The Stanford Swop Shop

The Swop Shop is Stanford Conservation's recycling initiative and outreach programme for Stanford's disadvantaged community. Today the Swop Shop brings recycling to families across the village, in partnership with Overstrand Municipality, which collects the recyclables we gather.

At the Swop Shop, residents bring recyclable plastic, tins, paper and cardboard and get tokens in return. They use the tokens to "buy" donated goods such as school stationery, books, toys, clothes, linen, shoes and toiletries, including sanitary pads donated by the Grootbos Foundation. The idea is to work for what you buy, with no free handouts.

Now in its thirteenth year, the Swop Shop is at the heart of recycling and environmental education in Stanford. Volunteers keep a steady stream of recyclables out of the landfill every month.

• Who it helps. Low-income families from Stanford. With the local clinic, the sanitary-pad programme helps keep girls in school.
• Why it matters. Streets are cleaner, less waste goes to the landfill, and children learn not to litter.
• Where and when. The shop runs from two containers near the Stanford Community Hall in Bezuidenhout Street. Adult sessions are on the last Monday of the month. Children's stationery sessions are held four times a year, just before the start of each school term.
• How it works. Clothing, household goods and pet food come in as donations; we buy the stationery and toiletries. Overstrand Municipality removes the collected recyclables. We also run school bag drives.
• History. Stanford Rotary started it in 2014 as SCORE (Stanford Community Recycling). Stanford Conservation took it over in August 2016.
• Funding. Stanford Conservation provides most of the funding, mainly from the Think & Drink Quiz Night. The Junktique pays for toiletries.
• Volunteers. A team of volunteers runs the shop.

Tonnage kept out of landfill. About a tonne of recyclable material is collected each month.

Donate goods. We welcome clothing, household goods and pet food. Drop donations at the Stanford Tourism office, or get in touch via admin@stanfordconservation.org.