University of Southampton

Guest blog by Amy Paraskeva, SUSU Ethical and Environmental Officer

The first Swap Shop of the year is just around the corner and it’s even more exciting than ever! Swap Shop has been running since 2013, where students and staff could donate their old unwanted clothes in exchange for new ones.

This year it will be held on Monday the 30^th of November from 12:00 until 15:00 in SUSU (Building 42) Meeting Rooms 1 and 2 – that’s on level 1 by the squash courts, just follow the signs.

So how does it work? Simple!

• Drop off your items at the SUSU concourse (Building 42) from 8:30am – 11:00am. Swap Shop helpers who will take your items and weigh them and give you tokens for each item donated (up to a maximum of 10).
• Return between 12:00-15:00 to exchange your tokens for new items!

Ensure that your items are clean and in good condition before donation. Items being accepted this year include clothes, shoes and accessories for: women, men, children and fancy dress. This year also sees the introduction of non-clothing items: books, CDs, DVDs and games. So long as they are still in working order and good condition you will be able to swap them.

If you don’t have anything to donate, or want to get more items than you have tokens for you can buy an item for just 50p. This year the money raised will be donated to garment worker’s rights charity Labour Behind the Label. The charity works with people working in factories to produce the clothes we wear to negotiate better wages, fairer hours and safer working conditions all over the world. All unclaimed items will be donated to British Heart Foundation.

Fancy helping out?

Swap Shop is entirely run by volunteers and we could use your help. If you are staff or student and have some time on the day volunteer and you’ll get first dibs!

Just click here.

But why bother?

Swap Shop was set up with the aim to combat the throwaway consumerism, or ‘fast fashion’, mentality that surrounds clothes, and swapping your clothes doesn’t just save money. Buying fewer clothes means fewer materials used for manufacturing, less carbon dioxide emitted from transporting goods, fewer pesticides and herbicides put on cotton crops that can damage the environment. All in all, it’s better for your wallet and better for the planet!