Example of bikes accepted at BNB and what is not accepted

What we accept:

  • All types of bikes (road, hybrid, mountain, BMX, tandem, electric, etc.)
  • Functional ebikes
  • All sizes (adult, child, etc.)
  • Parts of any kind
  • Tools of any kind
  • Even some broken stuff! (e.g. cracked frame with usable components, worn tires, tubes with holes)
  • Accessories (bicycle bags, lights, pumps, locks with keys)
  • Cycling clothing
  • Rags: used textiles, cotton, preferably already cut into strips
  • Sorting supplies such as milk crates or square plastic kitty litter containers.

What we don't accept:

  • Anything that has spent significant time out in the weather and has rust
  • Kick scooters
  • Anything with a gasoline motor
  • Exercise equipment
  • Tricycles
  • Trail-A-Bikes
  • Used helmets
  • Car racks
  • Ebikes with nonfunctional electronics systems (missing charger, broken controllers or batteries, etc.)

Where and when to drop off:

  • Option 1: Bring your donations to the Bikes Not Bombs Hub & Bike Shop, located at 284 Amory Street in Jamaica Plain, MA. Feel free to drop off donations any time we are open.
  • Option 2: Find a bike drive in your area. Take a look at our events calendar to identify any upcoming bike drives.

 

Bikes Not Bombs encourages a donation of $20 with every bike donation to cover the cost of bike recycling and processing.

Frequently asked questions about bike donations:

If you are an individual donor, you should know that we generally rely on our donors to bring the bikes to us, as we don't have the resources necessary to pick up bikes piecemeal.  We collect over 5,000 bikes every year! Can you imagine how long it would take to pick up 5,000 bikes individually? Luckily, coming to us is easier than you think, and the largest bike will fit into the smallest car (if you want it to). In addition to our Hub in Jamaica Plain, we may offer seasonal Bike Drive events in your area. If you don't have a car, if your donation isn't rideable, if you are unable physically to move the bicycle, you probably have a friend, neighbor, or relative who would be willing to bring your donation to one of our drop-off points on your behalf.

Organizing a bike collection drive in your community is a great way to support the work of Bikes Not Bombs and give people outside of Boston a chance to easily donate their old bike(s). You help find the bike donors and we'll come to your town with a 16" or 20" van and trained BNB volunteers to collect the bikes.

You can organize a drive yourself or involve your local youth group, faith community, civic association, school, or business to help inspire more publicity.

Bike Drive organized in 2021

Basic steps to organizing a bike drive:

    1. Contact the operations team via email at bikedonations@bikesnotbombs.org to let us know that you are interested in planning an event and to secure a date on our calendar. You'll need to do this at least two months in advance of your proposed event date. The more notice you can provide us, the better our chances of success will be. Unilateral, or "surprise" bike drives, aren't necessarily helpful.
    2. Secure a venue, ideally one that is well known to residents of your town and is easily accessible by car. Some examples would be a high school parking lot, the town green, or the parking lot of a well known church. On the day of the collection, we will need space for our 18' step van, plus a few hundred more square feet to sort and process the incoming bikes, as well as access to drinking water and restrooms.
    3. Coordinate with Bikes Not Bombs regarding how many volunteers you will need for that day. Volunteers will help us break down the bikes and prepare them for storage and shipment. The volunteers do not need to have any special skills — we bring tools and show your crew what needs to be done.
    4. Publicize your event far and wide. Good publicity is critical for a successful bike drive. In our experience, the two best publicity methods are a) getting your local paper to do a story on your event and b) placing large signs in high visibility areas around town. Both of these methods take some work, but they pay off in turnout. Other ideas include asking your paper to put an item in the calendar section, sending messages out to town email lists, making announcements at school or church, printing up fliers and handing them out around town, and posting on bulletin boards around town.
    5. Let bike donors know about our suggested monetary donation that will help support our programs. We request a tax-deductible $20 donation with every donated bike. The donation is voluntary, but we don't like donors to hear about it for the first time at the collection site, so make sure this information is included in all of your communications about the event.
Bikes outside of Bikes Not Bombs truck

FAQs

Yes! We are a 501 (c) 3 charity under the IRS code; donated bikes are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.