Skip to main content

Everyday Shwop Shop


Marks and Spencer (M&S) brought us the concept of Shwopping in April – via adverts featuring Joanna Lumley.  The concept has seen boxes (Shwop Drops) placed in all of their shops and in Oxfam shops too – where customers can place their unwanted clothes (from any brand).  These items are then either reused or recycled.  M&S have reported that in the first six months of the scheme more than two million items have been shwopped – diverting  865 tonnes of textiles from disposal and raising over £1.5m for Oxfam.

In fact M&S have now put on sale a cost made from wool donated through the shwop scheme.  This too isn’t a new thing either - years ago people used the wool from outgrown jumpers or woollen items with holes in and knitted new items with the yarn.  So not only are M&S recycling and reusing clothing they are recycling old ideas too – and why shouldn’t they?  The modern twist is working for them and helping the environment too.

We must remember though that this is not a new idea– we have all had clothes that our parents got from jumble sales (or as we like to call them today: “nearly new sales”) and we have all had hand-me-downs from family members.  Many people are also at home with putting their unwanted textiles into Local Authority kerbside boxes or taking them to bring banks.  In fact the whole idea of reusing clothes is an everyday notion nowadays – we donate things to charity shops or are happy to leave bags outside for charitable collections.  So what can M&S’s success be put down to?  There is no reward for the shwopee apart from the little ‘lift’ they might feel from “doing the right thing”.  Is it that they advertised the idea or that they have provided the householder with another outlet – one that may not have the stigma of those previously mentioned?

A recent report from WRAP stated that clothing sent to landfill every year was worth £140 million.  M&S estimated that 1 in 4 items of clothing sold in the UK end up in landfill.  So who is it that still isn’t recycling or reusing or donating or shwopping?  If it is you, why not, what is stopping you – it costs you nothing….

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

100 Sad Days: Day 29 La La La

Not all abuse in a relationship is physical. Just like all illnesses are not obvious. Although they are "mental" it doesn't make them any less significant.   An Open Letter: Your words are often harsh and I let them float over my head. I know it's not you thinking. It's alcohol, it's tiredness, it's money, it's family, it's drugs, its work, it's whatever excuse I decide to label it with to move on. Sometimes they cut so deep. Putting small cracks in my heart that need love to  fill the gaps. When this happens forgiveness takes a little longer.  When it is constant the opposite happens and I pull down the shutters. I stop feeling. I stop caring. I am numb. This is when I want to never wake up.  And then there are the unforgivable things. The venomous words spat from your mouth. Not in anger. Not in rage. Just in hate and apathy.  What do I do with those?  Where do I go from there?

Mum's Got Cancer; Part Four

Can we ask just one thing of you:- Please stop asking me how Mum is.  I know you mean well and you honestly do care; you want to know that she is ok: but we can't tell you that. In fact we are tired of having to repeat ourselves and remind ourselves that Mum isn't going to get better.  That this is it.  That we can't help her but can on;y make her comfortable. Maybe ask how I am, or if there is anything you can do, or just give us a hug.  Maybe just squeeze our shoulder and don't say anyhting.  If we want to talk, I promise, we will.  Sometimes, like my Blog, it is cathartic.  Other times it hurts in a way I cannot explain. The best thing to do is send a message, a text, an email, and if/when we feel like it we will respond.  Forgive us if we see you are calling and cannot take your call.  It is tiring, emotionally, to drag our way through a conversation we do not want to have. We know you care and we don't want to appear rude but...

I Hate Smoking

Let's be honest: it's a mug's game. My main memories of my Granny are of her with a cigarette in hand, of being sent to the "cabin" to buy her mentholated Dunhill. Add to that the memory of my time with my Dad shared always with a cigarette - one after the other. Of the chorus of coughing in the mornings and of now watching him struggle, with COPD, knowing this is a terminal illness that was brought upon himself. Supposedly my Grandma died of old age (but i reckon it was the cancer that got her first) and despite my Dad giving up smoking over eight years ago the years of damage have taken their toll. I chose a path away from cigarettes and I don't mind telling people how stupid I think they are for smoking - friends, family, strangers. We are all touched by cancer at some point and I recently got the all clear after twelve long years of close attention. I am thankful that it was caught before I needed anything other than day treatment and b...