The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: winter break

  • Let’s shrink our impact over the break

    Let’s shrink our impact over the break

    With winter break fast approaching some of you may have big plans for the semester gap, but in our excitement lets not forget the importance of minimizing our waste and our environmental impact.

    Students on the HSU campus have a few ideas on how minimize our environmental footprint this break.

    Kyla Toole’Wells, a kinesiology major in her third year at HSU says that when we travel we should, “go in groups.”

    “Usually I carpool or take a bus,” said Kyla Tool’Wells.

    Molly Cribari, a Chemistry major at HSU also suggests carpooling or other less impactful forms of transportation when traveling.

    Humboldt State offers a Homeward Bound bus program for HSU students that live in California. Students going back to the bay area or down to LA can go into their student center to sign up for this bus when seats are available. (Seats are no longer available on this bus for the trip down over winter break.)

    Another way to travel efficiently if you don’t already have a fun carpool plan is to use Zimride, the ride sharing service HSU partnered with back in 2013.

    Besides your travel plans there are other things to keep in mind this break. The holidays, Christmas, Hanukkah, the Solstice, and other sacred/special days that are celebrated can increase waste in a few ways.

    Brian Simpson, a forestry major in his last semester encourages those who partake in getting a Christmas tree, to purchase an actual tree.

    Brian Simpson
    Brian Simpson, a forestry major in his last semester encourages those who partake in getting a Christmas tree, to purchase an actual tree. Photo credit: Kyra Skylark

    “Getting an actual tree from a forest seems like its not environmentally friendly, but trees are in fact a renewable resource,” said Simpson. “Getting an actual tree from a tree farm or a forest helps with carbon sequestration.

    The tradition of giving holiday presents can also create a large amount of waste for some families. Both Simpson and Toole’Wells recommend reusing wrapping paper.

    “Wrapping paper and presents creates a lot of trash, so recycle, and I always like to save bags and reuse bags,” said Toole’Wells.

    Reusing bags, using reusable bags, or wrapping in newspaper can be alternatives to simply buying more paper to immediately throw away.

    “Maybe make cute newspaper ones ones and be crafty,” said Toole’Wells.

    Jessica Ramirez, general biology major’s family has reused the same present bags for most of her life.

    “We reuse any christmas bags every year, we’ve probably had the same ones since we were born,” said Ramirez. “We don’t really buy too many presents.”

    Ramirez also thinks we should think about our gifts more and make sure they mean something.

    “Maybe try to just reduce how many presents people actually need,” Ramirez. “I feel like people overbuy because there’s so many deals, but you know it’s not about the deals, it’s just about the thought really.”

     

  • Hit the road, Jacks

    Hit the road, Jacks

    Finals are upon us, but so is winter break. It’s time to make travel plans again.

    Some people huff at the thought of making travel arrangements, especially since many of us just got back from a long-awaited and well-deserved Thanksgiving break. Needless to say, we’re also readjusting to the home stretch of this semester.

    In spite of that, we encourage you to invest some of your downtime thinking about the places you’ve always wanted to visit and make it happen during winter break. Write down the destinations, pull up Google Maps or TripAdvisor and start researching your fantasy voyage. The simple act of routing that one landmark you must finally check out with the restaurant you need to try could be more fun than you expected. The ultimate goal here is to try new things in new places and maybe meet inspiring people along the way. This can be anywhere between the pub down the street you’ve been meaning to visit or backpacking through Europe. Either way, you’d essentially step outside of your comfort zone and gain new experiences. These are two invaluable components of growing up and expanding your mind in a world full of narrow-minded blockheads.

    A few of us are strapped for cash or don’t drive, but don’t fret. It’s not completely hopeless.

    Humboldt State’s Homeward Bound Bus Charter Program “provides students with discounted round-trip transportation from Arcata directly to San Francisco or Los Angeles.”

    If that doesn’t work for you, consider HSU’s carpool program, JackPass, Zagster, Zimride and Zipcar. Visit parking.humboldt.edu for more details.

    The pressures of finals will surely stress us out, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Plan accordingly and don’t forget about the potential road constructions due to winter conditions. Good luck, safe travels and enjoy your upcoming adventures.