Amazon Hubs could become the new norm for receiving packages. Students should use Amazon Hubs to pick up their packages versus getting them shipped to their dorms to show support for the latest delivery improvement on campus.

Amazon Hubs are storage units where people can ship their items to instead of delivering them to houses, apartments or dorms. The program enables any business with physical locations to offer secure package pickups and returns to customers, according to Amazon’s website.

NIU’s campus has received an Amazon Hub locker, located in the Holmes Student Center by Huskie Books and Gear

. With an Amazon Hub locker in the Holmes Student Center, students can pick up their packages in the secure locker rather than in their dorms or apartments.

Package theft can also be reduced with the addition of the Amazon Hub, as packages could have a better chance of coming to the Amazon Hub than they do to the correct dorm.

Jessica Lilja, a senior sociology major, said the Amazon Hubs could help with misplacement of packages.

“I think it would be less confusing if all packages went to one place and probably reduce the chance of having a package be misplaced or sent to the wrong building,” Lilja said.

Sometimes packages may never arrive at the dorms, may arrive at the wrong dorm or could be taken by someone else. When it comes to the dorms, all it takes is for someone to know your name and Z-ID to steal your package.

However, at the Amazon Hub, each package has a six-digit code, which makes picking up packages more secure.

The Amazon Hub may also help with environmental issues like carbon emissions. One of Amazon’s goals is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, according to their website. 

By making one large trip to an Amazon Hub pickup location to drop off packages, Amazon drivers make fewer trips total — skipping multiple trips to houses or dorms to deliver packages. 

NIU has their own plans to be more sustainable, with goals to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or earlier, according to its sustainability and action climate plan. By getting packages delivered to a centralized location, it could save on the amount of trips the Amazon truck would have to take, therefore helping to reduce carbon emissions.

NIU students should take advantage of the Amazon Hub locker in Holmes Student Center by selecting Holmes Student Center Aventura as their pickup option.