Photo of a laptop and notepad on a rock on the Moors

Cosmic cuts 60,000 driving miles during Covid-19 lockdown

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Cosmic logoDevon-based social enterprise Cosmic has cut 60,000 miles of driving during lockdown by transitioning to virtual skills training delivery. The company has a vision to inspire people to achieve success in the digital world, and has used the Covid-19 situation to alter the way they support communities in Devon and Somerset.

Over the course of 3 months since early March 2020, Cosmic has ceased all road travel. Ordinarily, the forty-strong team of Digital Skills Trainers, Technicians and Developers travel thousands of miles around the counties of the South West – helping businesses and communities to develop new digital skills.

Cosmic has become increasingly aware of the Carbon Footprint of this process, and has big ambitions to reduce their impact. In 2019, they planted 400 trees around Dartmoor to offset the unavoidable programme of travel, whilst accepting that offsetting alone would not be sufficient to minimise the harm to the environment.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, they have taken advantage of the lockdown, transitioning all face-to-face digital skills training and services to virtual sessions. The popularity has been enormous, with hundreds of small-business owners from the South West attending online courses over the ten weeks.

The result has been a saving of:

  • 60,000 miles of commuting and business travel – not driven
  • And 20 tonnes of CO2 – not released into the atmosphere
  • It would take 40 mature oak trees a year to capture this much carbon

The Covid-19 situation has accelerated Cosmic’s ambitions to become greener. Even if social distancing were fully removed, the Company aims to deliver more of its training remotely and significantly reduce staff-travel. Cosmic now wants to encourage all industries to rebuild themselves in a greener, more sustainable way.

The cost saving for Cosmic has been enormous. If other organisations could realise similar savings, the surplus funds could be utilised to enhance investment in digital resources and digital skills for staff, future-proofing businesses & organisations in our region.