PATTON TOWNSHIP, CENTRE COUNTY - Residents of Patton, Ferguson, College and Harris townships can go green with their Christmas Tress.

The Council of Governments that serves the four townships has teamed up with Veolia Environmental Services, the area's waste contractor, to allow residents to leave their trees with trash so they can be recycled. Last year more than 4,500 trees were used at the Scotia Game Lands as small animal habitats or wind barriers.

If the trees weren't recycled they would most likely be put into a landfill. One supervisor with C.O.G. said the recycling plan is a much greener option.

"The landfill gets filled and covered, so things that are biodegradable have a much more difficult time actually decomposing so they don't decompose as well. Where as here (at the recycling site) over time it will turn back into dirt," Pam Adams said.

Residents need to act fast. The four townships will stop collecting the trees Friday January, 9th.