What is shwopping?
• Shwopping is about bringing an old item of clothing into an M&S store with you (even if it’s not from M&S) each time you come to buy something new. You can put your old items into a ‘Shwop Drop’ box (you’ll find these by the tills in most stores). All clothing goes to our partners Oxfam and then they either resell it in one of their stores or on their website, forward it on to those who need it in the Third World, or recycle the fibres to make new material (which businesses like M&S can make into new clothes). Absolutely nothing goes to landfill. Oxfam will use the money raised to help people around the world overcome poverty.

Where can I shwop?
• You can shwop at all M&S clothing stores, including M&S Outlets. Click here for a full list of participating stores. At this point in time unfortunately the scheme will not include Simply Food stores.

When can I shwop?
• Shwopping is now a permanent fixture in our stores, so any time your local store is open, you can go shwopping!

Can I shwop online?
• Not currently. However, we are looking for ways to make this happen, so watch this space!

What can I shwop? Do I have to bring back M&S clothes?
• You can shwop any item of clothing, whether M&S or non-M&S, including shoes, handbags, jewellery and bras (these are particularly valuable to Oxfam as they are very much in demand in the Third World). Remember, even if can’t be sold on, the fibres may be perfect for recycling – so don’t ignore those holey jumpers – shwop them! You can choose to shwop a single item or multiple items.

What happens to my clothes?
• All clothes shwopped at M&S are given to Oxfam. Oxfam then:
• • Resells clothes – in shops, online, at festivals or through overseas enterprises, like Frip Ethique in Senegal.
• • Reuses clothes – garments that can’t be worn again are sold to designers who restyle them for use in new collections.
• • Recycles clothes – even if they don’t make the grade, old clothes are never sent to landfill. Instead, they’re sold in bulk to reprocessing companies where they could be reborn as mattress filling, carpet underlay or as a last resort, incinerated. Some of the garments will even be turned in to new fibres for use in new garments.
• • Not a stitch is wasted – every penny raised helps fight poverty around the world.

What is the issue with clothes going into landfill?
• Approximately 500,000 tonnes or 1 billion items of clothing are sent to landfill each year - that’s 114,000 per hour. Neither the planet’s landfill sites, nor its resources, are infinite and we know that placing unwanted clothing items into the bin (and therefore into landfill) when they could be recycled or re-used – is not sustainable. We hope this project will help see a move away from ‘disposable’ fashion where we throw away clothes when we’ve had enough of them.

Do I need to buy something?
• No, you can just bring your item/s in and drop it in the Shwop Drop.

So are you saying that we should buy fewer clothes?
• Shwopping is about challenging and changing the way we all shop. We’re not asking you to stop buying clothes, rather aiming to create a ‘buy one, give one’ culture, where reusing, recycling or reselling old clothes becomes the norm. Half a million tonnes of clothing end up in UK landfill every year and we all agree this can’t continue. So instead of storing up problems for tomorrow, M&S is calling on the UK to become a nation of shwoppers, where we breathe new life into and reuse old wardrobe favourites.

What about other charity shops?
• Shwopping is about encouraging people to think more about what they do with their old unwanted clothes and trying to help reduce the millions of clothes that are thrown away every year. People will always buy new clothes from an array of shops and we want people to take old clothes back to us or to Oxfam or to any other charity shop. We hope that this will raise awareness of the landfill issue, and encourage charity shop donations and increased recycling of textiles in the UK.

Why are M&S doing it?
• We have run One Day Wardrobe Clear-outs over the past two years and they have been really successful. However we know that there are still approximately 114,000 garments thrown away in the UK every hour; and we want to do even more to encourage and help our staff and customers recycle unwanted clothes rather than throw them away. Working in partnership with Oxfam we believe shwopping will help increase the volume of unwanted clothes that are recycled and reduce the volume thrown away. Our customers have told us that their main ethical concern for retailers is waste. So we want to turn the tide on waste, and to start the journey towards making our fashion business truly sustainable. Our eventual aim is to help to recycle as many clothes as we sell – that’s hundreds of millions of items each year!

What has this got to do with Plan A?
• Plan A is M&S’s environmental and ethical programme which aims to make M&S the world’s most sustainable major retailer by 2015.
• We launched Plan A in January 2007, setting out 100 commitments to achieve in 5 years. We’ve now extended Plan A to 180 commitments to achieve by 2015.
• Through Plan A, we are working with our customers and our suppliers to combat climate change, reduce waste, use sustainable raw materials, trade ethically, and help our customers to lead healthier lifestyles. As part of Plan A, M&S has committed to help customers recycle over 20 million items of clothing a year by 2015. Click here for more information on Plan A.

Why are you using Joanna Lumley in your campaign?
• We are delighted to be working with Joanna Lumley as the new Face of our eco and ethical programme, Plan A, and of the shwopping initiative. Joanna is much loved personality in the UK and also a hugely respected campaigner. Our customers have told us how much they like her and respect the campaign work she has done. We are proud she is working with us in helping change the way customers do their shopping forever.

What’s in it for me?
• We hope as many of our customers as possible will start shwopping as your participation will help give old clothes a future, clearing your wardrobe space while reducing the amount of items thrown into UK landfill. We hope that together we can drive a clothes recycling revolution that will see shwopping become the norm. We all have the power here to become part of the solution.
  Don’t forget, when you shwop you can enter our weekly £100 gift card prize draw (details on the Shwop Drop box). You can also become part of our shwopping revolution on Facebook for chances to win more prizes and get updates on the difference shwopping is making. Visit our Facebook page here.

What is the weekly prize draw? How can I enter?
• Customers can enter the weekly prize draw each time they shwop. It runs weekly between Thursday and the following Wednesday. The prize is £100 M&S giftcard. Customers will be notified by either text or via Facebook (dependant on how they entered) by the Tuesday following the closing day.
• You can enter by doing one of the following:
• 1. Texting the code on the Shwop Drop box to 65006. You will receive a confirmation text to confirm you are entered. All texts are charged at standard rate.
• 2. Scanning the QR code on the Shwop Drop box with your smartphone. This will take you through to our Facebook registration page. You will need to follow the instructions on the screen, logging in to Facebook, then clicking to claim your shwop and enter the prize draw. Once you’ve gone through this process you will get a message to say you are entered into the prize draw.
• You can enter a maximum of 2 times per week (the week being Thursday to Wednesday), but you can of course shwop as often as you like.

What is a QR code?
• A QR Code (Quick Response Code) is a type of two-dimensional barcode that can be read using smartphones and dedicated QR reading devices, that link directly to text, emails, websites, phone numbers and more
  If you do not have a QR scanner on your smartphone, you can download one from the app store on your mobile. The majority of these are free, but please check as some suppliers may charge you. Please refer to your app store terms and conditions for more detail on QR Scanners.
  Once you have a QR reader installed you can use your phone's camera to scan the barcode, which will then automatically load the content for you.

Can I still take my M&S clothing back to Oxfam?
• Yes. You can also shwop at Oxfam, where the existing scheme will continue, but is now called Shwopping at Oxfam. Oxfam will continue to offer an M&S voucher for a £5 off £35 spend on clothing, home and beauty when you donate an item of M&S clothing*.
  *Subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply. See voucher for full details.

How can I get involved with shwopping on Facebook?
• You can get more out of shwopping by visiting the shwopping app on the M&S Facebook page. The app allows you to sync up any in store shwops you’ve claimed to record your shwopping achievements, and see those of your friends. The app also offers more chances to win great prizes and get updates on the difference shwopping is making.
  If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can still take part by shwopping in store and can enter the weekly prize draw via text message.

Facebook

What are points and how can I earn them?
• You can earn points in our Facebook shwopping app by taking part and spreading the word about shwopping. Points give you a position in the overall Top Shwopper chart and from time to time, there will be special prize draws within the app that require a certain number of points to enter.

You can earn points by:
• • Inviting friends to the shwopping app
• • Shwopping in store
• • Uploading an entry to Shwop or Not (see below)
• • Voting on a Shwop or Not entry (see below)
• • Checking in to an M&S store via Facebook Places

How many points can I earn from each activity?
• • 50 points for each shwop
• • 25 points for each Shwop or Not photo uploaded
• • 20 points for each friend invited when they install the app
• • 10 points for each store check-in
• • 1 point for each Shwop or Not vote

How can I see how many points I have?
• Your points total and your position in the Top Shwopper board can be seen in the My Profile area of the app. If there is a prize draw that requires points to enter, you will see a message in My Profile showing how many points you need to qualify for entry.
  You can also see how many shwopping points your friends have in the Top Shwopper Friends board.

I shwopped in store and claimed it by text, how do I link this to the Facebook app?
• On the homepage of the app you will see a message asking you to enter your mobile number to link your shwops with the app. Once you’ve done this, anys shwops you claim by text in future will sync automatically with the app.

What are the shwops that are shown in My Profile?
• We will give you shwops in your profile when you’ve signed up to shwopping on our Facebook page and when you claim your shwop via the app.


• Shwops will be added to your profile when you reach the following achievements:
• • Joining the app
• • 1st shwop
• • 2nd shwop
• • 3rd shwop
• • 4th shwop
• • 5th shwop
• • 10th shwop
• • 15th shwop
• • 20th shwop
• • Top 50 Shwoppers
• We will add to this list in time.

How can I encourage my friends to shwop?
• You can earn extra points by referring your friends. You can share your shwopping adventures with friends on Facebook via the ‘Invite Friends’ and ‘Share’ buttons.

How do I vote in Shwop Or Not?
• Go to the Shwop or Not section of the app, and next to each item, there’s a ‘Shwop’ button and a ‘Not’ button. Cast your vote! You’ll earn 1 point for every vote you make.

How do I submit an entry to Shwop Or Not?
• Once logged in, click on the ‘Shwop or Not’ tab. In the top right hand corner, click on the ‘Upload A Photo’ button, which will take you to the entry form. Fill in the details of your shwopping dilemma, and click ‘Upload’. Don’t forget to log back in and let us know via the ‘I Shwopped’ or ‘I Didn’t Shwop’ buttons once you’ve come to a decision whether to Shwop or Not!

*Voucher spend on clothing, home and beauty in M&S stores and only. Full terms and conditions apply.