If you have a student you'd like to highlight, please send an e-mail to pressrelease@wwltv.com.
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