Natalie Soonthornswad

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response – Update to Operations and Hours

in /by

In light of this period of uncertainty with the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we understand that you may have concerns about interactions with the public, including visiting our store.

We have implemented the recommended social distancing measures for the workplace as instructed by the CDC, and will continue to follow the latest recommendations for our community, including limiting hours and customer interactions.

However, we also want to stay open to ensure your pets have access to the food they need. 

Beginning Monday, March 16th, we will only be accepting pick-up orders placed via phone or email. The store will be closed to customers for browsing. The self serve dog wash will also be closed until further notice.

Beginning March 23rd, we will also be adjusting our hours a bit, but staying open longer on Saturdays:

  • Monday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
  • Tuesday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
  • Wednesday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
  • Thursday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
  • Friday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
  • Saturday: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
  • Sunday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

For current customers, follow these steps to place an order:    

  1. Please call or email us ahead of time in order to place your order. 
  2. Payment will be taken over the phone via credit card and we will send you an email confirmation of the purchase. 
  3. Most orders can be ready the same day, but it will be helpful if you call ahead so we can give you an approximate pick-up time. 
  4. Our staff will be packaging orders wearing gloves and using cardboard boxes. None of our staff has been traveling internationally, out of state, or to the mountains.
  5. Your order will be ready for pick-up at our front door, or we’ll help you load it in your car if you prefer.
  6. If you are sick and do not have the ability to pick up your food, let us know and we will try to accommodate your needs with at home delivery.
  7. If your animal has specific food requirements please touch base with us ASAP so we can ensure you have the food you need.   

For new customers, or those looking for additional guidance:

  • We are happy to discuss your pet nutrition questions over the phone or email. We’ll also be looking at expanding our video chat options in the coming weeks, as needed.

Based on national and international trends, and as the number of COVID-19 cases in Colorado continues to rise, it’s fair to assume we’ll need to provide these limited operations for at least the next couple of weeks. 

We’ll continue to follow recommended guidelines and best practices for our community, and will adjust as needed to help keep each other safe.

Thanks and please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Phone: 303-604-1300

Email: Eat@TheHappyBeast.com

Natalie Soonthornswad

Discontinuing Single-Use Plastic Cat Food Pouches

in /by

Sustainability and reducing our plastic use is a very important goal at The Happy Beast. Unfortunately, this is not an easy task to accomplish in the pet food industry. However, we still feel strongly that it is an important goal to strive towards, which is why we are discontinuing our single-use plastic cat food pouches.

Single-use plastic pouches have been growing in popularity over the past 5 years as an alternative to canned foods. This is because pouches are supposed to retain the flavor of the food better than a typical aluminum can since no heat is used in the sterilization process. However, this relatively small benefit to flavor has come at a significant cost to our environment.

The problem with these types of single-use plastic pouches is that they are made up of several different kinds of plastic and cannot be easily separated and recycled by most recycling facilities. In fact, the only way we’ve found to recycle these pouches is to send them to a New Jersey based company called TerraCycle that specializes in hard-to-recycle materials. 

While TerraCycle is a great option, many people can’t afford to implement a similar program into their homes, or just do not have the means to do so (e.g. Living in an apartment complex, restrictive HOA, etc.). Even with TerraCycle as an option, these pouches often create more wasted resources because they need to be thoroughly cleaned out, rinsed, and dried in order to recycle them. 

And all that effort is just for the pouches that are recycled! Unfortunately, the vast majority of single-use pouches are simply thrown into the trash where they end up in landfills or in the environment. can clog storm drains, harm wildlife, and even end up in our food as we consume animals that have ingested plastic products.

According to the UN, “plastic packaging accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste globally.” and it is estimated that 79% of all plastic waste produced is now in landfills, 12% has been incinerated, and 9% has been recycled.

Conversely, aluminum cans are 100% recyclable and can be recycled almost indefinitely. Unfortunately, as a society, we currently only recycle about 50% of the aluminum used in consumer products, but that’s primarily due to a lack of education and infrastructure rather than a limitation of the material. What’s more, in Boulder County, all of the aluminum pet food cans we carry at The Happy Beast can be recycled through single-stream recycling services, which are available to nearly all residential and commercial buildings.

Overall, we feel that discontinuing single-use plastic pet food pouches in favor of aluminum cans is simply our next step towards reaching our sustainability goals. We plan to discontinue carrying all pouches by Earth Day 2020. We will continue to provide a variety of food and packaging alternatives for our customers to try, in order to help you find the best option for your pet. As always, we want to help provide the best possible nutrition options for your pets, and simply want to do our part to lessen the impact on the environment and improve our sustainability.

Feel free to reach out to us at eat@thehappybeast.com with any questions or concerns. Thanks!

Additional Resources