Sustainability

Rethinking how and what we consume


The Dog Grocer prides itself as Singapore’s first sustainabilty concept pet food store. As pet owners ourselves, we recognise how big a part our pets play in our lives (“They eat better than us”! Sounds familiar?). While we advocate good pet nutrition and species appropriate diets for our pets, we realise that sustainability, another passion of ours, extends beyond our own materialistic consumption. “Going green” is neither a fad nor merely a buzzword. It is a lifestyle change (even if it means baby steps!). It should permeate all domains of our lives. It requires conscious choices and rethinking how and what we (produce and) consume.

With our common vision for a circular and sustainable economy, individuals came together and worked on TDG – focusing on building a community of other like-minded pet parents who are conscious consumers. Individual choices may not seem like much in the face of this current disaster, but with more and more of us making small changes, we will collectively push towards greater change.

As aptly put by Anne-Marie Bonneau,
“we don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”

Be a part of our collective efforts in paving the way towards zero waste!

 

Sustainabilty

Conscious choices

Food Sources

TDG curates and partners reputable importers to source for ethically raised, grass fed and/or free range animals, where possible. Seafood is wild caught (with exceptions where farmed are more desirable for food safety, eg. shellfishes) and sourced from MSC certified fisheries, where possible, to ensure sustainable fishing practices.

This does not only have implications on how the animals were raised and slaughtered, but impacts the nutritional profiles of their meat.

reducing food waste

TDG’s poultry is sourced from local initiatives that redistribute unsold or “ugly” food to restaurants and caterers. These meats are often unsold because these suppliers are overstocked or the parts are “ugly” – they fall short of cosmetic requirements that are very superficial, such as imperfect cuts of whole breasts, wrong sizing or minor labeling errors. However, these human grade meats are still equally nutritious and perfectly fit for consumption.

This helps with food waste which is a problem in Singapore where we toss about 800,000 tonnes of food every year

Home Compostable Packaging

TDG vets our food packaging based on both its quality and environmental impact. Using bags made from rice, potatoes and corn derivatives blended with a copolymer, our packaging is food grade and home compostable. With every purchase you make, you are avoiding a single-use plastic.

awareness

While there are “green” companies who make claims such as using recyclable plastics, the fact is, most plastics CAN be recycled! However, only 4% end up getting recycled in 2019 (according to NEA).

Follow our journey on social media as we bust some myths, share zero waste tips and talk about how we incorporate sustainable living in both our products and various aspects of our lives.

 

How To Compost Your TDG Packaging And Turn Them Into Fertiliser

Step 1: Save all your plastic-free home compostable packaging from TDG! Please do not dump them in the trash bin – they will break down in landfills without oxygen, producing methane that is harmful. Please do not dump them in recycling bins – this might contaminate other recyclables.

Step 2: Rinse them thoroughly with water and leave them to dry.

Step 3: Cut them into pieces and start composting them at home! Unlike some compostable bags that require facilities with specific industrial composting conditions (which we do not have in Singapore, and end up having to incinerate them!), TDG’s packaging is certified home compostable. Add them in your garden, home compost bins or vermicompost to turn them into nutrient rich and natural fertilisers!

Step 4: Unable to compost at home? Collect them and mail them back to us! While we seek the community’s efforts to play your part and go through a slight hassle of rinsing these bags and mailing them back, we in turn pledge to do our part in actively collecting these bags to ensure they get composted and returned in a circular economy. A little effort on our part goes a long way for our planet!

Join us on our journey and watch what other plans we have in mind!

Questions? Talk to us!

Packaging Policy

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle

Reducing Packaging Waste, One Box a Time

The Dog Grocer is proud to be part of the Zero Waste Packaging Initiative which is a ground-up movement started to encourage businesses to adopt a circular packaging system, provide support and recognize businesses who reduce their waste through those means.