End-of-Year School Supply Collection Drives

We believe school supplies belong in classrooms - and not in the landfill - and we bet you do, too!

Each year schools and students throw thousands of pounds of new and usable school supplies in the trash, only for schools, teachers and student families to spend tens of thousands of dollars on new school supplies in the fall.  Join ACR to break the cycle of unnecessary consumption and disposal and help fight climate change by participating in ACR’s End-of-Year School Supply Collection with your school or community.

Hosting a collection is a great project for the student council, a green team, an after school club or a class to organize for their community.

It’s easy to give back to your community and your planet. Here’s how:

  1. Register your collection drive with ACR so we know to plan for you.  The first 10 schools to register and deliver their donation will receive priority access to ACR’s Materials Mobile for the 2024-25 school year.

  2. Choose a date or dates for your school supply collection.

  3. Publicize the collection with your community - classroom and specials teachers, administrators, PTA and school families.  Click here for some sample graphics you can use to promote your event.

  4. Create and label your collection bins - cardboard boxes, plastic bins or other similarly sized containers all work well.  See the list of items we can accept below. 

  5. Place your collection bins in highly visible locations at your school.  Some schools collect supplies in each classroom and then bring them to a central location.

  6. Collect your supplies.  See the list of items we can accept below.  Remember all items should be clean, safe and in good usable condition.  

  7. Sort the collected materials by category.  This step is optional, but it’s a huge help to ACR in getting materials back out to the community as quickly as possible.

  8. Discard or recycle any materials that are not in reuse condition.

  9. Schedule a time to deliver your collected supplies to ACR or email us if you don’t see a time on our schedule that works for you.

  10. Feel great about doing your part to help our planet!

Have questions?  Email us at educators@austincreativereuse.org.

Supplies will find their way back to local classrooms for the 2024-25 school year through ACR’s Materials Mobile Program.

ACR can accept all kinds of school supplies on the list below. Please ensure all supplies are clean and in good reuse condition. In other words, please only donate items in a condition that a teacher would want in their classroom.

We cannot take heavily used, damaged or used-up or dried-out supplies.

NO BINDERS please!

  • Writing Utensils (all colors)

    • Markers

    • Highlighters 

    • Dry & Wet Erase Markers

    • Sharpies

    • Crayons

    • Pencils

    • Pens 

    • Colored Pencils

  • Glue Sticks & White School Glue

  • Notebooks, Composition Books and Notebook Paper (new or with used pages removed)

  • White printer / copier paper

  • Construction paper

  • Pocket folders

  • Scissors 

  • Erasers

  • Rulers, Protractors, Compasses

  • Pencil Sharpeners

  • Pencil boxes and bags

  • Tape

  • Calculators

  • Clipboards

  • Paper Clips, Binder Clips, Rubber Bands

  • Laminating Sheets

  • White Boards

  • Educational Tools - Brainteasers, Bulletin Board Supplies, Card Games, Chalkboards, Classroom Signs, Dice, Educational Games, Flash Cards, Game Pieces, Handheld Instruments, Letter Tiles, Marbles, Math Manipulatives, Microscopes, Sand Timers, STEM Kits)