Starting Thursday, Connecticut shoppers will have to pay a 10-cent fee if they want a plastic bag at the checkout counter or from takeout restaurants.

Plastic shopping bags were banned in Westport in 2009. First Selectman Jim Marpe says it was an easy change to make.

Fourteen other cities and towns across the state have regulated plastic bags since. Greenwich officials say concerns about plastic pollution inspired their bag ban last year.

Some businesses are getting ahead of the state law. Stop & Shop is removing all plastic bags from its stores starting Thursday.

Shoppers who spoke to News 12 said the plastic bags won't be missed.

Connecticut's plastic bag tax will become a statewide ban on plastic shopping bags starting July 2021.