Ralphie's Green Stampede History

Ralphie's green stampede logo

Ralphie's Green Stampede Historical Timeline

2025
  • ĢӰ wins the
  • Zero Waste Season Stats:
    • 128,242 lbs. waste diverted from the landfill (equal to 183 Ralphies)
    • 26,323 lbs. organics sent for composting
    • 2,048 hours from student staff and volunteers
  • Folsom Field transitioned to a plastic bottle free stadium, following campus model
  • ĢӰ won the the Fan Engagement Award in the Pac-12 Zero Waste Basketball Challenge.
  • Achieved an 85.2% diversion rate with over 770 pounds of compost and over 1000 pounds of recycling at their Zero Waste basketball game against USC.
  • The RGS volunteer team consisted of 125 people covering over 25 games this basketball season for 350 hours of service.
  • ĢӰ wins the
  • Achieved 88.2% diversion rate for their Zero Waste football game against UCLA with over 7,500 pounds in recycling and over two-and-a-half tons in compost.
  • ĢӰ staff and volunteers dedicated over 1,800 hours to sustainable game day operations for six home football games and 22 official tailgates through hand sorting waste, fan engagement, vendor training, and zero waste messaging. These efforts reflected a season diversion rate of 84.4% at Folsom Field.
  • At our Green Game, our final home game against Arizona, we diverted 91% of the waste from landfills, including 1,200 pounds of bottles and cans for recycling and 1500 pounds of organic waste sent to a compost yard.
  • Ralphie’s Green Stampede had student volunteers at over 20 men's and women's basketball games in the 2021-2022 season.
  • ĢӰADsigns the UN Race to Zero Campaign pledge.RGS launches asustainable transportationcampaign with Google called, Gears 4 Green.
  • Achieved 86.49% diversion rate for their Zero Waste football game against Oregon State, including nearly three-and-a-half tons in compost, over one-and-a-half tons in bottles and cans and more than a ton of cardboard.
  • .
  • RGS worked within COVID fan parametersby distributing weekly Sustainable Gameday Packs with Ball aluminum cups and Eco-Products food ware.
  • ĢӰ Athletics signs the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework. ĢӰ Athletics and RGS partner with Ball Corporation to introduce a new, infinitely recyclable aluminum cup in Folsom Stadium. Athletics Director Rick George commits to a single-use plastic-free Athletics program in 2020 and convenes theRGS Strategic Task Force to set the next decades' strategy for sustainability in ĢӰ Athletics.
  • Introduced the Ball Aluminum Beverage Cup at ĢӰ’s first football game. The cup is fully recyclable--and it eliminates the use of single use plastic or compostable cups.
  • The ĢӰ Athletics Department committed to being free of plastics of any kind by fall 2020.
  • For the game selected on Nov. 9 vs. Stanford, the Buffs achieved an 86.33% stadium diversion rate, including over 9,000 pounds in compost, over 3,500 pounds in bottles and cans and over 2,300 pounds in landfill.
  • ĢӰ Athletics Partners with Solaroo Energy and launches Buffs Community Solar, offering discounts to residential solar installations.
  • Achieved 91.82% stadium diversion rate in Zero Waste football game against Arizona State, including over 8,700 pounds in compost, over 3,900 pounds in bottles and cans and over 1,300 pounds to landfill.
  • RGS partners with Google to engage fans regarding where to build a new B-Cycle docking station. RGS hosts a nationwide Sports Sustainability Think Camp to create a Fan Engagement Playbook used to influence fans toward more sustainable actions at home, work and play.
  • ĢӰ won the Pac-12 Zero Waste Football Challenge Fan Engagement Award.
  • We created a video featuring student-athletes in collaboration with Ralphies' Green Stampede that encouraged support for the “Water for the West” pledge program.
  • 3rd Place Pac-12 Zero Waste Football Challenge: 87% diversion rate at Zero Waste football game.
  • RGS establishes three new conservation programs, each the first of its kind: a car-free, Zero Waste Tailgate in partnership with Ball Corporation on Franklin Field, Wells Fargo Foundation joins RGS to kick off Water for the West, a campaign to reduce water use in Athletics and restore water inputs to the ĢӰ River Basin, and finally, FLOWS - Foundations for Leaders Organizing for Water and Sustainability. In partnership with Wells Fargo and Koehler, FLOWS students installed low-flow plumbing fixtures in hundreds of Boulder low-income homes to help offset ĢӰ water use. The Champion’s Center is completed,along with the Dal Ward Center renovation, both achieve LEED Platinum status. The construction of the Indoor Practice Facility marks the first net-zero energy athletics facility in the NCAA, adding850 kW of on-site solar energy generation and another LEED Platinum facility to ĢӰAD, bringing the total to four just in Athletics.
  • 2nd Place Pac-12 Zero Waste Basketball Challenge: 92% diversion rate at the Zero Waste basketball game.
  • Recognized at the White House’s Green Sports Day.
  • RGS partners with sponsor PepsiCo Recycling to create the Bring Your Bottle Back to Life campaign to promote a circular materials economy. ĢӰ begins operation of the new Grounds Recycling and Operations Center to continue processing gameday and campusmaterials.
  • BASF extends sponsorship to expand Zero Waste to the ĢӰ Event Center (formerly Coors Event Center), bringing basketball and volleyball into the fold as Zero Waste events.
  • The addition of a new indoorpractice facilitybecomes the first LEED certified Athletics facility at ĢӰ, earning LEED Platinum.
  • RGS earns a top ranking in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Game Day Challenge. ĢӰ becomes amember of the Green Sports Alliance (GSA) during their inauguralyear, as theGSAleadsa wave of environmentalism in the sports industry.
  • RGS ushers in new partners Eco-Products and the Wells Fargo Foundation. Eco-Products supplies compostable cookware to phase-out plastics fromFolsom Stadium and ĢӰ Events Center. The ĢӰ Environmental Center and Student Government partners with Native Energyto fund renewable energy and carbon offset projects sufficient to offset ĢӰ Athletics’ and student government’s carbon footprint.
  • BASF joins as a founding sponsor of RGS, supplying compostable trash bags to expand and enhance Zero Waste efforts.
  • With the support of White Wave Foods, recycling collection begins at ĢӰ Football Games and Ralphie’s Green Stampede is founded as the first NCAA DI sports sustainability program, rolling out a Folsom Field zero waste program.

Net Zero Venues

Folsom

Folsom Field

What We Do:

  • Waste reduction initiatives were startedin 2008 to make Folsom Field azero waste stadium.
  • Low-flow water fixtures and efficient lighting.
  • Turf management plan to reduce pesticides and fertilizer using a nutrient rich compost tea developed by ĢӰ Boulder.
  • Reduced the use of synthetic herbicides by 93% and eliminated pesticide use.
  • Watered using 90% recycled ditch water.
Indoor practice facility

Indoor Practice Facility

The NCAA's first net-zero energy athletics facility and the Pac-12's first LEED Platinum facility.

  • Energy
    • 850-kilowattsolar array, producing more than 1 million kW hours per year.
    • Green mechanical and lighting systems.
    • Advanced HVAC system.
  • Water
    • Reduction of water use through low-flow fixtures.
    • Detention pond for natural stormwaterfiltration.

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Events Center

Events Center

Sustainable Features

The 44,000-square-foot Basketball and Volleyball practice facility is the first LEED Certified Athletic Facility on the ĢӰBoulder campus and one of only two platinum-rated athletic facilities in the Pac-12.

Site

  • Public transportation access.
  • Bicycle storage and changing rooms.
  • Protection of habitat.
  • Maximized open space.
  • Light pollution reduction.

Water

  • 50% reduction in water for landscaping.
  • 30% reduction in water usage overall.
  • 30%more water efficient than recent buildings of similar size and function.

Energy and Atmosphere

  • Rooftop solar panels providing approximately12.5% of the building's electricity throughrenewable energy.
  • Green Power: 35%
  • 40%more energy efficient than recent buildings of similar size and function.
  • Building cooled with an evaporative system.
  • Low-flow water fixtures, high-performance insulation and windows, efficient lighting, and lighting and heating controls.

Materials and Resources

  • Building collection of compost and recycling.
  • 75% of waste diverted from landfill.
  • Regional Materials: 20% extracted, processed & manufactured locally.

Indoor Environmental Quality

  • Low-Emitting Materials: adhesives & sealants, carpet, composite wood & agrifiber products.
  • Increased ventilation.
  • Integrated pest management.

Gameday

  • ĢӰEvent Center is a Zero Waste stadium.