Help, I'm swamped with drawstring backpacks!

October 14, 2010 2:57 PM

Any ideas for repurposing promotional drawstring backpacks?

I've got about 10 of these, with various promotional logos, and I don't really need them. They are a little inconvenient for groceries and ugly to boot. Any ideas for alternate uses for them?

My son already has a nice backpack that he prefers to these, and no one else seems to want them.

posted by emjaybee to home & garden (13 answers total)

I had about a dozen of these that I filled with various little toys (lots of Beanie Babies) and school/office supplies and shipped them over to my cousin who is stationed in Afghanistan to distribute to the children that came around his camp, they were wickedly popular.
posted by banannafish at 3:00 PM on October 14, 2010 [5 favorites]

I have one of these I use for my library pickups. I reserve many books online and when I go to pick them up I usually find these are just perfect. As for what to do with multiples of these? I wish I had a good answer. But that's one way I use mine.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 3:05 PM on October 14, 2010

Patches.

I got one of those bags from some census guy and sewed a Bike Collective patch on it as an extra pocket. This made it more useful and awesome instead of ugly. Then I gave it to a kid.
posted by aniola at 3:11 PM on October 14, 2010

Other uses include: sewing projects, socks, underwear, bras, and sending folks off with tasty food.
posted by aniola at 3:13 PM on October 14, 2010

Knitters like them as project storage. Know any knitters?
posted by jacquilynne at 3:17 PM on October 14, 2010

I just use mine for traveling - I stick them in my luggage and they hold my dirty clothes or keep my shoes separate from other things.
posted by smalls at 3:23 PM on October 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

Shoe bags and general storage in my trunk.
posted by tilde at 3:45 PM on October 14, 2010

Use one for working out. I keep a "workout backpack" to fill with plates for doing dips and pull-ups. (Weight vests are expensive!)
posted by coolguymichael at 3:58 PM on October 14, 2010

I have various bags like that which I use for the following random purposes:

1. Fill with shoes that get broken; eventually take bag to the cobbler
2. Similarly, fill with clothes that need mending; eventually mend the clothes
3. Use to store nicer handbags so they don't get dusty
4. Keep in car for library books
5. Keep in suitcase to use as a laundry bag
6. Gym bag
posted by gatorae at 4:12 PM on October 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

I always end up with odd tools and parts left over after a renovation project on my house so I make dedicated bags for each - like a plumbing bag, electric bag, flooring bag etc. It keeps them from cluttering up my everyday tools and saves me from searching high and low for my tile spacers that I knew I had left over from that project from 5 years ago.
posted by any major dude at 5:06 PM on October 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

I use one as a stuff sack for an old sleeping back and other camping gear.
posted by samthemander at 5:18 PM on October 14, 2010

Aha, any major dude; husband has endless numbers of cables and tools in his studio. Think I've got a winner.
posted by emjaybee at 5:21 PM on October 14, 2010

Some time ago, an area TV station pointed out that children who are removed from their homes by DHS often don't have more than a plastic bag to haul their things in. So you could try donating your excess backpacks to a shelter or group home.
posted by dragonplayer at 7:03 PM on October 14, 2010 [3 favorites]