Environmental and Cultural Impact of Bottled Water

Abstract An entrenched belief in people’s minds that bottled water is superior to tap water has triggered a chain of environmental and cultural challenges to policy makers and environmentalists in conserving the environment and while ensuring quality water for consumers.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Environmental and Cultural Impact of Bottled Water specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The problem of disposing water bottles by enforcing policies for responsible waste bottle disposal, alternative forms of producing water bottles that are environmentally friendly and economically viable alternatives to justify the existence of water bottling industries in the society defines the problem statement. Specifically, the approach to solving the problem will span a careful investigation into the effects of bottled water and waste bottles in the environment, through the collection and analysis of primary data, inter viewing company executives that bottle water, and analyze methods used to curb environmental pollutions. Inn conclusion, these could result in efficient approaches to waste bottle disposal, provision of clean water in harmony with environmental and cultural environment and effective policy formulation and enforcement. Introduction Many and divergent views have been held over time by consumers of bottled water. Specifically, bottled water consumers have regarded this water as safe and of good quality for consumption. This belief has generated a chain of environmental and cultural concerns for policy makers and enforcers over the production and ineffective disposal methods. The research will focus on the impact and enforcement of disposal policies and environmental pollution, conduct an investigation into various areas, analyze different research methods, analyze research methods and draw conclusions from the study for effective approaches to environmental conservation in harmony with the cultural environment. The research will come up with strategic approaches to enforcing policies for environmental conservation, excellent and alternative methods of bottled water manufacture and better and viable alternatives for fuel saving in the production process. Body Thesis statement: Bottled water has had diverse environmental and cultural impacts spanning policy formulation and enforcement strategies. According to Hall (2007, p. 7), bottled water is a widely consumed product. This is an industry that many companies have strategically invested in. The wide usages of these products have environmental and cultural consequences that need to be addressed.Advertising Looking for report on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Goodman (2009, p.3), waste bottles when ineffectively disposed of litter and lead to environmental pollution that in the end become both culturally and environmentally destructive. This concern and the approaches used to manufacture these bottles is a course for concern to the researcher. In addition to that, the quest to provide quality water and efficient manufacturing processes and policy enforcement strategies will be the basis of the research. The specific audience will span policy makers and law enforcement agencies, environmental conservation groups and agencies, manufacturing and recycling companies, water bottling companies and individual consumers. To effectively formulate and implement policies for environmental conservation, the research will analyze the impact of those policies, analyze the quality of water in these bottles, the extent to which current bottle disposal approaches have polluted the environment, analyze consumer behavior and attitudes, company manufacturing and packaging methods, and critically look at available literature spanning all aspects of culture, the environment, and water consumption (Sharfstein,  2010, p. 1 ). Conclusion According to the research proposal, an analysis of the environmental impact of disposing waste water bottles, disposal methods, manufacturing methods, policy formulation and enforcement in the manufacturing methods and use of these bottles, and the quality of water sold out to the consumer formed the backbone of the research. In addition to that, various cultural attachments and consumer attitudes besides the recycling strategies and possible alternatives or efficient recycling methods and efficient fuel usage in the whole process was a vital consideration in the research. Reference List Goodman, S. (2009). Fewer regulations for bottled water than tap, GAO says. Web. Hall, N. (2007). Federal and State Laws Regarding Bottled Water – An Overview and Recommendations for Reform. Web.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Environmental and Cultural Impact of Bottled Water specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn Mor e Sharfstein. J.M. (2010). â€Å"Regulations of bottled water†. Web. This report on Environmental and Cultural Impact of Bottled Water was written and submitted by user Josue J. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. Environmental and cultural impact of bottled water

Oedipus Essays - Oedipus, Creon, Antigone, Jocasta, Operas, Ismene

Oedipus Essays - Oedipus, Creon, Antigone, Jocasta, Operas, Ismene Oedipus Oedipus and Antigone are blood relatives; and as in many relatives, they have both striking similarities and minor differences. Oedipus was the son of King Laus and Queen Jocasta. Oedipus was a very strong king during his reign until the city of Thebes was struck by a plague sent by the gods. Oedipus was a strong leader and the people of Thebes were happy during his time of leadership. Oedipus had a very short temper. When Creon brought the blind profit to speak with Oedipus and the profit told Oedipus that it was he who murdered the king, Oedipus flew into a rage and blamed Creon for the crime. Another example of Oedipuss enormous temper was when the three highways met and Oedipus wanted to go ahead of an old man and his workers. Oedipus had a tantrum and killed all but one man. This is now known as modern day road rage. Antigone was the daughter/sister of the former king of Thebes, Oedipus. Antigone was a very strong woman. She stuck up for what she believed even if the consequences were harsh, such as death. Antigone was a very stubborn woman. She always fought to get her way. An example of this is when there was a direct order from the king not to bury her brother because he was fighting against the city of Thebes. Creon the king stated, Anyone that buries that person will be sent to death by stoning. She does not care about this threat and buries her brother anyway. Antigone had a lot in common with her father/brother, Oedipus. Both Oedipus and Antigone had strong personalities. Antigone showed her mental strength when going to risk her life for the burial of her brother. Oedipus showed his mental strength when he was asked a riddle from the sphinx. He also showed it when he was a prosperous king. Antigone was more even-tempered than Oedipus but they were both very stubborn people. Judging by the actions and personalities of Antigone and Oedipus, one can see that relatives have numerous similarities and few diffe

Risk & Uncertainty - Microeconomics 3rd Year Essay

Risk & Uncertainty - Microeconomics 3rd Year - Essay Example The expected utility function has some very convenient properties of analysing choice under uncertainty. Since to insure or not to insure is a choice we can apply it to an insurance problem. Indifference curves is used to measure utility or level of satisfaction as will be seen later. An individual’s certainty equivalent (CE) of a lottery is the amount of money that the individual is willing to pay to avoid the risk of the lottery i.e. to get the expected value (EV) instead of the lottery. For a risk averse individual CE 0 for all lottery. In the real world insurance is not actuarially fair. In the previous example it was assumed that the insurance did not charge anything to cover operating expenses or to allow for profit. In the cases that follow a loading factor is added to cover operating expenses and thus makes insurance actuarially unfair. This implies that ∠ > EV of the insurance benefit. The options available to the individual is a lower line with slope = p1/p2. At the initial point E is larger and therefore the line is lower. An indifference curve through the original point yields the diagram above (right). In diagram above (right) E (fixed loading) is larger this implies x = 0 with fixed loading and the optimal choice is no insurance in this case as the indifference curve lies above the actuarial line which is suggestive that it does provide the level of utility required by the individual. It is optimal for the consumer to choose F where w – (1 + m)px = w – L + x – px –mpx which implies x = 1 (representative of full insurance). A fair line F implies that an indifference curve is tangent to the line at F. see diagram (left)

Kew gardens by virginia woold Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kew gardens by virginia woold - Essay Example Impressionism considers the commonplace, and the snail in Kew Gardens is any day commonplace; so are the leaves and the pebbles, flowers and butterflies. Both the movements advocate powerful exercises in bold bright colours. Kew Gardens records strong intermittent flashes of colours by way of its beautiful images. Impressionistic works perceive movement as an immediate result of human experience. Woolf was keen on exploring the theme of movement in the natural and human world; especially in the human psyche. The inspired art work manifests this flurry of movements: the falling leaves, flitting butterflies, hesitant snail and the centric human torso that persists as a burrow of all-flowing thoughts, words, voices. The obscured human image in deliberate unfriendly black and brown, which on closer look is an optical illusion image, represents Woolf’s multiple characters and their tunnel of thoughts going berserk at various angles. It brings out the poignant isolation against the backdrop of the ravages of the Great War. Considering the image to be a female, it signifies the loneliness/widowhood a lot of women had to undergo following the war. If not, the image assumes the psyche of an alienated mind which is so palpably represented by all the characters, especially the senile man, William, Simon and the ponderous maid. The human profile also delineates the theme of introspection. The snail that is prominently depicted in the canvas is not a symbol of lethargy and despair. Rather it reflects a sense of purpose and optimism. The art work successfully encapsulates this idea by catching its profile in mid air, looking up and deciding. The display of reflections in natural light is a downright characteristic portrayed well in that-era work. The art work has successfully captured the shimmer of reflected light in hues of the red, blue and yellow petals that stud the corner crust of the canvas. Post-impressionistic genre believed in retaining the basic shapes and geometrical patterns as shown by the art work. There are heart- and tongue-shaped leaves, and the pebbles, butterflies, snail are depicted in clean sharp strokes. THE SHORT STORY Linear narrative takes a back foot in Virginia Woolf’s writing and she generously employs stream of consciousness and interior monologue to build up her story. Kew Gardens is set against the backdrop of an estranged world produced by the war and industrialisation. The reader has to plumb for the social context in which Woolf chose Kew Gardens. The garden was beautified by successive directors to reveal a Victorian glory. However, the war dealt a severe blow where the garden space was cultivated to cater to the food shortage. Its image was affected and modernist writers like Woolf couldn’t help sourcing this fractured view in their writing. Woolf offers us a splendid ironical treatment by choosing the setting of Kew Gardens-a place where people come for respite and recuperation. She emphasises geometrical patterns and deflected light. Thus the garden becomes an ironic symbol where human drama is rejected and the manufactured natural space becomes a walking ground for alienation and restive existence. The companionship of each pair is ironic too. They’re with each other but actually walk the ground alone. The old man may be the conventional spectacle of senility but we find that one in each pair at varying points of time

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 20

Case study - Essay Example This is because there was a lack of team approach and communication deficits among the doctors and most healthcare workers. The different specialists who treated his various ailments lacked concern about what their counterparts did and this only compounded Mr. Roberts’s problems. He also notes that although there were ample medical records, consultants hardly reviewed the information within meaning that prescriptions they made and treatment they offered was questionable and not comprehensive enough. This resulted in wastage on valuable resources due to replication of prescriptions and reproduction of ineffective therapeutic plans. Physicians and patients hardly communicate well and this only exacerbates a medical situation. Treating all patients equally is said to have cost Mr. Roberts’s brothers life. Moreover, lack of assertiveness and ignorance among patients is a factor that contributes to untimely death and worsening of medical conditions. Ability for patients to ascertain true qualifications of physicians is very important (Gillies, 2003). Mr. Roberts we are told had to travel for more than 100 miles to get treated by the right physician. Hence, patient’s knowledge play a very important role in enhancing their

Case Study of Changing the Business Model of NovoCure Ltd

Case Study of Changing the Business Model of NovoCure Ltd Introduction: Novocure is a privately held medical device company focusing on the treatment of various types of cancers. It has developed NovoTTF 100A device that uses specially tuned, low intensity electric fields called Tumor Treating fields to disrupt the divisions of cancer cells. The Tumor Treating fields are applied to the tumor region using non-invasive insulated electrodes placed on patients scalp. The electrodes which look like bandages are attached to a battery operated portable device that generates the fields. NovoTTF 100A device has completed pivotal trials for Recurrent Glioblastoma successfully. NovoCure needs to transform itself quickly from a research oriented organization to commercial business once it receives the Pre-Market Approval for the treatment of Recurrent Glioblastoma using NovoTTF 100A. This would require several capabilities to be built within a short time frame. A new business model needs to be developed. Tumor Treating Fields is an oncology therapy that needs to be delivered by a portable hardware, which apparently is a new delivery model for the oncologists, neurosurgeons and even for patients for that matter. There are various challenges which need to be addressed with this business model especially how this therapy should be provided to patients. NovoCure needs to choose a distribution and service delivery model, billing and reimbursement process. NovoCure also needs to ramp up its manufacturing and establish a supply chain management process to ensure reliable product availability. It also has to build patient and physician support infrastructure around the world. NovoCure has the potential to generate huge revenues from the cancer treatment using Tumor Treating Fields technology. NovoCure had to find a way to finance their path to market. NovoCure would also like to retain commercial rights to all possible cancer indications. But, getting to the future needs funding. NovoCure would need an additional $35 million to file the PMA application for recurrent glioblastoma, complete the non small cell lung cancer pilot trial and complete the two year enrollment of the pivotal trial for newly diagnosed glioblastoma. There were three options available for NovoCure which included attracting additional venture capital firms, approaching a strategic corporate partner and/or attracting a significant angel Investor. Recommendation 1: Attract a strategic corporate partner to fund $35 million to get to the future. Since the elements of the strategic fit of NovoCures Tumor Treating Fields with the chemotherapy manufacturers is apparent, NovoCure is expected to generate significant interest among the manufacturers of chemortherapy agents. NovoCures TTFields technology can be used to make chemotherapy more effective. TTFields could be prescribed in conjunction with the chemotherapies. This can provide an advantage to NovoCure because NovoCure can exploit the existing elaborate global distribution infrastructures of the pharmaceutical companies to market therapies to oncologists and patients. The commercial life of TTFields is long compared to the chemotherapy drugs. As a result TTFields can make each drug better in its turn as the new chemotherapy drugs are developed. Since NovoCure is not really keen on licensing out any of its target cancer indications, NovoCure can approach in-house venture funds of the large pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Johnson Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline which have established investment organizations managing significant assets. These funds will not only bring equity financing, but also the credibility and halo effect of having passed the inspection by a leading industry player. The leading venture capital firms who are known for making quick decisions were at a stand-still due to the liquidity crisis when NovoCure was in a critical stage. As a result raising additional venture capital was not an option. Although attracting venture philanthropy is a feasible option, NovoCure will not get the advantage to exploit the global distribution infrastructures which is apparently available when they attract a strategic partner. As a result NovoCure should attract a strategic partner to fund for $35 million to go forward. Recommendation 2: Hire Management Consulting teams to analyze existing business problems/challenges and develop plans for improvement. NovoCure needs to transform itself quickly from a research oriented organization with only 38 employees worldwide to commercial business. This transformation would result in many changes and create many challenges which need to be addressed. NovoCure might need assistance from a Management Consulting firm which is experienced in Change Management assistance. The Change Management needs a structured approach to be followed to transform Individuals, teams and organizations from a current state to desired future state. It is an organizational process which is aimed at helping employees accept and embrace changes in their current business environment. Various types of organization changes where NovoCure might need assistance are strategic changes, technological changes, structural changes and changes in the attitudes and behaviors of personnel which can be provided by experienced Management Consulting firms. If we look at the statistics, Annual occurrence of human glioblastoma in only United States, Europe and Japan is 20,000 25,000 cases. Apart from these countries, if NovoCure wants to expand to the Asian Markets as well, there will be a huge influx in demand once the PMA approval for recurrent glioblastoma is obtained. In this case, NovoCure might have to set up their bases in different parts of the world for manufacturing the devices. It also needs to focus on providing support infrastructure, choosing product delivery model and choosing payment services. In this case, NovoCure might need assistance from a Management Consulting firm which can bring their experience to plan for development of coaching skills within the organization and operational improvement services. NovoCure can try to adopt the Supply Chain and Operational model which is implemented by the successful companies like Dell or Wal-Mart for the Operations process which will be very crucial after the PMA approval with the help of experienced Management Consulting Firms. Recommendation 3: Invest on Innovation, Research and Development to start trials on different forms of cancer in parallel and to provide price and product differentiation for various types of cancer treatment. One of the major issue/draw back with NovoCures Tumor Treating Fields device is that the cost of the device is exorbitantly high. It would be difficult for NovoCure to reach wide customer base (Customers in this context will include physicians who will prescribe the treatment/device, drug stores who will distribute the device and patients who will use the device) with such a high price. NovoCure needs to investigate in its Research and Development to innovate on producing price and product differentiation. Although the Product is portable, it is comparatively big especially because it has to be worn throughout the day. NovoCure needs to reduce this patient treatment time and also try to reduce the size and weight of the product. Cancer can occur for various types of patients depending on age, stages of cancer and medical condition. NovoCure can innovate on these lines by providing different versions of the product for different age group, stages of cancer and different medical conditions. Ex: Very young age / Old age and Individuals with prolonged medical problems need to be provided a product with extensive features to cure their disease. If NovoCure has to expand to Asian Markets where there is a huge population of middle class people, NovoCure needs to provide this Price and Product differentiation to customize products and charge customers closer to their reservation price. Although NovoCure is conducting clinical trials for different types of cancer, this process needs to accelerated. Innovation and Clinical trials for different types of cancer needs to carried in parallel. NovoCure need to hire skilled individuals from all over the world for this process. The Management Consulting firm would help NovoCure in this whole process. NovoCure needs to expand its RD base and start clinical trials for different types of cancer in this way. Summary: NovoCures Tumor Treating Fields Technology can be used effectively as Blue Ocean Strategy to Market their products especially because of minimal side effects compared to other chemotherapies. NovoCure needs to raise funds for conducting clinical trials which can be achieved by attracting a strategic investor. Once they raise funds, they also need to analyze and solve the business challenges which can be done and taking help from Management Consulting firms. NovoCure also needs to continue its innovation process to roll out different products with price and product differentiation to reach wide customer base. With NovoCure, World can be a better place for cancer patients to live in and the Cancer Patients all over the world can say Never, never, never give up.

Childrens Ability to Differentiate Between Real and Fantastical Entiti

Introduction In the field of developmental psychology, children have become a popular interest. By studying such changes children go through in the early stages of childhood, researchers provide better knowledge and insight on how these changes influence the actions and behaviors of children. It has been identified by many that during these stages, children have rapid mental and cognitive development. Likewise, during this time children are thought to easily confuse reality and fantasy. This paper will consist of two reviews involving two different studies which assesses the children's ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality. One will determine how fantasy/reality distinction evolves with age, while the other investigates children's perception of storybook entities. Both focus on children's ability to categorize specified objects/people/events. Article One - Purpose, Hypothesis & Goal of Study It is believed that a basic component of human cognitive skills is the ability to differentiate between reality and fantasy. Traditionally, children were assumed to confuse the boundaries between them. Yet, previous research has shown that three year olds are able to make reality/non-reality distinctions. The first article, published in 2004 describes a study performed by Sharon & Woolley. They hoped to provide a new viewpoint at a preschooler's level of fantasy/reality differentiation. They believed that children have a better understanding of these boundaries than most people assume. Believing that children have an understanding of what is "human" and what is not, which they use to determine whether entities are real or fantastical. The main goal of their study was to show this possibility, by exploring what childr... ... impossible allows for a broader understanding of what can be considered as real or pretend. Both studies show that increased exposure to fantasy based activities, improve their ability to differentiate and likelihood to question the reality status of various entities/events. It is also important to note that environmental and social factors play a key role in what children believe is real, especially if "false truths" like Santa Claus are instilled by a dominant figure in the child's life. References Sharon, T. & Woolley, J.D. (2004). Do monsters dream? Young children's understanding of the fantasy/reality distinction. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22, 293-310. Woolley, J. D. & Cox, V. (2007). Development of beliefs about storybook reality. Developmental Science, 10 (5), 681-693. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00612.x