Shopping, shwopping, swishing...What about just stopping? We already have plenty of clothes. According to a recent report by WRAP, the Government quango in charge of reducing waste, the average household in Britain owns £4,000 worth of clothes. The annual footprint of all these clothes is equivalent to the weight of 100 pairs of jeans, the water used to fill 1,000 bath tubs and the carbon emissions of driving the average modern family car 6,000 miles. We don't even wear most of these items. Around a third of clothes in most people's wardrobe have not been worn for at least a year - mostly because it does not fit anymore. Let's get swishing My friend Lucy Shea came up with a better idea, 'swishing'; the act of swapping clothes rather than buying them. She arranges 'swishing parties' where women can gather to swap their old clothes for new outfits that someone else has grown tired of. Again it is a great idea, but have you ever been in a room full of designer cast-offs and covetous women? The rules are 'no scratching, spitting or fighting" but the 'death-stares' if you try on an item that someone else had their eyes on are just as frightening. I went along to one party and I must admit I did come back with a rather fabulous nylon skirt decorated with daffodils that I never would have normally chosen. The good thing about swishing is it encourages you to try new looks and your fellow "swishettes" act as free stylists. But I also came out with the impression that many of the women there were simply taking part to acquire more stuff - preferably to replace the rather tatty clothing they were giving away - or make room in the wardrobe for more. Fashion plan of action So what should you do if you need a new outfit and don't want to contribute to the growing pile of stuff? I am not suggesting we stop shopping. God forbid. Just stop and think. You don't have to "shwop" to get rid of old clothes, you could just give those old clothes to Oxfam or whatever charity shop is close by. And you don't have to "swish," just share clothes with your best friend, flat mate or - if you have a mother like Madonna - your mum. It sounds terribly old fashioned but another option is to "make do and mend." WRAP are currently in talks with shops like M&S about offering repair services in each store. Another suggestion is hiring out outfits for formal occasions or even leasing maternity and children's clothing. The quango is even suggesting "buy back" schemes, where shops offer vouchers for old clothes to buy new outfits in store. It remains to be seen whether any of the major retailers will actually take up some of these excellent ideas. In the meantime textile is the fastest growing waste stream going into landfill in Britain with 350,000 tonnes of old clothes dumped every year. MPs have dubbed the trend the "Primark effect" after the cheap shop that encourages people to buy yet more clothing. The Environmental Justice Foundation point out that is not just the waste involved in new clothes but the human cost involved. Child labour in Uzbekistan, sweat shops and the destruction of the environment through draining lakes and rivers to grow cotton. Ethical fashion companies like People Tree sell clothes that are not only fair trade and organic but try to improve the lives of workers by building schools and educating young women. Who Made Your Pants does what is says on the tin, which is include the name of the refugees who made your knickers on the label so customers can be sure it is not sweat shop labour. "Ethical" fashion dominated London Fashion Week with swim suits made out of old fishing nets, biodegradable sequins made of vegetables and raincoats made of old plastic bottles. Shops like Junky Styling offer "clothing surgery" to re-fashion old garments into funky new outfits while Recycle Your Jeans turns your favourite old pair into new sandals. M&S, with their Plan A scheme to make the whole business more green, are leading the pack again in bringing this idea of recycling into the mainstream. This week the store is launching the first garment on the high street made from old or unwanted clothing donated by customers. The limited edition wool coat is made from just some of the one million items of old clothes donated through shwopping so far. It sounds like the perfect solution. The question is, would Patsy be seen dead in it? I hope so.