PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Looking for a fun and environmentally friendly way to get rid of your Christmas tree now that the holiday season is over?
Well, the Philly Goat Project has a solution.
The nonprofit will be hosting its fifth annual fundraiser to recycle Christmas trees naturally, by having 13 of their “ambassador goats” eat them on Saturday, Jan. 7 and Saturday, Jan. 21 from 12-3 p.m. at the Awbury Arboretum farm in Germantown.
All the organization requests is a $20 donation per tree – the goats can handle the rest.
While there, people are welcome to spend time on the farm, roast marshmallows, drink hot chocolate and participate in a goat walk.
Leslie Jackson with the Philly Goat Project said the organization travels throughout Philadelphia and does community building with a focus on animal-assisted therapy, literacy, family wellness and youth job training.
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Jackson explained that their Christmas tree recycling events help support the organization’s year-round free programming while also benefiting the goats.
“So, goats love to eat ... they are looking for anything green they can eat,” Jackson said.
“So what we can do is give them Christmas trees. They are a nice, green substance that they can eat and it will promote their gut health.“
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However, what’s not good for their gut health is leftover tree decorations.
“We do want to ask that people remove all of the decorations from the tree because we don’t want our goats eating those,” Jackson said. “They are not healthy for their guts.”
This year, they expect to collect around 600 trees.
Rain dates for the events are on Sunday, Jan. 8 and Sunday, Jan. 22.