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.

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"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.