Wondering where to shop for Plastic Free July? Our Green Business Directory is the place to look! This month, we are featuring North Carolina’s plastic-reducing businesses through our Instagram and blogs, and we’re excited to share these wonderful shops with you!

Today’s featured business is Part & Parcel, a Durham-based, package-free store that strives to provide sustainable products while sustaining the community. They advocate for neurodiversity through “inclusive employment while seeking to reduce packaging waste and contribute to equitable food systems”. Their website defines neurodiversity as “the idea that neurological differences, like ADHD, Autism, or Dyslexia, are the result of normal, natural variation in the human genome.”

While the majority of your shopping at Part & Parcel can be done online, they are now offering in-person shopping sessions by appointment. You can buy bulk grocery, home cleaning supplies, personal care products, and more. Part & Parcel is largely locally sourced, featuring a diverse collection of North Carolina vendors including black-owned and women-owned businesses. When selling their products, they always prioritize eco-friendly growing practice and access to quality ingredients for all.

Fillaree: a women-owned, Durham-based, zero-waste soap company featured on Part & Parcel’s website.

Lizzie’s All-Natural Products: a black-owned, Winston-Salem based skincare business featured on Part & Parcel’s website.

We spoke with Part & Parcel’s owner, T Land, about key points that make the store so unique.

Q: What is your favorite part about running PnP?

T: So much is my favorite. It is a blend of all the things I am passionate about. I love making connections with new people (employees, customers, vendors, people in the neighborhood) and creating community. I love being a part of someone’s discovery of something – a new way of being, a new perspective, a new understanding, and I love that I get that back through the interaction too.

Q: We love how PnP is a champion of both sustainability and neurodiversity. Can you describe what this intersectionality has meant to you?

T: It is all sustainability to me. We hope our work sustains all people, sustains our community, in the context of promoting practices that sustain the Earth.

Q: I’m fascinated by your website’s use of the term “away” to represent America’s endless relationship with waste. What vision do you have for the future of waste and how the term away can be redefined?

T: Preventing and reducing waste should be considered first, before designing, before manufacturing, before stocking, before purchasing. What is being leftover and where will it go? When specifically talking about packaging, reuse and recirculation is the future. With these concepts, there isn’t an “away”, there is a “for next time”. The systems that are in place now were built intentionally, to create convenience, productivity, and to make “away” feel complete. It is going to take great intention to undo that.

Q: What advice would you give to someone getting started with living zero waste/plastic free?

T: You don’t have to make a lot of changes at once to make a difference in your household. Just start with one thing. Do that until it feels like just a part of what you do, then add something else. Just keep doing that.

Part & Parcel is run by the Autism Support and Advocacy Center, a nonprofit organization that has been serving the community since 2010. Find out more here!