'Tis the season for taking your Christmas tree out of your home and donating it to a good cause. 

Throughout the Pittsburgh region, signs have gone up at designated locations across several municipalities, encouraging people to recycle their Christmas trees free of charge.

Aside from mulching and composting trees, as many communities in our area do, often giving that mulch away for free to people in the spring, according to the Arbor Day Foundation, Christmas trees that are recycled can become a refuge for fish in lakes, habitats for birds in parks. They can even be used as barriers along waterways to help prevent soil erosion.

And as if those were not good enough reasons to recycle your tree, how about the fact that some animals love to eat them?

Enter, Allegheny GoatScape, a 501(c)(3) charity organization just north of Pittsburgh, which on Saturday, Jan. 3 and Saturday, Jan. 17, is carrying on its tradition of having trees be dropped off for their dozens of munching mammals to enjoy.

KDKA-TV spoke with executive director Gavin Deming in 2024 about this project, and he said that when it comes to Christmas tree disposal, feeding them to goats was kind of a no-brainer.

"We found that actually Christmas trees are an amazing snack for goats in the middle of winter," Deming said. "They're green, they provide a lot of vitamin C, and they actually serve as a natural dewormer for the goats."

Any trees, either being donated for animals or just to a local township or borough, should be out of any bags and stripped of all their ornaments and lights.

If you would like more information on where you can recycle Christmas Trees in your area, check online with your local municipality.

For more information about Allegheny GoatScape and their tree donation program, click here.