Instead of sacrificing common indulgences such as chocolate, profanity, smoking and alcohol, this year several churches across the United States are encouraging parishioners to give up plastic for Lent. The initiative follows the nationwide trend of single-use plastic bag bans, which could pose an opportunity for promotional products distributors to sell more branded reusable bags.

Dozens of churches near Pittsburgh that belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are asking their churchgoers to refrain from using single-use plastics, The Washington Post reported. For each week in Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday and runs until Easter Sunday on April 21, parishioners will be encouraged to give up a different item: Styrofoam, shopping bags, drinking straws, water bottles and food wrappers.

The eco-friendly initiative began last year across the pond as the Church of England urged its congregants to forgo single-use plastics. The church also distributed a calendar with environmentally themed Bible verses and suggestions on how to avoid using plastics. This year, The Cathedral in the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado as well as several Protestant churches in Portland have adapted the Church of England’s calendar for their own use and are also encouraging parishioners to give up plastic during Lent.

At Saint Mark Presbyterian Church in North Bethesda, church leaders are asking congregants to refrain from single-use plastics, especially straws. At St. John Neumann in Reston, the Catholic parish will host meatless soup suppers each Friday during Lent using washable ceramic bowls, spoons and water tumblers instead of single-use disposable plastic and paper items.

In recent years, the movement to ban or restrict single-use plastic bags has grown around the U.S. and internationally. The state of California and the cities of Boston, Chicago and Seattle are among those that have enacted bans of single-use bags. Hawaii effectively has a statewide ban because of county-level regulations throughout the island state. Washington, Oregon, New York and New Jersey are among the other states considering state-level action to clampdown on single-use plastic bags.

The world produces more than 300 million tons of plastic each year, according to Statista, and scientists estimate that up to 91% of plastic is never recycled, polluting the environment and threatening wildlife.