(bright music) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

- Just ahead on "Carolina Impact," a local company takes unique measures to create sustainable concrete.

Plus how a Statesville nonprofit uses exotic animals to teach kids.

And lights, camera, action, a Charlotte group prepares young people for artistic careers.

"Carolina Impact" starts right now.

(bright music continues) Good evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Amy Burkett.

It's one of the questions political candidates get asked frequently: Their thoughts on global warming or climate change.

Do they believe it's real?

And if so, how much of it is natural and how much of it is manmade?

This much we do know, the countries producing the highest carbon dioxide or CO2 emissions are China, the United States and India.

And globally the primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions are electricity, heat, agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing.

"Carolina Impact"s Jason Terzis joins us now with the story of one local company that's trying to do its part to help.

- [Jason] It's one of those modern day buzzwords you may often hear about: Sustainability.

But what does it really mean?

By definition sustainability is a social goal for people to coexist on Earth over a long period of time.

Basically meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Merging science and technology, one Charlotte company is taking the lead on helping to create a solution.

(horns honking) It's a scene playing out all across Charlotte, building construction.

When it opens next summer, the Queensbridge mixed use development in South End will include a 42-story residential tower, a 35-story office tower, and nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space.

For now, workers carry up supplies, grab a quick bite to eat and get right back to work.

And everywhere you look, you see one of the main ingredients of building construction: concrete.

But before we go any further, let's clarify something.

What exactly is concrete and what is cement and what's the difference?

- If you bake a cake and you use flour to make the cake, cement is flour.

Concrete is the cake.

- Concrete is made by mixing Portland cement with rock, water, sand, and some chemical admixtures.

(jazzy music) - [Jason] Thomas Concrete is a local company whose roots traced back to Sweden, a family owned business that began in 1955 and expanded to the US in 1985.

- So it's roughly 50 to 60% of the group's business is here in the United States.

- We have eight plants in the Charlotte area.

The company isn't the largest concrete producer in the area in terms of size or sales.

- We're not the market leader here.

We're a smaller company here.

Like I said, we're not gonna be the biggest here, wanna be the best to work for, best to buy from.

- [Jason] But they are leading the way in something else: Sustainability.

- One of our company goals is to be environmentally responsible.

- Thomas Concrete Group has been working with sustainability issues since long before it became a word on people's lips and it's really because we care.

- A long-term sustainable vision has always been part of the Thomas Concrete mission.

- We focus on the things that makes the biggest difference, both for people and the planet.

- [Jason] Cement makes up only about 10% of finished concrete, yet it contributes to about 90% of its overall carbon dioxide output.

And cement production contributes 8% of global carbon emissions.

- Concrete by sheer volume is going to have an impact on the environment and we feel there's responsibility there to understand our product in a way, not just the product, but to understand the impact that it has and to do what we can to mitigate it.

There's a lot we can do.

- My name is Jeff Sanders.

I'm the GM for Thomas here in Charlotte.

Wanna welcome everyone to our event.

We're pretty proud of the CarbonCure journey that we're on and excited to share it with those of you who are here.

- [Jason] At a recent event for customers and associates at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, representatives from Thomas Concrete shared the story of the CarbonCure process and what it could potentially mean long-term for the environment.

- We're proud of the progress that we've made with CarbonCure to try to be more environmentally friendly.

- So we have been actively working since a long time to reduce the footprint by substituting cement with materials that has the similar properties but with a significant lower CO2 footprint than the cement.

- [Jason] So how exactly does the CarbonCure process work?

It's all very scientific and perhaps a little confusing to someone not in the industry, but what they're doing is experimenting with various binders.

That's the stuff used in the concrete mix that holds everything together.

Basically the glue.

- It is what creates that strength.

- The most important and the main alternative binders are slag byproduct from the steel industry and fly ash from coal fire power plants.

Those are the two main alternative binders that we operate with at the moment.

So we are also researching new alternative binders like volcanic ash, calcine clays, reclaimed fly ash, other types of slags from other types of similar industries like the steel industry.

- [Jason] Then they take what would normally be the CO2 emissions and instead of releasing it into the atmosphere, they trap it back into the concrete.

And by doing this, they can reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 50%.

- Alright, CarbonCure is a process where different producers or manufacturing facilities, they have processes that produce carbon instead of releasing it to the atmosphere, they'll release it into a container, they'll deliver it to our plants and we'll inject the carbon dioxide into the drum of the truck or the drum of the plant to reduce the amount of cement that we need.

- It is a process by which waste CO2 is taken that would've otherwise went into the atmosphere, but we take it and inject a precise dose of it into our concrete.

And that CO2 naturally wants to bind with the calcium oxide and the calcium rich material that we have in the truck.

And what happens is it becomes calcium carbonate, it mineralizes, and that increases the compressive strength and it permits less cement.

- [Jason] The CarbonCure process was featured on CNN a few years ago when the technology was first adopted.

- [CNN Reporter] But what if there was a way that instead of releasing carbon dioxide, concrete could trap it forever?

- [Jason] In Charlotte, the CarbonCure process is being implemented into construction of the Queensbridge project in South End, as well as the new 25-story residential tower going up in Valentine.

- Thomas in the US has produced, I think in the neighborhood of 6 million yards with the CarbonCure.

So it's been a pretty substantial number.

- [Jason] It's a challenge facing the entire industry, meeting the demands of anticipated infrastructure growth while decarbonizing construction.

Thomas is taking that challenge head on.

- We know that there's gonna be a lot of concrete coming over the next 50, 60 years and we wanna make sure that we, the concrete that we pour has the least amount of environmental impact possible.

- Okay, so that is an incredibly complex story, but thank you for making it easy for us.

One quick question, and I don't pretend to be a scientist.

Can concrete be reused or recycled?

It doesn't seem like it could 'cause it's concrete.

- Yeah, you would think it just ends up in landfills like most other things.

Or maybe at the bottom of the ocean for a coral reef or something like that.

But yeah, concrete actually can be chopped up and crushed and can be used for things like those big highway dividers you see usually in construction zones or foundation layers for roads and highways.

So I actually wouldn't be surprised if recycled concrete is used as repairs are made on Interstates 40 and 26 up in the mountains after portions of those highways were washed away during Hurricane Helene.

Also wanna point out though, Thomas Concrete, they're not the ones who invented this process.

It was by a company called CarbonCure up in Canada, but they're the ones that are implementing it locally and they're actually hoping that other companies will all start to do the same thing as time goes on.

- Thank you for enlightening us.

- Mm-hmm.

My pleasure.

- When you think of Charlotte, exotic animals rarely come to mind.

Just north of the city, in Statesville, you'll find the 87-acre Rescue Ranch.

These exotic animals serve as ambassadors to teach kids important lessons.

"Carolina Impact"s Dara Khaalid and videographer Russ Hunsinger, Take us there for a visit.

- [Worker] Come on in.

(peppy music) - [Dara] It's a day full of brand new emotions for these little ones buzzing around the Rescue Ranch.

(child laughs) There's excitement, shock, and even fear.

- You wanna try?

Would you like to see Mommy try first.

- [Dara] For many of these kids, it's their first time coming face to face with exotic animals like Lucy, the ball python.

- 'Cause most people, at some point in their life, they develop a a fear of snakes, right?

You know, they're the bad guys.

They're gonna bite me, they're gonna bite me.

So do you see her sticking her tongue out like that?

She's sort of sensing who's around her, but I like to tell people that I've never been bit by a snake, but I'm been bitten by many kittens.

Have you ever pet a snake before, Foster?

- [Woman] Pet a snake before?

I know.

- Good job.

- [Dara] As the Humane Education Manager, it's Todd Fowler's job to teach kids like Maddie how to positively interact with these animals and hopefully along the way have them conquer their fears.

- I'm so proud of you.

- [Dara] All of this is part of the vision founder Krissie Newman had when she started the nonprofit back in 2012.

(happy music) - I was just looking for something to make an impact in our community.

I worked with a lot of different humane societies in our area and the educational piece was something I felt was really missing.

- [Dara] Krissie, originally from New Jersey, is a mom of two girls, Brooklyn and Ashland, who share her love for animals.

- [Krissie] It's been awesome to see them as little, tiny kids crawling on the floor, holding snakes or holding one of our Guinea pigs and just, they have no fear now of any animal.

Your scales on the bottom are long and rectangular, and they all move individually.

- [Dara] They were part of her motivation in making sure other kids also understand how important creatures are to our world.

- Say hi.

- It teaches them empathy and compassion and respect for all living things.

And I feel like this day and age with how politics are and how the way of world is and how tough school is for kids, it gets them outside.

It gets them environments where they're putting their phones down and they're connecting with something on a very different level.

- So this is Remy and he is one of our fancy rats is what they're called.

- But the ranch isn't just about people.

It serves as a sanctuary for over 80 animals.

Big and small.

- Do you want to pet?

You can come on over.

Good job.

- [Krissie] All of our animal ambassadors come from different owner surrender situations, hoarding cases, they all have a story.

So after they've been through our program and we use them in our programs, they are here for life.

- You wanna feed him a snack?

- Yep.

- [Dara] Here for life means kids like 7-year-old Andrew Owen get to continue bonding with their furry friends.

- He's autistic.

And so for him, coming into new environments and new spaces can be difficult and he really enjoys all the animals here and all the hands-on sensory time.

- His mom, Erin, says the time he spends with animals at the ranch has taught him a new way of communicating.

- He was nonverbal for several years.

And so animals don't expect you to talk.

And when you don't have words, animals are very accommodating and they're very understanding whereas humans might expect you to respond back.

So him and animals have always had a special bond and he really is calm around them.

- [Dara] And if you step outside... - Otis, come on, come on big boy.

- [Dara] You'll find volunteer Carol Ruxton creating friendships of her own with the barn animals like Otis, the giant Holstein cow.

- I'd like to think that some of the animals have kinda gotten to know me.

And so it's sort of like they depend on you.

And so I think that I'm just hooked.

You're so good.

You're such a beautiful thing.

- [Dara] It's a connection she never knew was possible.

- I lived the bulk of my life in Wisconsin and I never had this kind of opportunity to sort of interact, touch animals.

- [Dara] Now it's a feeling of peace carol can't let go of.

- You can't interact with these animals without a sort of sense of calmness coming over you.

Come on you guys, you can share.

- [Dara] Even something as simple as her feeding the sheep Cheerios, which they love oh so much, helps with the overall goal of the organization.

(sheep bleats) - Physically interacting with them helps them be better ambassadors with the children.

It's the children coming here to learn about the necessity of really caring for animals.

We hope that later in a bigger picture, they take that idea into their lives.

- You got it.

- Which is what keeps moms like Amanda Scott and her 3-year-old son Archie coming back, - Fingers up, ready go.

It's good just to get him out and about and to see animals that you don't normally see, like the snakes and the rats.

So it's just good for him to see all those things in real life rather than just pictures at home.

- Do you wanna hold him?

- [Dara] So whether they're learning to be gentle with a new species... - [Volunteer] See how we have our safety circle right here so that we can keep him nice and cozy and comfortable.

- [Dara] Or happily making new friends.

- [Volunteer] I think you've made a friend.

- [Dara] The folks at the ranch, hope this cycle of kindness continues in the lives of every child that visits.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Dara Khaalid.

- Thank you so much, Dara.

Throughout the year, Rescue Ranch hosts, camps, field trips, and various other educational events for kids.

Up next husband, whittler, blacksmith, storyteller.

These are just a few ways Matthews Renaissance Man Michael Haun describes himself.

Videographer Max Arnold takes us to find out why he was hesitant to include artist on the list, and how journaling changed his perspective.

(bright music) - I'll get up before Carol and I'll come down, I'll hit the teapot and I'll walk in.

I'll just, wherever I'm in the house, I'll go, I'm gonna go sit down and I'll think, what am I gonna do today?

When people say, are you an artist?

I generally say no, but I think like one.

I never thought that I would be an artist where I would put actual paint or or markings on paper.

- Michael, when I first met him, he was playing the guitar and singing and writing songs.

He was a blacksmith.

He was doing all these creative things.

He would never sit down and I just said, you need a hobby.

You smell like metal after being in the blacksmith shop.

And I bought him watercolor supplies.

- And then I had this great laugh, I went, I don't even know what I would paint if I painted something.

And so it started ironically in a moleskin journal with me thinking I was going to go to Washington DC to just journal, didn't have any paint.

And our first museum stop, I picked up this little pack of paints and so I painted this blue softshell crab on the front of a magazine and she looked at it and she said, "You know, that's good."

And I'm thinking, my wife, who was an art major just said this was good.

- Then he painted a little bird and then I said, "But you have to start painting roosters.

Haun means rooster.

You need to kinda get one thing down and then kinda go from there.

- There's something about journaling in watercolor for me it has changed how I think about art.

So I now think of it as a continuous story and a journey where I was.

- What is found is a passion and that he loves to do every day, to now encourage others and he's really good at that.

- Hey folks, Michael here, grandkids call me Rhoo.

Thanks for joining me in the middle of the day.

It is instructional, it's an instructional stream.

They can look and they will see what I do and they'll say, I'll never do that.

Or they'll see what I do and they'll say, oo, I'd like to learn to do that.

So you learn from both sides of the coin again.

I've started on a new journal page.

So are they learning from me?

I hope so.

But am I giving them encouragement to keep on, keeping on?

I have this little story that I use.

I came home from school one time and my dad was in the garden and he was plowing with a mule.

And I said, "You don't know how to plow with a mule."

You know the way an 11-year-old boy would say, "Dad, you don't know how to plow with a mule."

And he goes, "I will when I finish this."

I said, "What do you mean?"

He said, "Just stay behind the mule."

That's part of the process that when people, and I look at my camera, I go, "I want you to know that you can do this, but you have to put your mind to it and you have to stay behind the mule."

That's thinking like an artist.

It's pushing yourself a little bit and getting outta your comfort zone.

This community formed that.

I was expecting people would watch, my thinking like an artist fell a little short.

I didn't know that this community would evolve that was so meaningful to them and me.

Now I think it's a good point to realize that not only are you bringing your art out there sometimes, but exactly what I'm saying to you in my studio when I'm streaming to say, find a bigger circle, I'm asking you to go out and meet with real people.

And so in that case, I have some friends who own a coffee shop, and that's where we are today, Brakeman's.

And so that community that I talk about building online, they build a community here.

So they've asked if some artists would put their local art here.

- The Rhoo wall is our most popular wall and it's to tell people that's a local person that just sits around sketching in the coffee shop and hangs 'em up.

People love it.

- And seeing people get a reality of that in their mind and just go, "I believe I could do this."

That's where you sorta hook the fish.

And I think that's where their life starts to change a little bit.

I mean, the boredom is gone.

I've never been bored a day in my life and I don't intend to leave this planet ever saying I was bored.

It has created patience in me.

It's created a better listener in me.

It's created a lotta things in me art has done, but I really think it's part of who I am as a person, who I am as a believer in God, who I am in just my day to day walk in life.

It's a gift.

I love to share it.

(bright music continues) - Thank you so much, Max.

If you'd like to join Michael for one of his live streams, they happen every Saturday morning on his Rhoo Doodles Facebook page.

Also keep an eye out for announcements about in-person journaling classes.

Well finally tonight, do you remember the excitement of being a part of a school play?

I sure do.

I was Daisy May in "Li'l Abner" my senior year in high school.

Did you ever think, hey, maybe I could act or sing on Broadway?

I did, but just for a short time.

But for many young artists heading off to college isn't about finding their place in the corporate world, but in an artistic one.

"Carolina Impact"s Beatrice Thompson and videographer Marcellus Jones, show us how a Charlotte nonprofit college prep program meets the needs of artistic students.

- [Beatrice] They have dreams of Broadway and the theater.

- It's way deeper than just singing and dancing.

It's about the emotion and the passion that you have to create that art on stage.

- [Beatrice] Dreams of the process of the dance and singing on stage.

- I ended up doing chorus and dancing.

That was like my main two until I got out of high school and I wanted to continue my path into just acting, performing arts and everything.

- [Beatrice] They aspire to higher heights to be a part of actual Broadway productions like the ones emulated by the High School Blumey Awards.

But what happens to students who want to go on to be on that stage professionally?

How do they approach the college life?

The answer?

The Theater Gap Initiative.

- What it really is, is... an opportunity for a shot at having a life in the arts.

What TGI does is we not only build their skills, we build their artistry.

And those are two different things.

- [Beatrice] A lifelong teacher, including an extended teaching stint at Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, Cory Mitchell has also been a performer in the arts field.

Four years ago, he began this nonprofit program as a way to aid students who want bachelor of fine arts degrees in college, but did not know what path to take to achieve their goal.

- Some of the schools that they aspire towards only have about a 2% acceptance rate into their programs.

It is literally happening in their gap year.

So they take a year off between high school and college to work this.

- [Beatrice] The gap year, when many students take time between high school and college, is a time these students are now honing their fine art skills.

It's during the seven month Theater Gap Initiative program that they receive training from Working Professionals Weekly in addition to individual training sessions.

Students are dually enrolled in TGI and CPCC, where all classes take place.

(bluesy music) Dancing, acting, voice work, pre-screens for auditions.

Students also earn college or continuing education credits in music from Central Piedmont.

For Elana, TGI provided the additional artistic lift that she needed.

- I'm not really getting the extensive training that I really need and really want in order to get further into my career.

And so when I heard about this, it was way more beneficial for me as like a student and a person.

- [Beatrice] Yet they know the road they've chosen is not easy.

In 2017, an Actor's Equity study showed that under 8% of principal contracts went to African Americans and less than 2% to Asian Americans.

The goal is to increase the number of working minority professionals.

- My whole life I've been doing theater in Dayton, Ohio, I've been doing different organizations.

And when I heard about this program, I was like, this could be my next step of becoming who I want to be, who I'm destined to be, or who I'm called to be.

So this is like another home for me.

- [Beatrice] Students like Ka'Vaughn come from across the country for this program.

It lasts from August to March at a cost of just over $7,000.

That covers Central Piedmont's tuition, the TGI program and trips to the CAP auditions in St. Louis, as well as attendance to the National Unified Auditions in New York City.

- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

And one.

- One of the reasons why I think it's very important for students in the gap year to take this course is because this is teaching for the camera, acting for the camera.

- [Beatrice] Students also train with noted Hollywood talent.

This session, singer and actress Maria Howell from "The Color Purple" and other movies and television productions.

Lessons in voice and movement for the actor on camera are all in her toolbox for the students.

And her advice make the most of the options they have.

- There are lots of auditioning opportunities and even when they're trying to do, they're auditioning for the performing arts schools, to make the audition process and maximize the effectiveness of that audition, it really helps a lot for them to know the techniques of camera work as opposed to just regular stage work.

- Beatrice Mitchell has done a TEDx talk, says he wants students of color to not be left out of the art scene in college.

And he points out these students bring something with them to this program and to the arts.

- There is a great leveler, which is talent.

You can't buy talent, you can't.

And so there is a mutual respect among the students because the unifying factor is talent.

- [Beatrice] The point of this program is to foster diversity and inclusion within the performing arts industry.

And in case you were wondering just how many have been successful in getting to college.

- Every single student that we've had every year has been accepted and had multiple acceptances to college.

- [Beatrice] If the proof is in the pudding, the Theater Gap Initiative is serving up a first class meal.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Bea Thompson.

- Thank you, Bea.

The organization accepts donations to help students achieve their dreams in the arts at various universities around the country.

We have more information on our website, PBSCharlotte.org.

Before we leave you tonight, I wanna say thank you to the students and parents from the Night Owl Homeschool Newspaper in Fort Mill for being part of our audience.

We love having visitors.

Well, that's all the time we have this evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

We always appreciate your time and look forward to seeing you back here again next time on "Carolina Impact."

Goodnight, my friends.

(bright music) (energetic music) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.