Goshen College’s sustainability department recently expanded its composting initiative to the Octavio Romero Student Apartments. After a handful of apartments started a trial run of the program in February,  a communicator announcement was released on March 26 inviting all other apartments to participate. Composting has already been made accessible at East Hall, the Good Library, Java Junction, the Science Building, Howell House and the Administration Building.  As of now, four apartments are a part of this new installed system. Kevin Liddell, a senior physics major, started the initiative in his residence. “The earth as a whole gives us everything, and...

By Igor Sapucaia • April 3, 2025 • News

The new composting bay, located behind the Physical Plant, should be operational by next week, according to Dan Barwick, Goshen College’s sustainability coordinator. GC recently hired Barwick, who will be leading the mission of creating a more environmentally-friendly campus, centered in large part around the practice of composting. There is currently no composting options from GC. Barwick said that “the desire has always been there, but currently we aren’t actually composting.”  He went on to describe the new concrete composting bay, and how it will be used to advance composting strategies at GC. “Our method uses a compost bay, a...

By Ben Koop • March 14, 2024 • News

It’s important to watch the weather when burning a Kenyan savanna. A strong wind can blow the flames out of control and a rainstorm can dampen your plans, literally.  For the five biology students who traveled to Kenya over spring break to help with a study on the effects of fire and grazing on a Kenyan savanna, the weather was one of many details to pay attention to.   Ryan Sensenig, professor of biology at GC, supervised the group as they performed prescribed burns on carefully measured plots of grassland.   “There were 36 plots in the savanna that were each 30×30...

By Sarah Miller • March 17, 2022 • Features

With online ordering options becoming easier to use and the pandemic making many people wary of entering stores, online shopping has exploded over the last couple of years — across the U.S. and at Goshen College. “I do pretty much all of my shopping online,” said Jonathan Weaver, a first-year. “Amazon delivers really quickly and makes my everyday life a lot easier.”  Weaver isn’t alone. With packages coming at the click of a button and providing a way to avoid interaction during the pandemic, American e-commerce increased by 32% in 2020 according to Forbes.  In addition to GC students doing...

By Phil Witmer-Rich • February 17, 2022 • News

Merry Lea’s annual sustainability summit will return this Saturday after a year off.  In years past, up to 50 attendees from various states gathered at Merry Lea for a long weekend of activities. Because of the pandemic, the event was shortened from three days to a three-hour online program this year. But Tom Hartzell, coordinator of residential undergraduate programs at Merry Lea, said that the “goals remain the same.” Given that it can be “hard to hold attention” for long periods of time online, Hartzell hopes to keep the participants captivated with a variety of sessions, including speakers, breakout groups,...

By Caleb Shenk • February 17, 2022 • News

Goshen College President Rebecca Stoltzfus was one of over 40 leaders from Anabaptist organizations in the United States and Canada to convene at the Anabaptist Collaboration on climate change on Jan. 26 and 27.   Stoltzfus and three other representatives from GC traveled to Akron, Pennsylvania to represent the college at the 24-hour event organized by the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions (CSCS). “The leading goal of the gathering was to explore an Anabaptist approach to climate issues,” Stoltzfus explained in a blog post after the event.   Jonathon Schramm, professor of sustainability and environmental education at GC and member of the...

By Sierra Ross Richer • February 11, 2022 • News

This month at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, countries around the planet are being called to redouble their efforts to bring greenhouse gas emissions to zero by the middle of the century. Reaching that mark is critical for keeping global temperature rises below 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoiding increasingly severe environmental catastrophes.  Goshen College committed to the goal of zero emissions by 2050 in 2007, when the president at the time, James Brenneman, signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. Is the college on track for reaching that goal?  The  Sustainable Tracking,...

By Sierra Ross Richer • November 11, 2021 • News

Over fall break, Steve Shantz replaced the steam-powered heating system in the Union Building with a geothermal plant.  The new system, consisting of a well, two boilers and a maze of pipes, will regulate the temperature in the building without using fossil fuels.   “When I say boilers, I don’t mean boiling water,” said Shantz, systems manager for the college. “It just makes water hot.”   Geothermal plants function by drilling wells into the earth to pull ground water up into pipes. They take advantage of the fact that the temperature inside the ground stays about the same all year round.  During...

By Dakota Cain • November 4, 2021 • News

The Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions (CSCS) recently announced this year’s Campus Climate Ambassadors. At Goshen College, they are Adhika Ezra and Liam Elias.  CSCS is an organization formed in partnership between Goshen College, Eastern Mennonite University and Mennonite Central Committee that is working to lead Anabaptists to respond to climate change. Their motto is “climate action equals peacemaking.”   One of CSCS’ main initiatives is supporting a network of climate advocates at Mennonite colleges and universities in the US and Canada.  “Ambassadors promote climate conversations, organize climate-based campus events and help foster connections between environmental groups across Mennonite college campuses,”...

By Tyson Miller • November 4, 2021 • News

Composting, although absent from the majority of campus this year, is back for the 29 students who live in Goshen College’s Intentional Living Communities (ILCs).  Composting was first introduced to Goshen College in 2010, thanks to a joint effort between EcoPax and the Physical Plant. According to a Record article from 2009, approximately 950 pounds of compostable material were being thrown in the dining hall trash every day, and students felt compelled to take action.  However, after almost two years of a global pandemic, which changed how the dining hall operated and contributed to short-staffing at the Physical Plant, composting...

By Greta Lapp Klassen • October 28, 2021 • Features

Late Thursday, the Zero Waste Goshen webinar series will dive into the local recycling scene with guest speaker Daniel Zelaya. Zelaya, a representative from Recycling Works, the largest recycling plant in the region, will be the second speaker in the series.   The Zero Waste Goshen initiative and webinar series was launched by the City of Goshen’s environmental resilience department in September, with funds from a grant through the Community Recycling Grant Program of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. “We’ve been on a trajectory for the city of increasing our waste 10% per year for the last several years,” said...

By Sierra Ross Richer • October 28, 2021 • News

Each article in The Record starts with a question. What does an unvaccinated person think about the required vaccine? What makes the cross country team so successful? Which building on campus is the most haunted? Who takes care of that garden behind Newcomer?  We then return to campus seeking answers. We talk to our professors, janitors, administrators, chefs, groundskeepers, community members and peers. We try to ask tough questions, and we try to defend our right to know the truth. We often fall short.  In past semesters, we have received criticism from professors that our journalism isn’t “investigative” enough. These...

By Greta Lapp Klassen • October 14, 2021 • Features

House plants: they can brighten a room, relieve stress, replace the need for an animal and even become our friends! For some college students, plants may be their only source of predictable peace. Often however, when students are considering starting a plant collection, they write it off as too difficult due to their living circumstances. But not all hope is lost – with these tips, anyone can have a green thumb!    One of the best things you can do for your plants is purchase a plant light. Regardless of what plants you are planning to keep, in the Indiana...

By Alexa Kennel • October 14, 2021 • Features

In 2013, Goshen College’s Physical Plant installed an electric vehicle charging station outside of the Chairman Building, tucked away near the railroad tracks and the 9th Street entrance to campus. Eight years later, the charging station is one of just three public stations in the city of Goshen. This number will continue to grow as the city plans to add several charging stations, contributing to a nationwide campaign to lay the groundwork for vast fleets of electric vehicles. The two-plug EV charging station at the Chairman Building was set up to promote the use of renewable energy, said Glenn Gilbert,...

By Liam Morris • October 7, 2021 • Features

Despite the many carefully-labeled recycling receptacles scattered around campus, understaffing at the Physical Plant and improper disposal of recyclable products has led to almost all of Goshen College’s recyclable materials being thrown away with the trash.  One place where the lack of recycling is noticeable this year is in Java Junction. The blue recycling bin in Java Junction is gone, and in its place is a traditional black trash can.   Christian Saleh, a student supervisor at the coffee shop, was surprised by the change when he returned to campus after the summer. But he understands why the switch was made.  ...

By Sierra Ross Richer • October 7, 2021 • News