University of Colorado Boulder
IN-1: Innovation 1

Ralphies Green Stampede--The Nation's First Zero Waste Football Stadium

In 2008, CU became the first NCAA FBS football stadium to transition to a entirely zero-waste system by changing all food service materials from disposable to compostable/recyclable--and by removing all public trash containers and implementing a robust compost and recycling system.

This is and has remained an innovative materials management approach that reaches literally hundreds of thousands of people--and has great environmental impacts.

To date, only a handful of other stadiums have begun this transition. For instance, in 2009, EPA launched a GameDay Challenge aimed at creating a competition among stadiums trying to implement zero waste--and only 8 campuses were involved. However, the results--including CU winning all the important categories (Note CU far outdistanced even the second place campus)--indicated the scale of the positive impact of this innovation:

From the EPA: "During the 2009 Challenge, the eight participating schools reduced more than 40,000 pounds of waste. These efforts decreased greenhouse emissions by more than 105 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This equates to the annual greenhouse gas emissions produced from the consumption of nearly 12,000 gallons of gasoline; or equivalent to the annual emissions produced by nearly 4,400 propane cylinders used for home barbeques. Specific results and final standings are listed below.

Diversion Rate
Rank School Diversion Rate (%)
1) University of Colorado
78.018%
2) Ohio University
65.108%
3) Harvard University
57.999%
4) University of Michigan
15.601%
5)Brigham Young University
14.952%
6) West Virginia University
10.714%
7)North Carolina State University
10.713%
8)Auburn University
3.674%"

In 2010, the innovation has begun to create real and substantial change. Competition in EPA's program has ballooned to over 88 campuses this year.

To date, only two professional sports stadiums have transitioned to zero waste--and both are in jurisdictions that have approved legislation requiring a zero waste approach (Seattle and San Francisco). CU's innovation occurred in a voluntary regulatory environment.

Data from all of RGS zero-waste games are available in the web address below.

http://www.colorado.edu/facilitiesmanagement/STARS.html

News reports of the innovations:
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/a-college-football-stadium-cuts-its-waste/