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  • Home
  • Book
  • Categories
    • Healthy Living
    • Mommy Greenest Approved
    • Eco Beauty & Fashion
    • Natural Parenting
    • Latest Buzz
    • Green News & Events
  • Mommy Greenest Guides
    • Guide to Going Green
    • Guide to Eco-Friendly Fashion
    • Guide to Healthy Eating
    • Guide to Natural Parenting & Pregnancy
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    • Guide to Healthy Cleaning
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Gallery, Guides, Healthy Living

Mommy Greenest Guide to Going Green

It’s almost a cliché, this “going green” stuff. And all the hype can make you want to stick your head in the sand. But I believe that we need to…

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September 10, 2015
Guides, Healthy Living

Mommy Greenest Guide to Green Recycling

So I was cleaning the bathroom the other day, wondering to myself how three children can make one room smell like a subway station urinal in a matter of hours,…

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November 2, 2015
Eco Beauty & Fashion, Gallery, Guides

Mommy Greenest Guide to Eco Friendly Fashion

You’ve read about fast fashion, in which underpaid workers in third-world countries provide western consumers with cheap and disposable goods. You’re all clear on cotton, which uses 17% of the…

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October 6, 2015
Guides, Healthy Living

Mommy Greenest Guide to Healthy Eating

I’m no stranger to junk food. After enduring years of healthy eating (brown-bag lunches with an oversized, barely washed carrot from my father’s vegetable garden peeking out of the top),…

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October 8, 2015
Guides, Natural Parenting

Mommy Greenest Guide to Natural Parenting & Pregnancy

Once upon a time I was queried by an author who was looking for eco experts to comment on a book she was writing about natural parenting. She wanted to…

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October 16, 2015
  • Latest Buzz

    January Newsletter

    February 1, 2023 /

    Every few weeks, we focus on good news about climate and conservation. Not on the list? Click here to join the conversation!

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    Rachel Sarnoff 0 Comments

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    November Newsletter

    November 15, 2022

    Spring Equinox Newsletter

    March 22, 2022

    April Newsletter

    April 9, 2022
  • the water cooler graphic
    Latest Buzz

    November Newsletter

    November 15, 2022 /

    Every few weeks, we focus on good news about climate and conservation. Not on the list? Click here to join the conversation!

    read more
    Rachel Sarnoff 0 Comments

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    January Newsletter

    February 1, 2023
    text on white background

    MG Makes DailyMakeover

    March 12, 2014
    Mommy Greenest on SD Living TV

    MG on “San Diego Living”

    January 4, 2014
  • Cover of Northwest Review literary journal illustration of a woman wearing a "the future is female" t-shirt for abortion story.
    Latest Buzz

    Abortion Decision: Will Morning-After Pills Be Banned Next?

    November 11, 2022 /

    New research published in JAMA shows a massive increase in demand for abortion pills after the Dobbs decision — will the morning-after pill be banned next? I tracked some of this in a new essay for Northwest Review. Super proud to be included in one of the oldest and most prestigious literary journals in the country – they ran Ken Kesey’s first story in 1957! 

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    Rachel Sarnoff 0 Comments

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    MG on Food Network

    April 23, 2014
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    October Newsletter

    October 11, 2022
    Photo of family sitting at a table in news story quoting Mommy Greenest on Delicious Living

    Mommy Greenest in Delicious Living

    June 19, 2014
  • Eco Beauty & Fashion

    Mommy Greenest Loves: Ocean + Main

    October 11, 2022 /

    I recently featured LA-based sustainable fashion innovator Ocean + Main in the newsletter. The sustainable fashion innovator crafts limited-edition clothing in inclusive sizes, often from upcycled sources and just released its annual sustainability report and launched a #preloved program. Nope, this is not sponsored but yes I am OBSESSED.

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    Mommy Greenest Helen Hunt Interview

    Helen Hunt Comes Clean

    May 5, 2015
    orange shirt with green H&M Conscious Collection tag showing 70% recycled polyester

    Is Eco Fashion Conscious?

    March 31, 2014
    brunette girl dying her hair with rubber gloves

    Does Natural Hair Color Really Work?

    April 25, 2013
  • the water cooler graphic
    Latest Buzz

    October Newsletter

    October 11, 2022 /

    Now in the newsletter, I’m focused on good news about climate and conservation. Not on the list? Click here to join the conversation!

    read more
    Rachel Sarnoff 0 Comments

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    Kelly Rutherford endorses Mommy Greenest

    MG is Kelly Rutherford’s Resource

    June 20, 2013
    jenna elfman and mommy greenest rachel lincoln sarnoff

    Jenna Elfman Gives Props to MG

    April 18, 2013
    The Mommy Greenest Guide to Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond cover

    Mommy Greenest Pregnancy Book!

    April 17, 2015
  • inclusive beauty
    Eco Beauty & Fashion

    Perfect Skin Doesn’t Exist – Inclusive Beauty Does

    August 8, 2022 /

    I’ve been a big fan of JUNOCO ever since I discovered their plant-based squalene, which delivers a shark-friendly, vegan and natural twist on one of skincare’s favorite ingredients. But their recent #ToBeHuman campaign — which recently popped up on a San Francisco street to prove that perfect skin doesn’t exist (but inclusive beauty does) — made me a fan for life.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 2 Comments

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    Does Eco Nail Polish Remover Really Work?

    June 20, 2014
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    Father’s Day Gift: Nordgreen Eco Watch

    June 3, 2020
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    Mommy Greenest Approved: thredUP Online Consignment

    November 19, 2014
  • Healthy Living

    Is Your Toilet Paper Dirty?

    July 24, 2022 /

    What’s in your bathroom cupboard? If you’re buying toilet paper made by Procter & Gamble, that purchase contributes to the destruction of rainforests in Canada and Indonesia — one million acres of which are razed every year to make what you’re flushing. Every day ONE MILLION TREES are cut down to make TP!

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    Rachel Sarnoff 2 Comments

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    brunette couple in bed he is sleeping she is looking at a pregnancy test and frowning

    Five Chemicals Linked to Male Infertility

    June 2, 2014
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    What’s Made Safe? Amy Ziff Explains

    March 25, 2016
    heritage turkey raises wings against white background

    Is Heritage Turkey Worth It?

    November 6, 2014
  • Mommy Greenest June Newsletter
    Latest Buzz

    July Newsletter

    July 13, 2022 /

    Welcome to my latest newsletter. Not on the list? Click here to join the conversation!

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    Rachel Sarnoff 0 Comments

    You May Also Like

    Kelly Rutherford endorses Mommy Greenest

    MG is Kelly Rutherford’s Resource

    June 20, 2013

    Writing About Congratulations…

    July 12, 2022

    March Newsletter

    March 1, 2022
 Older Posts

Welcome! I created this blog in 2008 as a resource for healthier living with less judgment. I'm a mother of three, former journalist, and co-founder of the (shuttered, sniff) sustainable beauty and fashion site EcoStiletto. I was Executive Director of the nonprofits The 5 Gyres Institute and Healthy Child Healthy World and appeared as a sustainable lifestyle expert on "The "TODAY Show" and "CNN Headline News," among others. Oh, and have you checked out my TEDx talks: Trash is Ruining Recycling and Can One Straw Change The World? Today, you can find me here. Let's keep in touch! xoRachel

https://youtu.be/sOol1MIgois

rachellincolnsarnoff

Sometimes you have to just go climb a rock. #joshu Sometimes you have to just go climb a rock. #joshuatree #joshuatreenationalpark #amrelaxing #amnotwriting
What’s on your cookbook shelf? I usually go off What’s on your cookbook shelf? I usually go off script when it comes to meals (sometimes it works, sometimes not so much) but I do love reading these beautiful books. My stack started with The Joy of Cooking, which my aunt gifted me when I graduated from high school and is now held together with tape, next to the copy that I gave my daughter when she left for college (and may have inspired some of her @jujusdujour recipes). The newest addition is a truly gorgeous and inspirational cook/help/poetry/amazingness book by @julesbdavis #TheKitchenHealer out now from @soundstrue. It’s about cooking and healing and community and women and accessing our power both individually and communally. Plus a little bit of memoir from this amazing author and inspirational human. #AmReading #julesblainedavis #thekitchenhealer #cookbooks #books #bookstagram
These #vintage records include classic tracks like These #vintage records include classic tracks like “Lonely Little G-String” and inspire serious #MadMen vibes. Sadly missing the instructional booklet. You can’t make this stuff up! #amwriting #amlistening #60sstyle #60smusic
Late last year, I read an essay by @elizabeth_gilb Late last year, I read an essay by @elizabeth_gilbert_writer in which she described her process when she first began submitting stories for publication. It was like tennis: Every time a story was lobbed back to her she sent it back over the net to another potential publisher. One in, one out. I took that to heart and each time I received a no, I swung harder. I still haven’t placed a story, but last year I published three nonfiction pieces. More than 50 agents passed on my novel, but 11 requested the full manuscript and responded with detailed notes. (After enough time in the slush pile, querying writers like me gauge success by the detail of the rejection.) No, this work is not lucrative and yes, it is a privilege to carve out the time and attention that it demands. Last spring, I was inspired by @jamiattenberg’s #1000wordsofsummer to schedule hour-long writing sessions, often at 5 a.m. before work, in order to chip away at a new novel that just topped the 50,000-word mark huzzah! Cheers to all the creative people who can’t stop won’t stop trying to make sense of this reality through art. I am inspired by all of you. #AmWriting #Memoir #Essay #Nonfiction #Fiction #WomensFiction #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #PacificUniversity #MFA
So excited for this double feature! @deshawncharle So excited for this double feature! @deshawncharleswinslow co-led our fiction workshop @pacificmfa in January and his insight was AMAZING. Can’t wait to read these books! #amwriting #amreading #deshawncharleswinslow #decentpeople #inwestmills #pacificmfa #writersofinstagram
Every year, it’s like a living painting outside Every year, it’s like a living painting outside my window. Lula likes it too. #losangeles #pearblossom #socal #spring #dogsofinstagram
Who else is reeling from reading this incredibly p Who else is reeling from reading this incredibly powerful and terrifying book? Let’s discuss. #amreading #barbarakingsolver #demoncopperhead
My local dog park has been transformed into a pet My local dog park has been transformed into a pet cemetery. Spoiler alert: the duck dies. #onlyinla
Last week, my husband asked me what experiences we Last week, my husband asked me what experiences were on my bucket list. Today he surprised me by checking one off. #falconry #hawking #bucketlist #bucketlistadventures #valentinesday
Things I learned recently. 1. Ritual works. A r Things I learned recently. 1. Ritual works. A room, a desk, a coffee shop. Paper and pen or antique typewriter. Someone changes his shoes like Mr. Rogers before he sits down at his desk, another does visualizations. For months, I switched into writing brain by exiting my office, where my work desktop lives, and sitting with my laptop (wifi off) in a chair next to the window in my bedroom. I now recognize this as a ritual. 2. Quality, not quantity. Maya Angelou rented a hotel room and wrote in it for six hours a day. (She asked the staff to take all the art off the walls, so she wouldn’t be distracted. And she drank sherry.) But many of us are working writers - by this I mean working at something else while maintaining a writing practice. We squeeze it in where we can. Currently, I get up at five so I can write for an hour before starting work at seven, a luxury made possible by remote work. I rarely have a concentrated stretch of time, and yet I keep chipping away at my novel, one paragraph or page (on a good day) at a time. 3. It’s a practice. Until recently, I didn’t believe that writing every day was that important. I would sit down and write for eight hours and then not for weeks at a time. (I was also a working co-parent of three children. So there’s that.) Now I’m trying to write every day, even just for 30 minutes. And what that means is when I’m doing something else — working or driving carpool or yoga or walking the dog or cooking or watching television — a part of my brain is still with those characters and re-entering the scenes is easier. 4. Writing is a tap you can’t shut off. Waking up in the middle of the night to scribble in the dark. Dictating a note to Siri in the car. Pinching your arm in a dark movie theater so you’ll remember a word when the lights turn on. Today I realized that one of my main characters has freckles and another needs to find a credit card and a third is smelling vanilla. All of these realizations happened while I was doing other things (see above). That’s writing, too. Right? #AmWriting
Exiting the @pacificmfa womb and headed into the w Exiting the @pacificmfa womb and headed into the world, proud of brilliant graduates including @allisuuunshines and @krazykenzer14 and honored to be on this path with @kburmz_ and @katiesumers and @rwrowe21 and too many others to name “jumping and dancing and skipping” and writing and reading and listening and thinking. I am profoundly grateful for this community and fellowship that is truly life-changing, and I read this poem TODAY which is further proof the universe is listening. THE DAYS (abridged) If only I could live my life, not write it, I’d have double the experience and be better at nothingness, at being present. The page, I once believed, offers permanence, sanctifying time, making it longer, but now I see my words as susceptible, even if digital, to fire, flood, misplacement. To misinterpretation. To accidental download by enemy. I don’t yet want them to be lost, but I dread the possibility that they won’t self-destruct at the end of my life, or the end of my lucidity. Maybe I’ve been using paper all wrong, committing to ink what should live in my head, which is part of my body, which will not last… Each night, I had written Here is what happened like a kid whose pen makes her small life exciting, then gone on mistaking the plot for the story, as if the point of writing were writing. -Adrienne Su “The Days” published in the New Yorker January 2/9 2023 (abridged) #AmWriting #Memoir #Essay #Nonfiction #Fiction #WomensFiction #Stories #Story #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #PacificUniversity #PacificMFA #MFA
Searching for the sleeper wave. #amwriting #amread Searching for the sleeper wave. #amwriting #amreading #fiction #writer #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #mfa
After the recent announcement of the fusion breakt After the recent announcement of the fusion breakthrough at Livermore — where my grandfather once worked as a chemist, that’s him on the right — many messaged me that the “climate crisis was over.” At the lab, lasers fused two forms of hydrogen into helium, which released more energy than it took to make it. And yes, this is amazing: Nuclear fusion releases no greenhouse gases and the waste is less problematic than what’s produced by nuclear fission, which is what my grandfather worked on. But the Livermore experiment — among many others — was able to produce just a small amount of energy and scaling its ability will take a lot of time, which we don’t have. Here’s what we do have: Wind and solar and regenerative agriculture, which are all eminently scalable now. As my grandfather might have said, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Photo: Bonestamp #Climate #ClimateJustice #KeepItInTheGround #CleanEnergy #Motivation #MommyGreenest
I’m not big on resolutions, but I do believe in I’m not big on resolutions, but I do believe in ritual. Every New Year’s Day — and my birthday — I try to do the things that I want to be doing for the rest of the year. I spent the morning writing and then did some yoga and went for a walk with my family. I made posole for my son’s birthday party and ate said posole and it was delicious. I prepped a bit for work and played my guitar. All in all, an excellent start to another year. How about you? #happynewyear #newyear #resolutions #ritual
I have always been a writer. Published? Not so muc I have always been a writer. Published? Not so much. I published myself, obviously — MommyGreenest since 2008 woot! — but with other projects I tended to give up after a pass and internalize the rejection. But late last year, I read an essay by @elizabeth_gilbert_writer in which she described her process as tennis: Every time a story was lobbed back to her she sent it back over the net to another potential publisher. One in, one out. I took that to heart and each time I received a no, I swung harder. I still haven’t placed a story, but this year I published three nonfiction pieces — in the @washingtonpost, @nwreview, and @hippocampusmag. With encouragement from Kate McKean’s @agents_and_books newsletter, I submitted to over 50 agents who passed on my novel, but 11 requested the full manuscript and responded with notes (this will mean nothing to most people, but after enough time in the slush pile, querying writers gauge success by the detail of the rejection). No, this work is not lucrative and yes, it is a privilege to carve out the time and attention that it demands. Last spring, I was inspired by @jamiattenberg’s #1000wordsofsummer to schedule hour-long writing sessions, often at 5 a.m. before work, in order to chip away at a new novel that just topped the 50,000-word mark huzzah! Next week, I’ll join @pacificmfa peers in Oregon for my first in-person residency on the slowest train ever to an MFA. Cheers to all the creative people who can’t stop won’t stop trying to make sense of this reality through art. I am inspired by all of you. #AmWriting #Memoir #Essay #Nonfiction #Fiction #WomensFiction #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #PacificUniversity #MFA
Finally c-positive, which is a negative, but the p Finally c-positive, which is a negative, but the plus side is a cozy blanket, knitted with love by a friend, and this amazing book, sent to me by my mother, which includes this wisdom: “…it strikes me as a particularly dangerous fantasy…that someone might be able to live without…heartbreak or sorrow. Which I’m pretty sure you only get to do if you have no relationships, love nothing, are a sociopath, and maybe, if you’re enlightened. I don’t know about you, but I check none of these boxes.” Love love LOVE. Who else is reading/has read? Let’s discuss! #amreading #rossgay #essay #nonfiction #inspiration
Los Angeles is full of magical places, especially Los Angeles is full of magical places, especially this time of year. We got dressed up and went to one of them. Highly recommended. Happy holidays, everyone!
When your daughter is doing the crossword puzzle a When your daughter is doing the crossword puzzle and you know both the answer and the person in the clue. #JennaJambeck #Plastic #CircularEconomy #BreakFreeFromPlastic #Motivation #Health #Wellness #MommyGreenest
Obsessed. #Natural #NaturalBeauty #CleanBeauty #Be Obsessed. #Natural #NaturalBeauty #CleanBeauty #Beauty #Perfume #NaturalPerfume #HenryRose #NotSponsored
Slow and steady wins the race. #SlowAndSteady #Ha Slow and steady wins the race. #SlowAndSteady #HappyHolidays #HappyHolidays2022 #AmWriting #WomensFiction #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity
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