KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one person's trash is another person's treasure. We've all heard that before. CNN's Rich Brooks shows us though a new twist on that old saying.</s>RICH BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nestled in the mountains of North Carolina, a place where artists with high energy needs get a helping hand. The power to fire their vision comes from garbage.</s>TERRY WOODRUFF, ENERGYXCHANGE MANAGER: Well, we're trying to offer a low cost fuel and a nice studio and furnish the major equipment so these folks will have up to three years to utilize this facility.</s>BROOKS: Power to fire the furnaces and kilns of the glassblowers and potters comes from the local landfill. Buried garbage produces methane. By tapping the gas and burning it, the craftspeople have a steady fuel supply with an added benefit.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The use of the methane and the way we are using it is the equivalent of removing 20,000 automobiles from the highways of western North Carolina. So by using this case, we not only save money but we make it a little easier for everybody on the planet to breath.</s>BROOKS: Methane also heats the greenhouses of the sprouting agribusiness, part of the project that could generate enough funds to make EnergyXchange self-supporting.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the fact that we're actually helping to clean the environment by burning the methane, which is a pollutant; I definitely feel like -- that I'm giving back.</s>BROOKS: Giving back is what this project is all about. Formed in the community by the community to foster young craftspeople.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just nice to have the support, you know, sort of the extra support, like not</s>BROOKS: Hand-crafting their future and molding their opportunities, local artists get a head start. And EnergyXhcnage may be a model for other landfill sites across the country. Rich Brooks, CNN, Finland (ph), North Carolina.
North Carolina Artists Help the Environment