Where to Donate Used School Bags: Who Takes Them and Who Only Wants New By Chester Takau · October 2026 The best places to donate used school bags are women's and homeless shelters, foster-care programs, reuse networks and your school district's McKinney-Vento (homeless student) liaison. Most back-to-school drives are the wrong place to go, because they take new bags only. Toronto's TDSB says it can accept only new items "due to health, safety, and storage considerations," and Chicago CAC, FamilyWorks Seattle and El Paso's Bags 2 School make the same call. Bring a bag that is clean, has no rips and has working zippers, and phone ahead before you drop it off. Chester Takau, TokMind Chester Takau writes about sustainable school gear from a Pacific-Island perspective, decoding eco-certifications so buyers can tell real claims from greenwashing. This is a research piece, not a field test. I haven't dropped bags at these places myself, so ever...