Items such as clothing, shoes, bed-linen, curtains and towels collected by the schools were recycled instead of ending up in landfill.
The competition ran over the past year between 12 local schools, with each school receiving £250 per tonne whilst also competing for the £1,000 cash prize donated by W&S Recycling and other goodies provided by AFC Bournemouth.
The prizes were awarded based on the schools’ textile per pupil basis, and Linwood School were the clear winners with a ratio of 7.1kg textiles per pupil. St. Luke’s Primary School, who collected the highest total of textiles, came second.
Green Goals Ambassador and Cherries defender Stephen Purches was on hand at the award ceremony at Dean Court to present participating schools with prizes.
Rob Mitchell, Commercial Director of Green Goals partner AFC Bournemouth, said: “I’m really pleased that the Rags to Riches scheme has turned out to be another successful Green Goals project.
“I’d like to thank the schools that took part, as well as W&S Recycling for partnering with the scheme. We are aiming to run this project again during the next school year, as well as looking at how we can work with the other commercial partners of Green Goals to deliver similar environmental projects.”
The award-winning Green Goals project was launched at AFC Bournemouth in August 2009 to bring sustainable environmental improvements to Bournemouth.
Partners include Bournemouth Council Street Services, AFC Bournemouth, Castlepoint Shopping Park, New Milton Sand & Ballast, New Earth Solutions, W&S Recycling, Eco-Sustainable Solutions, Focal Point, Green House Hotel and J&G Environmental.