The Good Tribe would like to welcome Zora Göschl to the Zero Waste Jam team. Zora is full of energy, solutions and knowledge how to best package our precious jam. She currently resides in Vienna, Austria.

Hello Zora!

What is your role in Zero Waste Jam? I apply my design skills wherever they are needed. Recently I did the package design for the first run of jam jars. Now I work on the logo and other corporate design basics.

What was the most challenging about our jam packaging? It needs to be very flexible: different jar shapes and sizes, different flavors ... even different manufacturers and locations to come in the future. Still I tried to find a one-fits-all solution to keep it simple and within the budget.

You're a packaging designer, what does that mean, and how does one become one?  A packaging designer develops and improves product packages. This takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining different fields: product design, mechanical engineering, marketing, graphic design, printmaking and logistics. Most packaging designers come from one of those backgrounds and then get further skills.

That means you're really passionate about packaging and design, elaborate, please.  Well, I really like to question things and see if I can find a better way. It's like a game that I play with myself and others: How can I improve everyday things that are disregarded by most people, like packaging. I find additional inspiration in specialized blogs and literature, in other design fields, in visual arts, and in nature. These sources never fail to surprise me with stunning new approaches.

Here are some of my favorite blogs for inspiration: Exploring the cultural role of packaging – sometimes enlightening, sometimes weird, always entertaining Stunning paper craft Fresh ideas from design students Packaging innovations served with a profound technical background Thoughts about sustainable packaging from outside the box Rich source of patterns, shapes and colors with an emphasis on 'undesigned design'

How can packaging and design be connected to sustainability and zero waste?  One could write books on that topic. Some already did, but I'll try to keep it short. Packaging can harm our environment and our health in many ways. Not only when being disposed of, but also during production, and transportation. But packaging can also keep goods fresh for a longer period of time, and it can carry information that enables customers to make better decisions.

It is a big challenge to get an overview, and compare the various impacts and find the most responsible solution. A basic strategy in sustainable packaging production is to use small-scale and local resources. What you get is highly individual products, which often require likewise individual packaging solutions. I'm not saying that designers alone can make a change, but if society demands sustainable packaging I believe that design is the key to it.