The Pac-12 has announced it is officially partnering with the Green Sports Alliance (GSA). The move will have the Conference join its twelve members with the goal to “measure their environmental performance, develop strategies and goals to reduce their footprint, monitor progress, and engage fans and communities in the process.”
The Pac-12 has already built a reputation for itself as an environmentally friendly conference. This past football season, the conference held a Game Day Zero Waste Challenge, which measured every school in five categories: recycling and organics reduction, recycled waste per person, waste diversion rate, greenhouse gas reduction and waste minimization. Arizona State University ended up winning the conference competition.
Additionally, the University of Colorado Boulder recently began an initiative called “Ralphie’s Green Stampede,” which has the ultimate aim of transforming their Folsom Field into a zero-waste football stadium.
In 2013, Arizona State converted their basketball stadium, Wells Fargo Arena, into the first LED lit athletic facility in the nation for an NCAA FBS institution. Their LED lighting uses a fraction of the energy that the stadium did prior.
Although Pac-12 schools have already showed a commitment to being more environmentally conscious, their agreement with the GSA will put that commitment at an even greater level.
“With all Pac-12 athletics programs on board, we now have an unparalleled opportunity for sharing better practices conference-wide. This leadership and commitment from Pac-12 members signals a deeper involvement from all collegiate athletics programs and can be the model for other NCAA conferences to lead collegiate sports greening,” said Dave Newport, Board Member of GSA and Environmental Center Director at CU-Boulder.