Nothing says the holidays are over like a dry Christmas tree. Instead of putting trees in the trash, Bonton Farms in South Dallas is inviting people to recycle them as a post-holiday feast for their goat herd.
"This would probably be the turkey or the dressing," Bonton Farms Farm Lead Ty Bowman said laughing. "If it's like a fir tree, it'll have Frasier oil; it's a natural chemical within fir trees. It works as a natural anti-humectant, which gets rid of parasites and worms."
So one person's trash is a Bonton Farms goat's treasure.
"A lot of people don't know what to do with their trees, so we chose to give them a second life and come up with some ways to use them," Bonton Farms Director of Guest Experience Savannah Nordstrom said. "Trees that are in their natural state is what we're really looking for, so sometimes people spray flocking on them to give them that snowy effect. That's actually hazardous for animals and not great for the environment."
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Bonton Farms can also use recycled trees to whittle walking canes, repair fence posts, and make cleaning solutions.
"A lot of good usages that we can use instead of just sending them to landfills or bottom of lakes," Bowman said. "We have to be very intentional about our environmental stewardship and making sure we are recycling as much as we can."
Donated recycled trees should be flocking-free, and have string, tags, and ornaments removed. Bonton Farms is accepting trees through January 18. Anyone who donates can get 10 percent off at the Bonton Farms Coffee Shop.
