At COMO Cocoa Island, luxury and sustainability go hand-in-hand: from menus built around fresh, locally-sourced ingredients to innovative waste reduction solutions across our guest accommodation and restaurants. We are dedicated to preserving the beauty of our island while supporting our local community to flourish.
We were certified Silver by EarthCheck in December 2024, recognising our commitment to both environmental and social responsibilityboth environmental and social responsibility both environmental and social responsibility. This award celebrates not only the steps we’ve already taken to limit our environmental impact, but our promise to keep protecting our environment for years to come, preserving it for future generations.
Your sustainability journey at COMO Cocoa Island begins the moment you set foot on our shores with a digital check-in process that is as efficient as it is eco-friendly.
We have introduced paperless check-in to enhance sustainability and convenience. Guests can now check in online before arrival or choose to complete paperless check-in at the front desk. Here, you only need to present your passport for verification and to finalise the deposit guarantee before being shown to their room.
By transitioning to this paperless system, we save approximately 25 pages per day, totalling around 9,125 pages a year.
As a guest at COMO Cocoa Island, you help us achieve our sustainability goals, whether that’s by reusing linens and towels, or by making use of our refillable in-room COMO Shambhala products.
To support our energy and water-saving initiatives, we encourage guests to reuse their linens and towels throughout their stay. Unless a change is specifically requested, we only replace linens and towels every third day. This practice has led to a 54 per cent reduction in linen use annually, which translates to a saving of 154,048 linens.
Our COMO Shambhala products and amenities are crafted from high-grade essential oils and all-natural ingredients. Free from parabens and sodium lauryl sulphate, they are not only gentle on your skin but also environmentally friendly.
To further minimise waste, we provide refillable bottles for our in-room COMO Shambhala toiletry products – including shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and body lotion. With approximately 314 bottles used across all 33 villas and public areas, we save over 114,610 single-use plastic bottles annually.
Whether it’s by bottling our own drinking water in eco-friendly glass bottles, or through introducing innovative edible straws as an alternative to plastic, we strive to minimise the waste our restaurants generate, providing our guests with a truly sustainable dining experience.
We have taken a significant step on our sustainability journey by replacing traditional paper and plastic straws with innovative edible alternatives made from rice and starch. Previously, our resort consumed an average of 30 straws per day, resulting in an annual waste of about 10,950 plastic straws. By making this change, we not only reduce plastic waste but also contribute to a more sustainable future.
Edible straws are fully biodegradable and safe for consumption, meaning they not only serve as an eco-friendly option, but also add a unique touch to our guests’ experience.
We desalinate our own drinking water, bottling it in reusable glass bottles that are sanitised after every use. This initiative eliminates single-use plastics, reduces transportation needs, and halts the arrival of plastic water bottles to the island, supporting a more sustainable resort operation.
We are repurposing all used coffee capsules for use on our plantations and have recently transitioned to using coffee powder, helping us to further minimise waste from coffee capsules.
Our team work hard behind the scenes to reduce our water and energy consumption, ensuring our carbon footprint is kept to a minimum and the beauty of our island is preserved for future generations.
By switching to 99 per cent LED lighting across our resort, we have saved approximately 72,270 kilowatt hours of energy annually, lowering the resort's carbon footprint and cutting operating costs.
We have installed 100 per cent low-flow taps in all 33 of our over-water villas. This simple change helps reduce water usage by up to 20 per cent, ensuring that every stay not only offers comfort but also contributes to a greener planet.
At COMO Cocoa Island, our commitment to sustainability is reflected in both our marine conservation efforts, and through projects that empower the generous local community, of which we are proud to be a part.
Since launching our coral propagation project in September 2013, we have made significant strides in restoring our reef. We’ve strategically deployed 245 coral frames across areas of dead coral rubble, using an innovative honeycomb structure to stabilise the substrate and provide a strong foundation for coral growth.
We organise quarterly beach cleaning efforts to align with significant environmental occasions like Earth Day and World Environment Day. Through these initiatives, we successfully remove up to 10 tonnes of waste per year from our beaches, including: organic waste like dead seaweed mixed with trash and decomposing plant material; metal waste such as aluminium cans and rusted metal pieces; fishing gear, including hooks, nets, lines and plastic bottles.
Our team celebrate multiple global impact days every year, including reef cleaning events for World Ocean Day, and getting active on World Mental Health Day with a mini Olympics.
In 2023 and 2024, we supported Manta Trust, who aim to empower women, girls and children in the Maldives by teaching them to swim and snorkel, improving their ocean confidence and access to socio-economic opportunities.
In 2023, we raised US$796.64 (increased to US$1,593.28 through the COMO Challenge Grant) and so far in 2024 we have raised US$898.00 (increased to US$1,796.00).
The COMO Challenge Grant encourages deeper community investment across all COMO hotels and resorts. COMO Foundation matches any funds raised by individual properties (up to US$2,000), leaving a positive impact on communities across the world.
We work with local suppliers to source the freshest seasonal ingredients, ensuring we provide the best, most responsible produce for our guests whilst championing our community.
The majority of our fish is sourced from local island fishermen working close to the resort. This ensures that we are supporting the community whilst providing fresh, sustainable seafood for our guests.
We source as many ingredients as possible from local suppliers. By championing local producers, we reduce transportation and minimise carbon emissions, ensuring that each ingredient arrives at your table as fresh as it is eco-conscious.
For our staff cafeteria, we also source ingredients from a small local enterprise, supporting it to grow. Products include Rihakuru (fish sauce), mas mirus (chili paste), lonu mas (coconut and chili paste), valhowmas (smoked tuna) and havaadhu (Maldivian spice mix).
For more information on our sustainability initiatives, please reach out to como.approach@comohotels.com.
