Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News
ISLE DE JEAN CHARLES, La.-- At 28 years old, Chris Chaisson has seen the landscape around his home change right before his eyes.
"This was all land," he said, as he recalled his childhood and looked out at the now open water.
Chaisson is a member of the United Houma Nation, Native Americans who live on slivers of land in Lower Terrebonne Parish, such as Isle de Jean Charles. Coastal erosion is a constant battle.
"It's just one thing after another these lower communities have to face," Chaisson said.
However, an unusual idea is now planting itself here. Over the next several days, 300 volunteers will work to assemble and plant floating islands, which are made out of recycled plastic water bottles.
"Bottles take up so much of our landfill and now, we can maybe use it to protect something that really needs protecting," said Nicole Waguespack, with Martin Ecosystems, a Baton Rouge-based company which developed the floating islands.
The islands are several inches thick and feel like brillo pads. They contain a series of holes, evenly spaced out, where marsh grasses can be planted. Each one holds between 50 to 60 plants a piece. The idea is, once the islands are anchored, the plants will grow and the roots will eventually collect sediment-- helping build new land within six months to a year.
"We'll put the islands next to those existing marshes and they will act as a buffer to protect the current existing marshes," said Buddy Boe of America's Wetland Foundation. "What we're doing is a restoration and an experiment all at the same time."
The experiment doesn't come cheap, though. They're setting up 1,500 feet of floating islands at a cost of $80 a foot. The project was funded by several organizations and through grant money obtained by Terrebonne Parish.
For Chris Chaisson, though, it'll be worth the cost if it works and can be replicated along other coastal communities.
"If nothing protects them communities, what's next? New Orleans," he said.
Over the next year, Martin Ecosystems and America's Wetland Foundation will monitor the islands to see if they are successful in creating new land.
