Garden soaks up flood water, pollutants at Moss Point school

Escatawpa, Miss. — Some Moss Point students have been tackling a tough environmental assignment. They had to create a project that can help alleviate flooding at their school and keep pollutants from reaching the Pascagoula River. Their solution was to plant a garden.

On Wednesday, gifted students at Escatawpa Upper Elementary School were putting the final pieces in place, finishing off a two-year environmental project. The students designed and built a mini wetlands area on their school playground.

It has been a lesson filled with labor, a love for the environment, and learning.

The seed money came from Disney's Friends for Change. The Pascagoula River Audubon Center won a $100,000 grant from Disney and teamed up with the Moss Point School District to create rainwater gardens on every campus.

"They went out on the school grounds. They surveyed the area. They did the research on native plants," said Mozart Dedeaux, Pascagoula River Audubon Education Coordinator.

"They did a fantastic job," said Dedeaux. "This is a beautiful example of using native plants at its best."

The gardens thrive naturally because the plants are native species and they don't even need to be watered by hand.

Read the full story at WLOX.

Photo credit: WLOX