Instead of leaving your tree on the curb after the holidays, you could feed it to some very hungry goats in Philadelphia, reported WHYY.
The Philly Goat Project collects real Christmas trees each year after families have finished taking off the ornaments. Its herd happily nibbles on the donated evergreens during the colder months, giving them nutritious green food when the surrounding landscape has gone dormant, and food isn't readily available.
The goats can devour approximately 600 trees in a single winter. The organization asks for a $20 donation with each tree, and that money funds programs at no cost to participants, including youth workforce development, therapy sessions with the animals, and nature-based learning.
The remaining wood finds another use, too. Those pieces are processed into chips, which then get spread along park pathways and distributed to neighborhood garden plots across the city.
For you, donating your tree is a simple way to divert waste from the landfill while supporting local animals and urban green spaces. The goats get a tasty winter treat, local trails stay well-covered, and neighborhood gardens receive mulch for planting beds.
The collection events also serve as a celebration, where visitors can warm up with complimentary cocoa and s'mores. Attendees also get to hand-feed the animals, something the organization doesn't usually allow.
"It's a sustainability festival. … We have a few thousand people come and enjoy the festivities and make themselves at home," said Karen Krivit, the organization's executive director, known as the Goat Mom, per WHYY.
Operations director Leslie Jackson explained the value for the animals, according to WHYY: "Having something nice and beautiful and green to eat when it looks brown all around is really, really good for the goats. So we can give them delicious, green things throughout the season all the way up until May."
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