The Sao Paulo botanical gardens...

25 November- Today we took an interesting and unique trip to the botanical gardens in the city. The place was very beautiful and probably the most green place I'd ever seen. The first thing I observed was a beautiful canal, with water flowing in through a small waterfall. The guide told that all the canals in the garden were flowing from one lake, which I saw later. Lily pads were flowing in the canal. We walked to the green-houses and on the way the guide showed us several interesting plants. Some were from Africa, others from Arabia. Some were very tall, others very old.

We walked inside the green-houses and the first thing I noticed was that it was hot and humid. The guide told us that such conditions were necessary and they tried to replicate them according to the natural conditions of the plant's environment. The greenhouse was beautiful. Water flowed through the middle of the area with coy fish in it. I also saw a small turtle. In the green-houses, we saw a pinapple-like plant and learned that it was from the same species as pinapples.

We left the greenhouse and walked towards another area, a part-forest. Only then did I notice the shrill noise in the air, which, as the guide told us, came from the monkeys. We saw some monkeys too, although they seemed very shy. On the way to the small forest, we saw several interesting plants including one which popped seeds out if the bud was touched. A bridge was buit through the forest. We walked through the forest seeing many peculiar caterpillars, worms and the skin of a beetle. After about two hours, we left. It was a very unique experience.

picture source-http://images.nextstop.com/f5528ec5-04d1-4db1-ba0d-e9bb87a69651_300sq

Film Day...

24th November- We had visited the Coca- Cola factory yesteray and it ha been a good experience. Today our teachers showed us an informative movie about the the history of coca-cola.

Coca cola was 'invented' by American pharmacist, John Pemberton who was very keen to find a money-making product. He made Coca Cola syrup, mixed it with carbonated water and ice was added thus making a glass of coke. His creation was liked by people but Pemberton did not know how to promote the product. His business partner Robinson id most of the advertising then sold the small business to Asa Chandler after Pemberton's death. Asa Chandler, a druggist invested in Coca-Cola and began advertising or the company. One of the interesting facts I came across regarding their advertising was that the typical Santa we know today, fat, jolly in red and white, was originated from Coke ads. During war time Coca Cola faced problems but American soldiers saw Coke as a reminder of home. Coca-Cola soon came out in bottles. Coca-Cola was enjoyed by millions due to its unique, new taste.
We also watched a nice movie about global warming, a lecture given by the to-be president Al Gore. The whole movie was amount how human interference in nature was resulting in the extinction o the planet itself. It was about how many people thought of global warming as a mere myth. Ice in the polar caps was melting causing water levels to rise which would eventually result in the flooding of land. About how deforestation was disturbing the ecological system of the planet as CO2 levels continued to rise, raising the temperatures. Pollution of rivers and the melting of ice on the poles is causing species to become extinct. The movie encouraged people to stop the wasting of finite resources and save the planet.


picture source-http://pembyville.com/images/lg_pemberton_john.jpg
http://www.altum.com/bcig/events/special_sessions/2006/an-inconvenient-truth.jpg

Our trip of the Coca-Cola factory.....

23rd November- Today, we took a trip to the Coca-Cola production plant in Sao Paulo, one of the biggest in the world. After a journey of about 1.5 hours, we reached there. The first sight that I witnessed was of huge trucks loading vans loading and unloading crates of Coca-Cola. We were taken to a room by our guide, a nice guy who immediately started introducing the company. We learnt that Coca-Cola was partners with FEMSA, a Mexican company that packed and sold beverages. We were, then given a presentation regarding the history of the company and other interesting facts about Coca-Cola were revealed (during which, obviously, we enjoyed Coke cans) . We watched the presentation, for about 15 to 20 minutes during which the guide continued answering our questions. After viewing the presentation, the guide cleared some doubts and talked about some interesting myths regarding Coca-Cola. We learned that you do not die after eating a mentos and then having Coca-Cola. After the interesting discussion session, we preceded toward taking a trip of the factory. We went out of the presentation room and walked down a hallway looking through the windows to view the factory. The first room I saw looked like a laboratory. The people down there were mixing stuff and doing other tests which, the guide told us were to ensure the quality of the beverage. We continued looking through windows and saw huge room wuth huge machines and a network of conveyer belts with bottles of Coca-cola on them, unfilled. We learned that the bottles were made in another room. They, then passed through scanning machine where X-rays were taken to ensure the corect shape of the bottle. The bottles were, then cleaned using water on a circular machine in the middle of the room. The cans were also carried on conveyer belt without lids, cleaned, filled and then capped. Each bottle, can passed through a white sensor that was to count the no. of cans/bottles produced so that the limit imposed by the government was not violated. X-Rays were used to ensure that the liquid in each bottle was equal. Defected bottles/ cans were taken and made again. The water used in the factory was purified and used again. There was a lot of noise in the factory, mainly because the recycled stuff had to be reformed. The workers wore ear-mufs. After a tour of the factory, we watched some interesting coke ads. We left the factory after about 2 hours.
On the whole, it was a unique and fun experience.

picture source-http://www.alfaeditores.com/web/images/stories/NOTIALFA/notialfa_142_15_octubre_07/logo_coca-cola_femsa.gif

Why is Coca-Cola a sustainable company?

From what I saw today about the history of Coca Cola and the production plant itself, Coca Cola looks like a very sustainable company. Coca-Cola started out as nothing but a new, appealing drink to people and since then it has become a multi-national company. The growth of the company was rapid during unsteady situations. Coca-Cola has suffered through many down-points such as the world wars when sugar was rationed. Even if such a thing occurs today, the company is spread out all over the world and can import supplies. Not only do they use large amounts of supplies but they save. Today, at the Coca Cola plant I saw that the company was very careful to recycle everything they could. It is an environment-friendly company. The aluminum cans were recycled, the large amount of water required for cleaning, production etc. was recycled. The company had a system which ensured that their cans, bottles were returned to them after use. We viewed the water being purified before being used again. Coca-Cola tries to promote environment-friendly products while satisfying their consumers. I saw at the factory that any defected bottles, cans were not disposed of but fixed. Recycled material was cleaned and made fit to use. The water was purified and used again. It looked a very environment-friendly company. Coca-Cola produces a variety of drinks including minute maid, Fanta, Sprite etc. It is a large company but recycles considerably. We also recycled our own cans of coke while at the company. We got to know that there was quite a less amount of dirt and pollution, in fact the most prominent kind to pollution was noise during recycling the cans and bottles. To ensure that the worker were comfortable, they wore ear-muffs to stop the noise from affecting them.

picture source-http://www.greenr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/coca-cola-recycling.gif