Giving Compass' Take:

• Grant Trahant at Causeartist highlights Vera, a new platform that allows members to easily offset their plastic foodprint for $3/month. 

• How does waste management, or lack there of, contribute to ocean plastic and pollution? How can donors and philanthropists make an impact on this front? 

• Learn about these can do-it-yourself processing machines that combat plastic pollution. 

Every year, an estimated 14 billion pounds of plastic and waste ends up in our oceans, by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in our seas. We as consumers, entrepreneurs, and creatives, have the ability to combat this problem and use are consumer power and skills to make significant impact.

We can shop more consciously and sustainable, we can donate to environmental causes, and volunteer at eco organizations and events. Of course sometimes this can be a bit overwhelming on how to use your dollars to actually support the cause you care about. This is why, when I discovered Vera, I was immediately attracted to the idea of subscribing to make impact on a cause I truly cared about.

Below is a Q&A with the founders of Vera, Luca and James, on the origins of Vera, how it works, and it’s mission to make saving our oceans as easy as buying a cup of coffee.

How did the idea of Vera come to be, what was the light bulb moment?
There were two light bulb moments. The first happened as our Instagram page @visualsofearth began to grow a large following. As our audience of photographers and nature enthusiasts began to grow, we felt we had a responsibility to bring awareness towards Earth’s major environmental issues. We just weren’t sure how to go about it at the time.

Read the full article about the platform Vera by Grant Trahant at Causeartist.