The founding principles of Cosy were to move away from plastic consumable products that dominated the education market, and instead move towards natural, outdoor focused resources, designed to foster a love of the great outdoors. With this comes a desire to protect and respect the natural world, and ensure that future generations could enjoy it as much as they had.

 It was with these ideals that Pete and Amanda rented a tiny office near the cathedral in derby and juggled raising their children with growing and developing the business. 

Sustainable

Since these humble origins, Cosy has grown exponentially- employing over 100 people, selling over 4000 individual product lines, and operating in over 30 countries. This growth has necessitated 5 moves, thousands of hours of hard work, and copious amounts of coffee. 

sustainable
queens-award

Yet, despite this growth, the business has maintained its environmentally focused ethos- even when it makes business operations more challenging. From developing entirely new supply chains for the distribution of upcycled resources, to investment in complete product redesign to lower the material needs of our wooden products- The environment and natural world have become one of the businesses most important shareholders. 

sustainable

The success of the business has also allowed us to invest in a number of sustainable advancements. The move from Derby into our new site in rural Staffordshire has allowed us more opportunities to go greener. Motion sensors to prevent unnecessary electricity usage, sky lights to ensure we use as much natural light as possible, fully recyclable gum tape to seal all our boxes, and most recently an 88kWp solar array, the generation of which will help us offset 15 tonnes of carbon per annum. We’ve pushed for some smaller developments, such as investing in a bee hive, and rewilding an area to increase biodiversity. 

One of the most important efforts we’ve undertaken is the continuous monitoring of our carbon footprint. This is published in our annual ESG report- and is an invaluable tool in the plight to be more environmentally friendly. Knowing where our greatest impacts are have helped focus our efforts into the right direction. 

These are just the beginning of our efforts to reach our next big goal- Net Zero. By 2025 we aim to decrease the carbon produced in the running of our business as much as possible and offset the rest through accredited schemes. Work on this project is being significantly aided with the help of Keele University and their Smart Energy Network Demonstrator scheme, which provides business expert advice on sustainability related topics. 

We realise we still have a long way to go in the plight of being sustainable, but the acknowledgment of our efforts an organisation as prestigious as the Department for Business, Energy and Industry means the world to us. Recognition of best practice, especially in a field as cooperation driven as Sustainability is crucial. It allows others to follow our lead, and in doing so benefits the entire planet. 

Thanks again to the deciding panel of the Queens award, and thank you for reading. 

If you’re interested in what you can do to become more sustainable, or are interested in what else Cosy has done in its efforts- please contact me at Theo@cosydirect.com

Don’t forget to share your activities with us on our social channels!

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/cosydirect/
Twitter:https://twitter.com/cosydirect
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/cosydirect/