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March 26, 2014 /

Jen Boulden smiling

By Rachel Sarnoff 0 Comments

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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, appeared on the "TODAY Show" and "CNN," among others, and shared two TEDx talks: Trash is Ruining Recycling and Can One Straw Change The World? Now, I work as a marketing and communications director at an environmental nonprofit while slow-boating an MFA in fiction and writing about a less dystopian, more hopeful world. Recent publications, talks, and more are here. Let's keep in touch! xoRachel

rachellincolnsarnoff

Ducking love fuyu season. #persimmons #winter #ilo

Ducking love fuyu season. #persimmons #winter #ilovela

Spending #blackfriday by celebrating #buynothingda

Spending #blackfriday by celebrating #buynothingday and contacting junk mail companies to get off their lists — which should be an option at checkout, no? Continued gratitude for family and friends and the friends that family bring to our #thanksgiving table each year. For beautiful weather and empty beaches. And the 200 year old tree on our block that miraculously, as the city and the neighborhood warp speed around it, still stands.

Ten years ago the relentlessly optimistic @joel_ha

Ten years ago the relentlessly optimistic @joel_harper33 refused to accept my protestations that I could never learn to play guitar, put this baby into my hands at at his family’s legendary @folkmusiccenter (“serving Claremont, CA and the world for more than 60 years”), and changed my life forever. We’ve been friends ever since — although he now lives on the other side of the world. Joel is a true visionary who has inspired legions of people and this is his latest children’s book, which follows a child discovering the power of music. Such a great gift for a family with picture-book aged children! Follow Joel for updates on where to buy, coming soon. #writer #writing #songwriting #music #guitar #book #booklover #childrensbooks #picturebooks #writingcommunity #writingcommunityofinstagram

Each year, I publish a Mommy Greenest gift guide t

Each year, I publish a Mommy Greenest gift guide that features gifts that give back; this year my Giving Tuesday Holiday Gift guide includes actual physical gifts from nonprofits I love and trust, as well as information on great organizations where you can donate a gift in someone else’s name.
For example, this candle funds LA’s Downtown Women’s Center, just one organization featured in REDF’s social enterprise holiday gift guide. What’s a social enterprise? In a nutshell, it’s a business (not philanthropy) that employs people facing barriers to employment — like a record of incarceration — in order to build an inclusive economy. For over 25 years, REDF has led the social enterprise movement, investing in nearly 300 businesses across the nation, which employ over 100k people, and earning $2 billion in revenue that’s reinvested in people, jobs, and communities.
In addition to this scentsational candles, my guide features gifts that hold corporations accountable, support independent bookstores, avoid fast fashion, feed people and communities, diversify youth advocacy — oh, and preserve democracy. Link in bio. Take a look!
#sustainable #gifts #giving #givingtuesday #nonprofit #philanthropy #giveback #holiday

I loved the memoirs of @daniwriter and I’m also

I loved the memoirs of @daniwriter and I’m also a huge fan of her @familysecretspod podcast. So when I learned that she had narrated the audio version of “Signal Fires” I planned a six-hour road trip and settled in to listen. This book is stunning. I now have to buy a physical copy, so I can analyze how she achieved the magic of moving between time periods in a way that didn’t feel disruptive but instead kept me the perfect amount of steps ahead or behind of the characters’ discoveries.
The writing is masterful, threading themes of emotional resilience and commitment to family, then connecting those with a final spiritual realization that resonates with my own. It follows two fascinating families through three generations, and when I came to the scene that describes a birth — spoiler alert, although I won’t tell you whose — I had to pull over because I was crying so hard.
It wasn’t just that the scene was so beautifully written and the stakes so high and the characters so compelling. It was also eerily similar: I, like the mother in the book, had given birth early, on New Year’s Eve, with my firstborn’s cord around his neck and threatening his life. The extraordinary part, for me, was experiencing the scene from the perspective of the father, giving me new empathy for my own husband, and all that he must have thought about while my vision tunneled to delivering a healthy baby.
But you don’t have to have weird shared DNA with the characters in Family Secrets to love it. Just read it. You’re welcome.
#AmReading #Book #Bookish #BookClub #BookClubSelection #BookClubReads #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #AmQuerying #Fiction #WomensFiction #UpmarketFiction #CommercialFiction #Sustainability #ClimateFiction

Basically the same outfit I wore in 1993, but a li

Basically the same outfit I wore in 1993, but a lifetime since falling in love with this album. @lizphairofficial captures a decade like a bug under a glass. You still know the words, right? #lizphair #guyville

About last night… #halloween #kibbitzroom #cante

About last night… #halloween #kibbitzroom #cantersdeli #alldaysucker

For the past four years, I’ve returned to @ucsan

For the past four years, I’ve returned to @ucsantabarbara, my alma mater, to teach marketing and communications strategies through @ucsb_eli at @ucsb_envstudies. This program, which kicks off with instruction in the fall and continues with mentorship through the spring, helps students design and execute their own people and planet focused campaigns. Each year I am equally impressed and inspired by these students and honored to participate in the process of empowering them to change the world. But this session was special, because my daughter was there auditing the class — and then we decided on a whim to party with ZZ Top. Will she end up a Gaucho? I hope so!
#Sustainability #Climate #ClimateJustice #Renewables #RenewableEnergy #KeepItInTheGround #CleanEnergy #Motivation #MommyGreenest #Student #Youth #Leadership #Mentor #Mentorship #UCSB #SantaBarbara

No spoilers to ask what “Killers of the Flower M

No spoilers to ask what “Killers of the Flower Moon” might have been if an Osage — or at least Native — screenwriter had written — or at least co-written — the script? As detailed in multiple press interviews, when Martin Scorsese and Leonardo di Caprio realized during pre-production that they were telling a white-centered story, they “consulted” with Osage leaders. In a marketing segment that precedes the film, the director himself assures viewers that every effort was made to respectfully engage the community. But was anyone really listening? Today’s @WashingtonPost opinion piece — which I’ve dropped onto the link in my bio and from which I pulled the photo above — presents a valuable alternate perspective.
(Spoilers ahead.)
The movie spends roughly three of its three-and-a-half hours depicting the stories of white men who have no moral qualms about butchering Osage people, with some of the bumbling played for laughs. All the while lead actress Lily Gladstone — who is phenomenal and so eloquent in interviews about the importance of telling this story — portrays a stand-by-your-man stoic who only has agency in her very last scene.
Clearly I’m swimming against the tide here as glowing reviews pile on, but the whole thing pissed me off, especially as a white woman who grew up with Native people who were much more nuanced and complicated in their perspectives than those portrayed in this film.
And the argument that the movie is simply being true to history also doesn’t sit right with me — as the historical record that “Killers” perpetuates was written by those who benefitted from it. The story is tragic and should be told, but if I were a filmmaker with all the money and power in the world I might think about empowering someone else to tell it.
Did you see the movie — what did you think? #killersoftheflowermoon

Do you ever forget to follow your own advice? Last

Do you ever forget to follow your own advice? Last week @carlywatters from the amazing team at @the_shit_about_writing — which also includes @biancamarais_author and @cece_lyra_agent — critiqued the query letter for my recently completed second novel. If you are querying or plan to query, stop everything now to follow them and listen to the podcast because it is AMAZING. The two agents read and critique query letters and first five pages, and then Bianca interviews a writer about their new book, their writing process, and how they got published. It’s a crash course in what it takes to build a successful query into a career and you have to love their tagline: “It just takes one yes.”
Yes!
Over the past year of listening to the pod and following the #TSNOTYAW team, I have learned so much but apparently some things don’t stick. Like what to do with an actual pitch, for starters — the most critical piece in the puzzle. *slaps forehead* Full disclosure: I have counseled other writers and even taught a seminar on querying in which I encouraged the inclusion of information down to a spoiler.
"Make it concise but don’t hold anything back.” - me
But oh the forest and the trees. I realized, after listening to Carly’s analysis, that I had spent so much time editing my pitch that I totally lost the plot. I had reduced what had once been a big fat onion in a sizzling pan of oil down to ash. Swipe to the rewritten pitch that I just resubmitted in hopes that my query might make it through again so I can learn more about what needs more polish. Crossed fingers!
Writers, are you querying and if so how’s it going? Please tell me in comments — and share your pitch. If I show you mine, will you show me yours?
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #AmQuerying #Fiction #WomensFiction #UpmarketFiction #CommercialFiction #ClimateFiction

Who recognizes this view? #angeleno #losangeles #f

Who recognizes this view? #angeleno #losangeles #fall

Magic. #eclipse

Magic. #eclipse

It’s crazy how the details morph and merge and s

It’s crazy how the details morph and merge and shapeshift to become characters driving a plot. I look back at the focus of this project just a few weeks ago and it’s completely shifted. I never made a conscious decision to move the spotlight — its like they’re real people yelling “over here” until I pay attention to their stories. At some point all the notes build up into an outline and start to make sense. Hopefully soon! Thank god I plot — I couldn’t take it if I were a pantser. Going back and changing direction after it’s written would be terrifying, but evolving an outline is fun. The whole process is fascinating — it’s like there is a whole other script constantly running in the background of my brain. Writers, tell me: Are you a pantser or plotter? And how do you keep track? Phone notes, voice memos, paper and pen? #amwriting #fiction #plotter #writing #writer #writersofinstagram

Some of my favorite books transport me to India — A Fine Balance and Shantaram, for starters — and I love a giant tome that I can sink my teeth into for a few weeks. So this book checked a lot of boxes and when my book club assigned it, I was thrilled. I even bought the hardback rather than Libbying it from the library — although I did score my copy used from Thriftbooks. (If you haven’t already, check them out — these two sites, plus Bookshop(dot)org, are great hacks to avoid the Amazon boondoggle.) Unfortunately, with this book the anticipation did not pay off. Without much in the way of stakes or tension, I felt it just plodded along from one scene to the next. However, spending that much time immersed in India was a joy, and Abraham Verghese is a master at bringing a setting to life. This book has everyone from Oprah to Sandra Cisneros raving about it, so I feel like I’m probably one of a very small minority with this perspective. What did I miss?!? I’d love to hear what you think! #amreading #bookclub #book #amwriting #fiction

On this foggy fall morning, celebrating #indigenou

On this foggy fall morning, celebrating #indigenouspeoplesday with this spicy nutmeg and cinnamon squash soup. Hit me up for the recipe. #vegan #fall #soup #fallsouprecipes

This is what takeout should look like. Backyard co

This is what takeout should look like. Backyard compostable packaging, locally sourced ingredients, affordable, #plantbased. Thanks @sweetgreen! #notsponsored #breakfreefromplastic #compostable #zerowaste

It’s a fact: 94% of plastic ends up in landfills

It’s a fact: 94% of plastic ends up in landfills or the environment, including 500 million shampoo bottles each year. What’s a solution? Shampoo bars! I’m loving these from @gobrixy: The shampoo lathers up great and rinses clean, the conditioner leaves my long hair easy-to-comb but residue free, the body wash is damn good soap — and I can’t wait to try the face wash line, dropping soon!
These vegan bars are never tested on animals; plus, they’re palm-oil free (and rainforest-friendly) and the essential-oil powered scents like coconut vanilla and mint eucalyptus smell AMAZING.
With zero red-flag ingredients like sulphates, phthalates, parabens, or synthetic fragrance/color in the mix, they’re 100% color-safe. (I’m especially excited about the forthcoming purple combo, perfect to get the brass out of blond.)
To get the best suds from a shampoo bar, stand under the water to lather up. Each conditioner or shampoo bar lasts about as long as two bottles — and at $14, that’s a serious bargain. Oh, and Brixy bars are minimally packaged in FSC-certified paper, which is both recyclable and compostable. Plus, they’re TSA-friendly and great for travel!
Thanks to Brixy, which shared the inside scoop (full disclosure, one of the co-founders is part of my extended family) and gave me bars to try.
So… tell me in comments: Have you tried a shampoo and/or conditioner bar — and what did you think?
#Sustainability #sustainable #shampoobar #ZeroWaste #hair #haircare #naturalbeauty #EPR #Motivation #MommyGreenest

Superfan! Also realized once inside that this is t

Superfan! Also realized once inside that this is the former Glam Slam how cool is that? #princess #prince #nothingcompares2u

Nothing beats a backyard rager! Thanks to @sarahke

Nothing beats a backyard rager! Thanks to @sarahkellyvista for hosting #VerandaFest2023 and @dtkcomposer for letting @yesqueenpalm play (and Liz Silva for indulging my crappy guitar playing and @gabesarnoff for generously sitting in with his mom) and @studyhall80s for THE BEST SET EVER and @adriennesalick for instigating the gogo. What a fun night!!!!!! #party #houseparty

If I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates, w

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