Analysing Aquafina Bottled Water

Analysing Aquafina Bottled WaterAquafina feeding bottlefuld water supply dodge is bottled around the country in 33 distinct locations from municipal tap water. It is both filtered and purified in a process that involves seven separate steps c in alled the HydRO-7 Purification System. Included in the steps be processes such as filtration, exposure to high intensity light, osmosis, polishing, and ozonization. What results is water that has a sum of money Dissolved Solid (TDS) content of 4 parts per million (ppm), 2.5 quantifys lower than the Food and Drug Ad momentistration (FDA) maximum measure.The packaging of the water goes holy a long process and creates some muda. Many of the Pepsi bottling processes argon let onsourced. For example, the bottles be manufactured by Amcor PET Packaging North America. The process is also actually detailed and complicated in order to ensure both safety and a relicapable product. We will also be explaining every material in the packagin g process.Additionally, we will be discussing the recent boom of the water industry and its milieual implications over the last decade. The amount of natural resources being used to clear the entire bottled water package, is extraordinary, and causing a real problem. The environment is also being contaminated on a daily basis with a mass of the bottles being thr shed light on away as contrary to being recycled. Along with the destruction of our pla last-place, waxy bottles and the water contained inwardly them atomic number 18 starting to be seen as a serious health threat.For the economical part of this paper, we will touch on Aquafinas numbers over the past few course of studys and try to divine the future. We will also make suggestions on how to gain a bigger market share, and how to make safe products in a business status. Pepsi-Colas Aquafina, which has reigned as the number-one shuffling for several years, has become the U.S. bottled water businesss first one mil lion million million-dollar brand in 2004 has sustained stiff growth in 2005 when wholesale dollar gross receipts neared $1.3 billion.IntroductionBottled water is one of the biggest selling beverages in the world due to its convenience and quality taste. Whether due to the uneasiness of the safety of tap water or the convenience of the bottle, bottled water continues to gain profit share for companies in the industry. Specifically for busy college students such as ourselves, it has become increasely important for us to be able to imbibition water when non near a water source.Hence, the product we chose to study is Aquafina bottled water. When one purchases a bottle of Aquafina, he will receive the purified water and the bottle in which it is contained including its label, nutrition facts and ingredients, and a sealed cap. Although the Aquafina water bottle is only meant for one use, umpteen choose to refill their bottle with ordinary tap water.Be bring forth peace-loving Luthe ran University contracts its beverages and vending cars done Pepsi, Aquafina is the most consumed bottled water for our campus. This report is the study of the Aquafina bottled water process, value stream, muda, and economic evaluation of the bottled water that is widely circulated not honorable on our campus but around the world.The HydRO-7 Purification SystemPurifying the WaterAchieving Aquafina water is a complex and complicated process. Aquafina bottles water in 33 different municipal locations around the country from underground formation springs, the same location as our tap water. Whereas tap water is merely filtered and treated to remove bacteria and contaminants, Aquafina start outs an extra step by purifying the water using the Hydro-7 shade system which removes substances according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. Creator of the state-of-the-art purification system, the HydRO-7 removes substances in seven different steps. The Aquafina website pro vides the consumer with information related to the filtration and purification steps of its product (www.aquafina.com).PrefiltrationIn this first step, the system removes tiny particles in the water through a filter.Polishing filterHere, this first polishing filter (of 2) catches any particles that were missed in the previous step.High-intensity lightA burst of high cogency light imparts thrust into the water stream to eliminate naturally occurring organic substances in the water.Reverse Osmosis (R.O.)Here, the system uses pressure and a hyper filter to remove 98% of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and organic compounds from the water. The TDS is the sum of all dissolved solids in water in parts per million. This step uses semi-permeable membranes with smaller pore sizes than micro filtration, revolutionary filtration, and nano filtration to remove substances such as sodium and chloride from the water.Charcoal FiltrationThis step isolates the elements that affect the taste of the wa ter in a charcoal filter.Polishing FilterThis is where the system polishes the hydrogen and oxygen elements in the water to make the water clear.OzonizationThe system passes purified, oxygen-rich vent through a generating cell. Here, three oxygen molecules are brought together to fete un deprivationed particles away. When they take in done their job, they revert masking to double oxygen molecules.Here is a standard Aquafina nutrition facts label install either on the bottle or the packaging.More important than what is in Aquafina water is what has been removed. The Aquafina website suggests that everything that the system removes from the water is unnecessary and perhaps harmful to gentles (www.aquafina.com). The environmental Protection business office (EPA) requires a maximum of 500 ppm (parts per million) of TDSs in spring water and the FDA requires 10 ppm in purified water. Aquafina, a purified water, bottles water at 4 ppm, 2.5 times lower than the FDA standard (Mosko, 2004). The process removes the following trace compounds from the waterCarbonatesBicarbonatesChloridesSulfatesPhosphatesNitratesCalciumMagnesiumSodiumPotassiumIronManganeseCalcium and potassium are necessary for the human body, but they are still removed. Aquafina claims that the minute levels in the water harbor little effect on human health and removing them only delivers a much than(prenominal) pure water (www.aquafina.com). However at the end of the purification process, of the bottled water that Aquafina bottles is tap water (Mosko, 2004).Aquafina claims to hit the purest water in the industry, but even more pure and containing less TDS is Penta water, which goes through a rigorous 11-step process and distributes water with 0.5 ppm TDS. Pentas website also explains the process and the advantages of Penta in detail (http//www.pentawater.com/what.shtml).The Aquafina system at the plant in Austin, Indiana, for example, has bottles 32,000 gallons of water an hour. The system is computer monitored and keeps track of which valves are kick in and closed and how much is in severally tank. The Aquafina system is also used for bottling soft drinks at the plant. All the water is carbon-filtered in one of cardinal tanks the same process is used for all the water that is used in soft drinks, only the Aquafina water goes through the extra step of ozonization (Investing, 2004).Pepsi/Aquafina BottlingThe BottlePepsi Bottling Ventures LLC (PBV)In July of 2002 the first products were being stimulated at PBVs new small-bottle PET telegraph wire in Raleigh, NC in a 200,000 sq ft production/distribution plant. This was a $40 million investment for PBV that gave the company the ability to increase production. PBV has bottling rights for Pepsi products covering most of North Carolina and a portion of big Island, NY. One of the facilities that upgraded to the PBV production bottling plant was the Raleigh location with the primary goal being the production of bottled water under the Aquafina label, one of the riotousest growing products within Pepsi. The need for this upgraded production facility from PBV offers Pepsi the ability to be competitive and cost-conscious (Mans, 2003).FeaturesIndividual sanitary enclosures are designed and manufactured by ICS Intl. These contain washing/capping/ cream systems on the PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) lines. The fillers are housed in one room, with a common kindleing, ventilating and air conditioning system. The PBV plant features an individual sanitary enclosure for each option system with monobloc filler guards that are integrated into the face of the enclosure. The enclosures have an epoxy floor that is sloped to a stainless-steel drain, vision plug-ins and a complete air-quality control system. The walls and chapiter are made of insulation sandwich panels populateing of inside and outside stainless-steel panels filled with polyurethane foam. The clean rooms come complete with lighting, doors, a n air filtration unit, air conditioning, and an air exhaust system. The air-filtration units maintain pressure in the enclosure to prevent outside air from entering (Mans, 2003).BottlesAquafina uses bottles that are produced by Amcor PET Packaging-North America. Amcor uses PET to make elastic containers for Pepsi products. Amcors website states that this waxy material is manufactured from various by-products of the oil and gas industries, especially ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. PET consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen and back end be incinerated without residues for energy recovery. PET is the most valuable of the recyclable malleables. It offers the ability for the container to be lightw octet, shatter resistant, resealable and recyclable. The formation of a bottle is blow molded which involves blowing air into a molten plastic tube and and then forcing the material to follow the shape of the mold. Injection molding is also involved which is the process of conver ting plastic pellets by using heat and pressure to inject the molten material into a water-cooled mold. Amcors website explains this technology (http//www.amcor.com/Default.aspx?id=505).Filtration/Sanitation/Air QualityThe units have three filtration stages. These stages involve roughing filters, bag filters and HEPA filters for an medium air quality of Class 1,000. ICS added an air extractor that sucks the air from the enclosure and ducts it outside the plant to avoid discharging air loaded with sugar or ozone into the adjoin area inside the plant. Air quality is optimized through the limits that are placed on the filler. This also allows the operator to stand outside the room and control the machine (Mans, 2003).BottlingPre-labeled bottles are delivered to an automatic de palletteizer on pallets with cardboard slipsheets between the layers. The depalletizer raises the pallet one layer at a time. A sweep carriage equipped with suck cups swings over and automatically removes the slipsheet and deposits it in a bin for return to the bottle supplier. The depalletizer then indexes the layer of bottles up, and the carriage sweeps the bottles onto a mass bottle conveyor.The bottles on the small-PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) line are then conveyed in mass to two Lanfranchi high-speed bottle scramblers which have rotating turrets that orient the bottles in an upright position. Level sensors in the hopper of each unscrabler turn delivery elevators on and off to maintain bottles in the hoppers. The bottles from both unscramblers converge in single-file and are injected into the fare-guided air-conveyance system, where the bottles are supported by rods beneath their neck finishes. The bottles are then pushed along the chamber by air blowing. The depalletizing workcell includes three depalletizers and is designed to allow two operators to feed containers to three production lines.Empty bottles are conveyed directly via air conveyor into the sanitary enclosure and t he infeed star of the monobloc rinser/filler/capper. All bottle-handling within the monobloc is accomplished by supports under the neck rings of the bottles.The bottles are delivered to the gripping heads of the 108-station rinser through the entrance starwheel, and are turned upside bundle as the unit rotates. Purified water is sprayed into the bottles through nozzles affixed to the gripping heads, and then drains out as the unit continues its rotation. This solution contains ozone for maximum cleaning efficiency when producing Aquafina. Bottles are then turned upright and discharge through a starwheel that also serves as the delivery starwheel to the filler.The filler for these bottles is an isobaric-volumetric machine with 144 filling valves. Each filling valve is connected to the central tank through a product pipe and two gas pipes connected to the carbon dioxide supply. One pipe is used for the bottle pressurization and the other pipe for the pressure stabilization between t he tank and the filling valve. When travel rapidly Aquafina, the system uses nitrogen alternatively of carbon dioxide. The level inside the filling cylinder is essentially the same as the level in the central tank, and changes in the quantity of fill for different bottle sizes is accomplished by changing the level in the central tank. A piston in each cylinder is adjusted by an external magnetic coupling to set the exact volume to be filled to an accuracy of 2 mL. This is done from the operator panel (Mans, 2003).CappingFrom the filler, bottles travel through another starwheel into the 36-head Arol CSD screw capper. Caps are supplied by Alcoa and are sorted and delivered to the capper by a system from SIDEL, Packaging Systems Div. Caps are loaded into a hopper located outside of the enclosure. Then a nearly vertical fringe carries the caps to the top of the enclosure. Caps are contained on horizontal cleats on the belt and if any caps improperly orient they fall back into the hop per. The belt discharges the caps onto a track that carries them down to the capper. A transfer star picks the caps from the track and places them on the capping head, which then rotates synchronously above the bottle turret. The capping head lowers and screws the cap onto the bottle as the unit rotates.Capped bottles leaving the enclosure pass through an Industrial dynamics Filtec x-ray fill height inspector. The capped bottles then pass two Videojet Excel ink-jet correspondents that print a freshness date on the bottle cap tamper ring. The plant has installed two of these units to provide redundancy in case one unit malfunctions. For added security a Domino laser printer applies production codes and a freshness date to the bottle. After being coded the bottles then travel onto a multichain mat-top conveyor that slows their transport speed from 350 to 40 ft/min and accumulates the bottles from single-file to mass (Mans, 2003).Label/ Glue/ Packing /PackagingA HiCone machine produce s six-packs of 16- and 24-oz, and 500-mL bottles. The bottles are delivered to the machine in two lanes. The two lanes separate six bottles and use the plastic carrier material. The material is delivered in a continuous web to a great vertical wheel rotating above the bottles. The wheel pushes the web down onto the six bottles, and it is then cut to separate the six-pack. The packs are then diverted into two lanes and fed to a Hartness 2650 continuous-motion case packer that places four six-packs into reusable plastic crates for delivery to the PBV warehouse for distribution.Bottles can also be conveyed to a packing installation incorporating a Model MW7 multipacker and a Model TDL tray former/loader and backfire wrapper, all supplied by Douglas Machine. Each of these servo-driven machines has its own control panel, with intuitive touchscreen interfaces with real-time production data, maintenance scheduling and changeover settings.Bottles are delivered to the multiwrapper where free radicals of six or 12 bottles are then wrapped in registered film. This is a dual-stream machine that wraps two parallel groups of bottles simultaneously. Bottles are delivered in mass to the machine and are separated into either six or twelve bottle groupings by a proprietary pinless metering system. The groups are then delivered into the wrapping section. The film is placed around the bottle group and the package is conveyed through a heated shrink tunnel.Four six packs or two twelve packs are then delivered to the tray former/loader. The machine forms a tray from a paperboard blank, pushes the wrapped packs onto the tray, and then seals the open sides with hot-melt glue. This glue is applied by a Nordson glue system. Some 500-mL bottles, as well as 20- and 24-oz bottles of all products can bypass the multipacker and be delivered directly to the tray former/loader. After these are placed on the tray, it travels through a shrink wrapper/heat tunnel. once the products are packa ged, they are conveyed past a Videojet ink-jet case coder for application of production codes and then overhead to an automatic palletizer. Each sku is individually palletized to a designed stacking pattern. Individual packages are delivered to the upper level of the palletizer and are assembled into layers. After each layer is completed the platform is then lowered so the succeeding(prenominal) layer can be assembled. Finished pallet loads are released at floor level and are transported by pallet conveyor to an huntsman stretch wrapper. PBV uses plastic pallets that have improved palletizing efficiency and eliminated the debris and floor damage that are usually caused by wood pallets (Mans, 2003).Finished Products/ Reductions of Plant beFinished products are stacked two or three high, without pallet racks, and are rotated by code dates. The warehouse has been designed to have twin-load pallet racks in the future that will accommodate four-high stacking. The forklifts are also res ponsible for placing empty pallets into the palletizers.The PBV plant was specifically designed to allow all raw materials and entire goods to be handled on double forklifts. These forklifts allow two pallets to be picked up at a time and greatly reduce loading and unloading time of the production equipment. The dock equipment was engineered to allow the movement of these extra-wide and heavy loads in and out of the building.The double-fork trucks are also used to load trailers with finished products divergence to the sales centers, unload return trailers with empty plastic pallets and shells, store empty shells and pallets, and feed empty shells to the three lines. Double-fork trucks greatly reduce the number of forklifts and total travel outperform in high-volume beverage plants (Mans, 2003).The Need for Water Vs. The Need for Bottled WaterWater is a precious resource and the source of life. Its one that many people take for granted on a daily basis, and because of that, a wate r crisis has been developing over the last few decades. According to a study done in the year 2000, 346,800 million gallons per day (mgd) of freshwater and 61,200 mgd of saltwater were used in the United States (Water, 2006). Based on these numbers, its figured that the emblematic American single family stead consumes, on average, 69.3 gallons of water per day (Water, 2006). Our daily needs include hydrating ourselves, using in food preparation, flushing toilets, showering, kitchen and bathroom sink purposes, and washing clothes and dishes. These uses attribute to the amount of water consumed, both for purposeful reasons, as well as for wasteful and unnecessary reasons. While hydrating ourselves to keep our body functions working properly does not consist of a large portion of the daily water usage among Americans, it is still an amount that is being used and will never decrease. Human beings need, on average, eight to twelve cups of water per day to replenish the around ten cup s of water lost each day due to body functions, varying either more or less depending on activity level (Lempert, 2004). Because of this physical need, someone realized that they could profit. This profit realization turned into a multi-billion dollar business we directly know as the bottled water industry.The thought that one day human beings would spend money on a bottled version of something that they can get from their own home for a fraction of a cent for the same amount, is mind-boggling but has become the norm. Nothing is created without a need or a want hence, bottled water was created. Since the U.S. is becoming a more on-the-go society each and every day, Americans rely more and more convenience items. One example of this is the rise of fast food restaurants, which happens to be a factor in the current obesity epidemic in America. So, because of this go, go, go mentality, many just do not have the time to walk to a sink and fill up a glass with water. They instead need to have it right by their side, only needing to open up a cap and just toss it to the side when it is empty and open up the next thats right there. Another beneficial aspect is in times of emergencies, such as a hurricanes or earthquakes, the water supplies to those areas are usually shut down and/or contaminated. In which case, bottled water is needed for consumption. in addition the convenience and emergency factors, Americans seem to think that bottled water is a safer, and sometimes, tastier, alternative to tap water. Some people fear coming down with gastrointestinal illnesses, piece of music others fear contaminants, such as pesticides, to enter their bodies (Terry, 2005). People live under the impression that all bottled water is safer to drink than tap water because of a typical misconception, the idea that if it is bottled or packaged by a beverage or food company, then it must be safe. This is an idea that can be argued back and forth.Consumption, Recycling, Physical Harm, and MudaThe amount of bottled water being purchased is growing almost exponentially each year. According to a bottled water study, based on the year 2004, Americans consumed 6.76 billion gallons of the pricey beverage (Falcone, 2006). This total amount averaged out to 70 million one-serving bottles being drank each and every day (Falcone, 2006). Consuming that many bottles of water mundane is incredible, and it is no wonder that entrepreneurs are coming up with new ideas all the time on how to get into the bottled water industry. A big reason for the increasing amount of bottled water drinkers is because of, as mentioned earlier, the convenience. It is a lot easier to grab a couple of bottled waters from the refrigerator before going somewhere. Aside from the convenience or laziness factor, the rise in bottled water consumption has begun to have a serious impact on our environment.With the amount of bottled water being produced everyday, there is a high amount of left over product once the water has been drank that must be dealt with. That portion left over happens to be the plastic bottle, something that is not the most earth-friendly item. Of the daily amount of bottled water being consumed, 70 million, 60 million are never recycled (Falcone, 2006). On a daily basis, that means that approximately 86% of bottles are thrown away and sent to a landfill, hurting our environment. This also means that 60 million new plastic bottles have to be created each day to replace those that are thrown in the trash, which amounts to more natural resources being used and more future muda being produced. What is more worrisome is that once these bottles are taken to a landfill, they can take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose (Falcone, 2006). First of all, how is someone able to compute that amount, because, afterward all, bottled water is a fairly new concept? And secondly, with 60 million bottles being added to dumps each day all over the U.S., where are the bottles goi ng to be taken to in ten years, when most likely the amount of bottled waste has doubled, or even tripled?So why is it that the majority of plastic bottles are not being recycled? Many experts say that it is because vehicles are not equipped with recycling receptacles (Falcone, 2006). Since a majority of Americans who purchase bottled water are on-the-go all the time, they have less patience and desire to hold onto their empty plastic bottles until they get to a location where a recycling bin is present. It is easier to just throw them in the trash or on the street. It seems ridiculous that it is easier for people to throw a bottle in the trash as opposed to recycling especially when many places are placing recycling bins next to trash cans. This laziness and lack of patience is causing an extreme amount of harm on the environment. To put this idea into perspective the amount of muda in California created ten years from now would create a two lane, six-inch deep highway that stretch es the entire coast of California (Wilson, 2003).During the idealistic 14% of the time when empty bottles of water are recycled, a lot of good can come from them and it is a step in the right direction in helping the environment. The raw materials used to make the plastic bottles can be saved and used for numerous items which helps to save resources from being destroyed to make new products. By looking at California only, it is estimated that one billion plastic bottles get thrown away over the course of a year (Wilson, 2003). This amount calculates to almost three million bottles being thrown away each and every day (Wilson, 2003). That is an incredible, as well as, disturbing, amount of unnecessary trash. If instead of being thrown away each and every one of those bottles were recycled, the materials reused could produce either 74 million square feet of carpet, 74 million extra large T-shirts, or 16 million sweaters (Wilson, 2003). It is incredible to think that a plastic bottle could be turned into other useful items and help save the environment by not using as many natural resources. Some other interesting information about the recycled material is that five recycled bottles can produce one extra large T-shirt, polyesther carpets can be created from the resin contained within the bottles, and the materials of the bottle can be spun like cotton candy and produce filling for quilts and pillows (Recycling, 2006). By looking over these types of statistics, it paints a wonderful picture of how recycling so much can be saved.Many precious fossil terminates are wasted in this process. The transportation of bottled water to other parts of the U.S. as well as being shipped to other parts of the world uses large amounts of fuel on a yearly basis. This fuel is being wasted on a daily basis for a product that a majority of Americans can get for almost nothing just by turning a knob in their own home (Arnold, 2006). Besides wasting fuel on transportation costs, thi s same precious resource is being consumed during the packaging process. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the type of plastic most commonly used to produce bottles and just so happens to contain crude oil (Bottled, 2005). According to research, 1.5 million barrels of crude oil is used over the course of a year to be able to produce the amount of bottles Americans demand (Bottled, 2005). Putting this amount into perspective, 1.5 million barrels would be enough to fuel approximately 100,000 cars for an entire year in the U.S. (Bottled, 2005). It is no shock that our world is currently dealing with a fuel crisis. By wasting such an extreme amount of oil on the production of bottles and transporting the finished product, we are not only hurting the environment but we are ruining the future for the next generations.Previously mentioned was the apparent safeness of bottled water as opposed to tap water. While in some cases this whitethorn be true, tap water can be just as good as bottl ed and it may even be safer. Many scientific studies have been conducted on bottled water over the years and some of the information found is disturbing. Unlike tap water, which is adjust by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), bottled water is classified as a food. Hence, it is regulated by the Food Drug Administration (FDA) (Mosko, 2004). The two groups have different standards in which companies are to follow otherwise harsh consequences result. Some differences are that the FDA does not require products to be tested for coliform bacteria whereas the EPA specifies that no corroborate E.coli or fecal coliform contamination is allowed in tap water (Howard, 2003). Also unlike the EPA, contaminants are not required to be listed after testing whereas additives are required (Mosko, 2004). Since 1990, findings of chemical contamination and fecal coliform during testing have caused 11 major recalls of bottled water (Mosko, 2004). According to a study done by the reality Wildlif e Fund, bacterial counts in bottled mineral water can jump 1,000-fold after one week in storage (Mosko, 2004). When bottled water is stored in an un-refrigerated environment for a long period of time, the amount of microorganisms that begin to develop are far greater than the amount contained within tap water (Mosko, 2004). Some water companies, including Aquafina, do not use NSF-certification which tests bottled water for 144 dangerous contaminants (Mosko, 2004). Besides the water being unsafe in many cases, the plastic bottles can also cause a health threat to consumers. When bottled water drinkers notice a taste difference between brands, some of that difference can be attributed to the type of plastic used for the bottle. If the type of plastic used can have an effect on the taste of the water, shouldnt that make a person wonder as to what else the plastic is doing to the water microscopically? One such chemical used in PET bottles, known as Bisphenol-A, is a known endocrine dis ruptor and carcinogen (Mosko, 2004). This chemical found through testing mixes with the water contained inside the bottle (Mosko, 2004). It is one thing for a person to be inhaling smoke from cigarettes and knowing the possible cancer they are creating within their body. But it is absolutely ridiculous and uncalled for when a person unknowingly harms their body on a daily basis by drinking a product they are told is healthy and necessary for survival. With all of these findings from studies, just how good is that three-dollar bottle of water looking to a person now?Economical and Environmental Analysis in the Business ProcessFirst, some numbers on PepsiCo and Aquafina According to the New York Times, The Pepsi Bottling Group posted better-than-expected profit April 18th as strong sales of Aquafina bottled water and Lipton Ice Tea brands in North America offset rising costs for raw material and fuel (Pepsi, 2006). The company had net income of $34 million, or 14 cents a share, compar ed with $39 million, or 15 cents a share, in the period a year earlier. Earnings were 3 cents ahead of analysts average forecast of 11 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. Excluding stock option expense, Pepsi Bottlings profit was 18 cents a share. The company, which is 43 percent, owned by PepsiCo Inc., said revenue rose to $2.37 billion from $2.15 billion. In the United States, sales of noncarbonated beverages, excluding water, grew more than 20 percent in the quarter while sales of Aquafina water grew about 35 percent. Pepsi Bottling said first-quarter sales by volume, a crucial gauge of performance in the beverage industry, rose 6 percent worldwide as well as in the United States and Canada. The company said worldwide net revenue per case grew 4 percent, fueled by price increases in the United States that helped offset a 9 percent jump in selling, delivery and administrative expenses (The New York Times, April

The Global Journey In The Sin Dejar Huella Media Essay

The Global Journey In The Sin Dejar Huella Media EssaySin dejar huella (Without Leaving a Trace, 2000) is a burgeon forth written and directed by Mara Novaro. It is based on a journey infrataken by ii fe young-begetting(prenominal) fugitives Ana and Aurelia travelling along the back roads of Mexico from Ciudad Jurez to Cancn.Sin dejar huella is similar to Novaros otherwise film productions it is structured around a physical, objective journey and Novaro makes clear altogetherusions and references to the melodramatic themes of motherhood, female friendship and invisible male figures in contemporary Mexico. Sin dejar huella belongs to the niche genre of the womens road film and has triggered comparisons with Ridley Scotts tragicomic feminist road movie Thelma and Louise (1991).Cohan and Hark outline the road movie as representing a pursuitfor a better life, a new social order, or fulfilment.1However, the journey across Mexico in Novaros feature film transcends the accomplis hed spiritual quest of finding yourself and Bildungsroman as associated with this movie genre. It differentiates itself from the melodramatic undertones of her earlier film productions and the lightheartedness of Scotts 1991 feature specifically through the interplay of amalgamating elements from the cultures of different regions2 the local anaesthetic and world(a) influences and behaviour in Mexico through which Novaro addresses her socio-political concerns of poverty, social neglect, planetaryisation and the pace of modernity. In this respect, certain parallels can be drawn between Sin dejar huella and Dennis Hoppers Easy passenger (1969) in which, as one critic points outThe search for America attemptn by Captain America and his sidekick Billy is not geographical, it is literally a quest to find out where Americas theme is at. The people and places represented in that quest are evocative of different states of consciousness co-existing unpeacefully in this country and all over the world. Each stop on the road is an encounter with a different alive(predicate)ness of what is real and what is of value.Novaro uses the velocity of the high speed chase in the narrative to ignite the film from within, effectively creating a momentum through which she engages the audience and, similar to Hoppers 1969 feature, enters an incisive discourse to find out exactly where Mexicos head is at. This essay is an attempt to investigate Sin dejar huella within the context of the glocal3 focusing on the mise en scne and the characterisation of the protagonists, I will turn over how aspects of the local, regional and global or the micro-meso-macro are pooled together to generate an part of contemporary Mexico. More specifically, I will analyse the changing roles of Ana and Aurelia and the development of chumminess between the two initially polarised characters as they progress through their journey I will attempt to draw a correlation between the local and global influence s they confront and are forced to adapt to, in particular from their positions as women living on the margins of Mexican society, and how this leads to a level of co-dependency and a cod for the formation of their relationship, representative of a creation of a new identity in Mexico.Firstly, it is significant to consider the influences and reasons for Novaros interplay with the local and global in Sin dejar huella, and how they enable the film to explore aspects of globalisation in Mexico. Mexicos entry into NAFTA4in 1994 and President Salinas de Gortaris free-market policies led to a fall in national film production and distribution. Subsequently, agreements and alliances were establish between Spanish and Mexican production companies in the late 1990s with the aim to fortalecer los lazos de coloboracin5 to locally produce films and television programmes (where it would eat been cheaper) and extend their nettle beyond the national, and towards regional and global markets. The preconditions of these agreements were to incorporate Mexicans and Spaniards at the level of both cast and crew, generally in proportion to the percentage of funding offered by apiece country6 essentially an obligatory interplay and ex falsify between the local and the global. Sin dejar huella was part of this new wave of transnational cinema production it was co-produced by Mexicos AltaVista Films and Spains Tornasol Films, and Aitana Snchez-Gijn a widely recognised Spanish-Italian and Hollywood film actress7 was cast as the female co-protagonist in the film.The representation of distinct upbringings and ways of life in Spain and Mexico are underlined through the mise-en-scne, characterisation, and the cooperation between the two protagonists in Sin dejar huella, which relate to the idea that the interplay between the local and the global stems from the preconditioned film production requirements and transnational influences. From the outset of the narrative, the costume and the dilogos humorsticos8between Ana and Aurelia draw immediate attention to their differing local and global consumer attitudes Ana wears luxury Western designer accessories, such as high-heeled sandals, a Longines watch and Gucci sunglasses which are emphasised in repeated medium frame talking head shots. Aurelia, conversely, wears cow boy boots relating to the traditional outfit of the Mexican vaquero and has neither heard of these global brands, nor recognises their monetary value she comically mistakes Gucci for Fuchi and exchanges the Longines watch for only enough money to buy a telephone call-card. As the narrative progresses, it is significant to note that the women share and barter their clothes and accessories. The scotch and information exchange between Spain and Mexico and the establishment of friendly ties between the two countries in the film production, and also represented in the on-screen local-global trade could in fact be a constructive and encouraging image of Mexic os entry into global economic activity.However, although the incorporation of Snchez-Gijn was a mere compliance with the conditions of co-producing, and the economic activity in the narrative representative of a progressive image of the Mexico-Spain film alliance, a close cinematographic analysis of the maturity of Ana and Aurelias relationship, and the shifting image of what it means to be a Mexican woman would reveal that the interplay between the local and the global transcends these practical factors.The doll is a widely recognised and iconic symbol of the feminine ideal it is a beautifully constructed, motionless object that is subject to look and adoration. In the opening ten minutes of Sin dejar huella both Ana and Aurelia break away from this anachronistic and illusory symbols of Mexican femininity in the physical demise of doll figurines for Ana it is a ceramic figure of dama de Kolpec, una tejedora, figura de Jaina del periodo clasico maya9she was exporting as a replica Mayan artefact to the Museum of Denver, Colorado for Aurelia it is the bride figurine from her wedding cake and under which she had stashed cocaine for her narcotraficante boyfriend.Despite the physical exterior of the figurines a bride and a weaver it is the interior of the figurines are the sources of their corruption that have led them to embark on this quest the drugs and the forgery what the women have to resort to/ the realities of life as a woman in Mexico despite the education and (what appears to be) a stable marriage life on the margins isand are the factors that have driven them to embark on this quest to find out that what is actually contained within the dolls (for Ana it is a Mexican peso and in Aurelias case, drugs),Destruction of what the doll represents and evocative of their search to find a new alternative definition of femininity in contemporary Mexico, albeit perhaps a humiliated and less defined image.This journey away from the expectations of womanhood that they have essentially been forced to conform to by default is exemplified in the road sign No hay retorno since there is effectively no turning back Ana and Aurelia had to break this image, showing almost a progressive image and a development.Before the women have even met each other in the narrative they are unitedThe physical destruction of the dolls as the towards achieving their liberation is representative of the journey these women will undertake as they continue through the journey across MexicoThis dichotomy the two women face between subserving the image and breaking away to achieving exactly what they want, serves as a vehicle towards the formation of their friendship and an establishment of their co-dependency. In every scene in which their friendship is developed the fundamental human needs are brought to the forefront, despite the local-global differences that surround themWhen Aurelia witnesses Ana drinking water from a public fountain, Aurelia is shocked and offe rs to buy her bottled water. It is ironic in their reversal of attitudes and financial situations Ana is the more globalised traveller, yet is faced with a situation in which she cannot pay for a raw material human requirement, Aurelia, a woman who has grown up working in the sweat-shops of Northern Mexico ironically is aware of the problems of drinking tap-water. It is at this moment that a level of dependency arises from Ana onto Aurelia.This dependency that emerges is particularly significant in reference to Aurelias mocking comment in the car Loz ezpaolez hablan az, emphasising the lisp common in Spanish speech, which draws attention to their global differences.This dependency is transformed into a friendship between the two women as witnessed at the Playa Paraso where a sign embedded in the sand which reads Slo se encuentran amigos aqu is focussed on and the women subsequently bathe in the sea water. Their physical immersion into the water perhaps could be inferred as a religi ous imagery of soul cleansing or baptism or the two women united by the water, a vital ingredient for life, and an element that is necessary for all regardless of their race or nationality. This visual imagery is significant in Novaros interplay between the local and the global because the sea is the factor that connects the local and the global, national and international altogether not solely in a abstract manner but also geographically.This concept of the connection between nations through water (*) is represented in the scene that motivates Aurelia to embark on the journey itself in which she watches a man (like Ana and Aurelia) take of his clothes and cross a river to El Paso, Texas.The notion of water as an immersing factor in representing the ability to cross / wrap up across onto a new, better world is also what differentiates the women when confronted by borders each women reacts differently as a provide of their upbringing and where they essentially originate from. Ana , as a globe-trotter, having lived, worked and loved in many countries confronts borders as a means of surviving financially she trades false Mayan artefacts to the Museum of Denver, America. Aurelia, conversely, views borders as a liberating factor a stake to improve her lifestyle and provide her children with the opportunity for a better life.The relationships with men are significant factors that differentiate the womenAnas characterisation as a femme fatale as emphasised by the mise-en-scene in her dress is chased by a lecherous cop, Mendizabal he smells her hair and almost fetishises his search for her, and in fact his hunt down for her is like him wanting a foreign woman as a trophy to hang up. Ana is somewhat feared by men as a result of her education and her dress.Their relationship with menAna and Mendizabel goes beyond the femme fatale as her costume would suggest she does not want to use her beauty, charm or sexual allure to lead on MendizabelShe does however tortu re her lover denying confirmation of her affection and driving him to the point of obsession and exhaustion so that he is incapable of making rational decisions it last leads to his death he is killed by the wrong personShe is in fact feared by MendizabalAurelia and BILLY AND JUANITO even her sexual relationship is with a 19year old boyHer relationship with men is reflected on to youth of mexico perhaps a progressive image of Mexico? Education of JuanitoSex scene he goes for her breasts nurturing motherAurelia is the madre coraje will riskiness anything for her children using the traditional methods of education, good-schooling ensuring change, Juanito holds strong moralsHeralclio Chuc progressive image of Mexico heading towards globalisation and a romanticised image of the past vs. the irony of the indigenous culture lock existing within the forces of global..Margins of society left out and the irony that they have tore-create their roots/ portray themselves as existin g in the past attempt to tame their history (illegally)In an interview with Fernando Brenner, Novaro stated thatQuera mostrar un Mxico muy contrastante el sur y el norte. Y dos mujeres muy diferentes. Adems una de ellas tena que tener ms capacidad para ver a Mxico, precisamente por no ser mexicana. se fue mi punto de partida, y una sensacin que tengo no me siento mexicana en la zona Yucatn, como le pasa a muchos mexicanos, pues estamos en la regin maya. Y sea que esa vivencia, la de ser una extranjera en mi patria, convive con mi encanto por estar en mi pas. unconnected influence in MexicoRoad movie genre inexorably transculturalThe movement in the movie itself parallels this shifting image of MexicoLast paragraph the image of a changing mexico isnt negative a progressive image of the change and that the foreign influence isnt always going to be negativeHowever, despite the fast-pace change of modernity/ global influence, there is still a level of humanity this doesnt change A na steals the money but brings it back, mariachi band at the end she remembersSurvival basic human needs they converge in this respect because they both rely on each other/ are dependent on each other food, drinking, sleep

The Chamber Essays -- essays research papers

1.The Chamber starts off with Sam Cayhall and Rollie Wedge planting a bomb in Marvin Kramers office. Marvins is a Jewish militant leader during the civil rights movement, and both Sam and Rollie are members of the Ku Klux Klan. The bomb goes off, killing both of Marvins young children and leaving Marvin as an amputee. The bombs advancement destroys the small town of Greenville, Mississippi. Time goes on towards raptus Hall, Sams grandson. Adams father kills himself in 1980 when he was only 16. This leaves a double void in Adams life and arrive ats a hunger for family in his life. However, he goes on to study law at Harvard following his undergrad degree from Michigan. Adam begs his firm, Kravitz and Bane, to let him take on his grandfathers case as a pro-bono case. The firm reluctantly lets him because they believe that it will create positive publicity for their firm. Adam goes to live with his best friend, his aunt Lee in Memphis. Adam then meets his notorious grandfather, Sa m Cayhall, on death row. Adam discovers how wretched and mean Sam is, but still is determined to save his life. Along the way Adam meets friends and various enemies. He meets a friend in Sergeant Packer, Nora Stark, and Garner Goodman. He meets enemies in Lucas Mann, Governor McAllister, and Colonel Nugent.Adam berates Sam with questions trying to discover new evidence on the case to help his appeals. His Aunt Lee helps by telling family secrets and past stories tha...

The Role of Faith and the Nechung Oracle in Tibetan Culture :: Religion

The Role of Faith and the Nechung Oracle in Tibetan CultureIn the United States, we pride ourselves on our objectiveness, our ability not to get caught up in religious fervor. We often think that people who believe deeply in their religion and involve it in all aspects of their lives are fanaticsthat they are somehow beneath us, less deserving of our respect. We are taught almost from birth that the scientific rule is the only way to look at the world. We learn the steps of the scientific method (observation, hypothesis, test, and theory) in elementary school. This philosophy then colors how we think of everything afterward that. Faith is seen as an undesirable quality and has no place in our culture. Nothing is real unless it can be proven. In Tibet, on the other hand, the Tibetan people have a profound respect for their religion. Buddhism permeates every aspect of their lives. As Harrer says in Seven Years in Tibet, The daily life of Tibetans is tell by religious belief. Pious t exts are constantly on their lips prayer wheels turn without ceasing prayer flags wave on the roofs of houses and the summits of mountain passes the rain, the win, all the phenomena of nature, the lonely peaks of the snowy mountains bear witness to the universal presence of the gods whose anger is manifested by the hailstorm, and whose benevolence is displayed by the fruitfulness and fertility of the land. (Harrer, 1953 p 187)Religion had a part in everything from politics to when they were allowed to change clothing for the season.virtuoso day the summer season was officially declared to have begun, and summer clothes might be worn. One had no right to leave off ones furs when one wanted to. Every year, after considerations of the omens, a day was fixed on which the nobles and monks move on summer dressSummer dress must be worn from that date only. (Harrer, 1953 p182)Because religion is such an integral part of their lives, Bu ddhism unites the Tibetan people. I propose that the State

Sin in The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

Sin in The Scarlet Letter        Since the dawn of time people have read, studied and enjoyed books in which the hero or heroes fall from grace. No matter who those heroes are- the human race in The Bible,the demon prince Lestat in Anne Rices Vampire Chroniclesor a certain Thane of Cawdor in Macbeth- sin plays a greatpart in all of their downfalls and subsequent ressurections.And the three main characters in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter-Dimmesdale, Chillingsworth, and Hester Prynne- are no different.          All three characters are flung from the normal rolesthat inn has laid upon them- minister, housewife, doctor-into new roles- sinner, whore, and vengance crazed sadist.These new roles are not necessarily apparent to all in town.However, even though the townspeople do not know of thesinners, God does. And in Gods eyes, whose sin was greater?That, I cannot answer. But in this mere mortals opinion, the sin of Chillingsworth fa r outdid the sin of Dimmesdale or Hester Prynne, for Chillingsworths sin was sensation of revengeand one of secrecy. He was not driven by an anger at his ownsin, but by the sin of others. He used deception andmanipulation to make the intent of another miserable. He wasnot flung from societys view as if he were a dirty secretlike Hester was he was embraced by it. However, his sin didtake its toll.  He was disfigured horribly and became atwisted man, scarred by sin. He also was robbed of thepleasure of destroying Dimmesdale which was his reason forliving. He died shortly after Dimmesdale.          Hester Prynne, however, was the complete opposite of Chillingworth in that her sin gave her life, not destroyed it. She took her punishment and embraced it, using it to make herself not as a pathetic sinner, but as a pseudo-nonsuch. At first, the town shunned her as a sinner. However,after they saw that she was good, and her sin was of love,the same town embraced and loved her. Her sin drew her moredeeply into the society of Boston than she ever was before.And when her time to die came, she did so with honor. HesterPrynne - sinner and saint.     However, Hesters sin was shared. Whereas she was asinner on the outside and a saint on the inside, ArthurDimmesdale is the reverse, both literally and figuratively.

And Then There Were None by Christie Agatha Essay -- Vera and Lombard,

Vera felt as though it was only right to follow the poem. Every time somebody died or disappeared a little china take in would break or disappear but at the end Vera toke the last one standing with her as a token saying that they made it to the end. plot she was hanging herself the little figure broke, The little china figure fell from her hand. It rolled unneeded and broke against the fender (Christie 268). She also thought thats what Hugo precious her to because she was responsible for his nephew death.The antagonist of And Then there Were None is Judge Justice Wargrave. He was also known as Issac Morris to hide his real identity from in all the other characters. He was the judge of all of the characters cases and he found them guilty and thought it was right for them to die. He knew almost everything about all of the characters, how they would think, how they would react to plastered things, and some of the decisions they would make.Wargrave lead the characters to have both intimate and external conflicts. For example external conflicts They felt now like the people just awaking from a nightmare. There was danger, yes, but it was danger in daylight. That paralyzing atmosphere of fear that had wrapped them round like a blanket yesterday while the wind howled outside was kaput(p) (Christie 243). These people are so terrified they are not getting sleep, barely eating, and hardly talking. They are living they worst nightmare. Not only that Wargrave is cleaning people but he is also scaring the people that is alive more and more which is ca use them to have internal conflicts. For example Vera Claythorne ,the protagonist went through the deepest internal conflict What was that-hung from the hook in the ceiling? A rope with a noose ... ...why. They all did a crime and thought they got away with it.In stopping point Agatha Christie wrote this very popular novel called And Then There Were None , to teach the readers that free or not you are never free fr om justice. By using both external and internal conflicts with the characters, symbolism with the poem Ten Little Soldiersand the china figures both symbolizing each character and irony of Justice Wargrave. This guard is one of the reasons why Christie became the first grandmaster recognized by the mystery writers of AmericaWorks Cited Christie, Agatha. Literary Lifelines. 1998. Print. Christie, Agatha. And Then There Were None. New York Harper Collins Publishers, 1939. Print.Kunitz, Stanley J., ed. ordinal Century Authors. New York The H.W. Wilson Company, 1973. Print.Stade, George and Karen, Karbiener., eds. British Writers. 2003. Print

Great Depression Themes in 42nd Street :: essays research papers

Great Depression Themes in 42nd StreetSeen through a particular light and given specific occasions in the film, we outhouse see how 42nd Street echoes the general attitudes of the Great Depression. Particular characters in the film exemplify the wealthy citizens of the time, the common laborer, and Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) portrays a life-force, Franklin Roosevelt, bringing hope along with his New Deal.Throughout the film, there is a dichotomy exhibited through the members of the production and the financiers, namely Abner Dillon. He represents the side of competitive capitalism, while the actors remain firm for a community. The actors identify with each other because they are all in the same(p) situation and each need the job to survive. Abner, on the other hand, has the gold to throw around whimsically, for the difficulties facing the nation do not have the devastating effect on the wealthy that they have on other classes. to a great extent times have fallen on the nation and they realize that it will pick up a group effort to pull themselves out of the Depression. While the rivalry is cut-throat and individualized off of the set, as we see with Dorothy Brachs arrangement with Abner Dillon, the sense of collectivity is emphasized on stage.Leading the march against the depression and maintaining the collective voice, is Julian Marsh. He can be equated with Franklin Roosevelt his work ethic can be seen as a reflection of the New Deal. As Roosevelt gave hope, optimism, and unity to the nation Marsh gives the same to the cast members of 42nd Street. Marsh fights for the actors because he is in the same situation as them, not exclusive of it like Abner. He is in poor health, and yet, he takes responsibility on seemingly, he cannot afford to pass up the job. He realizes that it is going to take a lot of hard work to make the utter a success (end the depression) so he works the actors night, day, and in-between. Marsh may seem like a slave driver, but t his is because he knows that it is going to take an immense amount of work for the show to go on. A key scene in the film is when Abner is going to pull out of the production, but Julian pleads for him not to. Obviously, we see that Julian is looking out for the interests of the hundreds of workers who need the show, while Abner is merely concerned with his own selfish desires.