Environment
LCBO gets New, Larger Paper Bags
Whenever a character on TV comes home with groceries, they almost always enter the kitchen cradling a large paper bag (and a baguette and carrot tops or celery almost invariably stick out the top). I rarely get the chance to feel like a TV character in Toronto because most stores elect to use the much dreaded and often debated plastic bag. Very few stores offer the traditional, more environmentally sound paper bag.
But when I popped into my local LCBO to pick up a couple of bottles of wine yesterday, I was surprised to find that the cashier dropped them both into a larger-than-normal paper bag, rather than the larger, sturdier plastic bags I'm so used to leaving with.
--
"Are these new?" I asked. "Yeah, brand new," replied the salesperson with a smile. I smiled back, picked up my bag and walked out while cradling my trusty paper bag.
While I have many, many gripes with the LCBO, this move seems to be a sound one, and is commendable. The new paper bags are perfect for two bottles of wine or liquor, and I'm glad customers will now have a option to choose paper over plastic (when we don't have our reusable cloth bags on hand, which would be better yet).
Now if only they'd start regularly stocking high-quality artisan and organic products from smaller producers, the smile on my face would, like the finish of a great wine, be far longer-lasting.
Photo: New bag (left) and regular bag (right), by moi.
Discussion
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That said, I'd rather see more people bring their own bags when they shop.
I've noticed that more customers at the Dominion across the street from me bring their own.
And not just the Dominion. It's all over the Yonge/College area. People with their own bags--what a concept!
They're so durable that I find myself reusing them frequently and for extended periods of time. They're much better than plastic bags from most grocery stores, which are only suitable to be reused once (usually as garbage bags.)
Where do you get that insane idea? environmentally sound paper bag is like a "green SUV"
Years ago when the wastefulness of the plastic bags of the day first hit the news Pollution Probe and other groups successfully lobbied Canadian Grocery Stores to keep paper bags out of the stores (unlike in the US) in favour of thin film plastic because counter-intuitively thin film plastic is actually greener than paper.
Here's why MEC chose to go to cornstarch plastic, quoting from their site:
"Paper Bags Are Not the Answer
At first glance, paper bags seem to be the solution: they're made from a renewable resource, and they're biodegradable and recyclable. But paper bags consume many times more energy to create and transport than plastic bags. Manufacturing paper also puts out a considerable amount of air pollution and consumes a lot of water. In addition, paper bags are not as durable as plastic in wet weather."
While I don't necessarily agree that cornstarch plastic is as good as it looks I think you'll have to dig pretty deep to find someone informed in the environmental movement that would advocate for paper bags.
There has been little reportage of this, but T&T Supermarket's plastic bags are biodegradable, or at least that's what it says on them. They don't feel the same as MEC's cornstarch plastic, but definitely not the same as traditional bags.
Nowadays I carry my own bags...
By "more environmentally sound" I meant compared to cheap, non-biodegradable plastic. At the rate at which we're producing and filling landfill, I'm inclined to think that ANY reusable/recyclable container is better than one that will not go away.
anything DISPOSABLE is wrong. try harder/
doesn't paper come from... umm... trees?
i have to say that i don't like the plastic, it's way to hard to carry, but yes, it makes me feel like i'm in a movie... i just need some celery sticking up out the top and i'm there
my distrust of the paper will make me bring my own bags, so this is a good thing i guess
A friend of mine went to the LCBO and bought 2 bottles of wine. The clerk put one bottle in the small paper bag, then put it and the second bottle in the larger paper bag, then put that in the large plastic bag.
WTF!!!!!!!!!!????????
<i>The clerk put one bottle in the small paper bag, then put it and the second bottle in the larger paper bag, then put that in the large plastic bag.
WTF!!!!!!!!!!????????</i>
The clerks usually try to put at least one glass bottle in a slim paper bag in an effort to not have glass bottles clang together and then break.
Maybe the clerk also either thought that the larger paper bag wouldn't hold, or that the bottle could just use some extra padding.
2 bottles, one with a plastic collar thingy, in a plastic bag
or
2 bottles, one in a small paper bag, both in a larger paper bag, and that in a plastic bag
?