It may be the last thing you would think could ever actually be good for the environment.

"We have a duty to protect the environment, so we have to think outside the box on ways to protect it," Director of Public Service for Lansing, Chad Gamble says.

Out of the box, and out of the dumpster, a venture BWL and the Granger landfill have worked months to produce.

The new project takes today's trash and turns it into tomorrow's energy.

Here's how it works, there are pipes buried under the landfill that are currently collecting gas expelled from decomposing trash.

The waste is then filtered, compressed, and dried, then turned into electricity. After that, it's distributed and sent out to your home and businesses around town.

A nearly constant flow of green, clean energy wasn't cheap.

"You're well over a million dollars a megawatt to build a facility like this," Keith Granger, of the Granger landfill says.

"If you generate more from renewable energy than is required from the law, you can sell those to other utilities who are under-performing in the area," Peter Lark of BWL says.

It may eventually even be good for your wallet.

"Hopefully customers will see a credit farther down the road, if we can exceed the amounts that we have to meet," Lark says.