Why swapping is the new shopping

Mischa Barton will be one of the star swappers at Visa Swap

And with Primark and Topshop churning out entire outfits that cost less than a pair of shoes, we're able to indulge the little voice in our head that tells us we really need to update our wardrobe every other week.

However, at odds with our passion for disposable fashion is a growing awareness of the environment around us.

The concepts of sustainability, recycling and minimising our environmental impact appear to be utterly irreconcilable with our acquisitive hunger for new things.

And that's where swapping comes in. Swapping allows us to get rid of things we've fallen out of love with and upgrade, update and acquire without feeling guilty about adding to landfill sites or supporting the depletion of the planet's resources.

So it's little surprise that swapping is rapidly growing beyond small soirees in the front room.

Now larger companies, keen to prove their green credentials, are encouraging this sort of sustainable fashion.

This month sees the inaugural Visa Swap event - a collaboration between Visa and the charity TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development), an organisation dedicated to protecting the environment and reducing world poverty by recycling.

The concept is the same, just on a far larger scale. Over a two-week period, people are being encouraged to bring their unwanted items to the Visa Swap drop-off point in London's Knightsbridge.

Fashion experts will then assess their worth and award a number of swap points that will be stored on a chip card (like a credit or debit card).

Then, over the weekend of June 16-17, there will be a huge swapping event where all the clothes will be 'priced' in swap points and swappers will be given the opportunity to redeem their points.

The idea has proved so popular that it's attracted celebrity support, with Kylie, actress Mischa Barton and milliner Philip Treacy among the star swappers.

If the event proves a success, there are plans to roll out similar schemes across the country.

Frank Furedi is a professor of sociology at the University of Kent.

He agrees that our wish to show that we care about the environment is certainly a factor in the popularity of swapping, but believes that it's a very complex phenomenon that has more deep-rooted explanations.

"Swapping is a far more interactive experience than shopping. It's about making contact with people, forging social relations, making friends.