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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
    • Guide to Green Beauty
    • Guide to Healthy Cleaning
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  • tricalm gel on white background
    Mommy Greenest Approved

    Mommy Greenest Approved: TriCalm

    December 2, 2013 /

    As I’ve shared previously, mosquitoes love me. Maybe it’s my blood type, or maybe it’s my love for sweet-smelling natural perfumes, but I am a biting bug magnet. Which means I am entirely too familiar with itching—and the over-the-counter remedies used to fight it. I’ve got sprays and creams and gels galore, but nothing seems to dull that scratching urge for long—until now.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 16 Comments

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    Mommy Greenest Approved: Miessence Balancing Skin Conditioner

    April 7, 2014
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    Mommy Greenest Approved: Baby Bjorn Bouncer

    May 6, 2015
    Mommy Greenest Pregnancy Book to go in stack of photo books

    Introducing: Mommy Greenest Pregnancy Book!

    April 21, 2015
  • air freshener advertisement with flowers and butterflies coming out of the pot
    Healthy Living

    Air Fresheners Don’t Make Scents!

    May 7, 2013 /

    From plug-ins to sprays, synthetic air fresheners are bad news. Chock-full of toxic ingredients, they typically contain phthalates linked to obesity and other problems, as well as potent allergens that lead to fragrance allergies—a condition that affects 34 million people in the U.S. That’s why when I heard about this new campaign from Women’s Voices for the Earth, I knew I had to share. The campaign targets Glade air fresheners and employs some of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen as messengers. If SC Johnson can use cute babies to sell products, why can’t we use them to let people know about the air-polluting fragrances that are in their products?

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    Rachel Sarnoff 10 Comments

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    Eco Confession: I Used Pesticides (& Lived)

    December 26, 2013
    mommy greenest daily affirmation

    Today’s InspirApril Daily Affirmation: Courage

    April 23, 2015
    vegan chocolate on a board

    Vegan Chocolate Easter Eggs? Yes Please!

    March 14, 2016
  • capitol building with white clouds behind it
    Healthy Living

    Why You Should Care About Chemical Safety

    April 19, 2013 /

    Autism, ADHD, asthma and allergies — increasingly, they’re all being linked to chemicals in our environment. Babies are now born pre-polluted with more than 200 industrial chemicals in their blood, just from pre-natal exposure. How can that not have an effect? Yet the manufacturing industry’s position remains firm, lobbying that regulating chemicals will hurt small businesses, leading to increased production costs and job losses. As a result, there are still 84,000 chemicals used in commerce that have never been tested for children’s safety. They are supposed to be regulated by the Toxic Chemicals Control Act (TSCA) but it doesn’t have a lot to do with chemical safety. Guess how many chemicals…

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    Rachel Sarnoff 12 Comments

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    Can You Avoid Plastic Pollution In A Pandemic?

    March 31, 2020
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    Mommy Greenest Guide to Going Green

    September 10, 2015
    Mommy Greenest Daily Affirmation

    Today’s InspirApril Daily Affirmation: Foundation

    April 4, 2015
  • adhd inducing food dyes in bright colored candy
    Natural Parenting

    2 Steps to Eliminate Food Dyes Linked to ADHD

    April 19, 2013 /

    Do your kids get hyper after eating candy? It might not be the sugar—but could be the color. Studies have found a link between food dyes and hyperactivity in children. Some even see a link between food dyes—which trigger the release of histamines, part of the body’s immune system—and allergies, as well as ADHD, which affects 5.2 million American children. Yet in 2012, an FDA advisory committee determined that the science was too weak to support a ban on artificial food dyes or a warning label on foods that contain them. Apparently, that’s not the case in Europe, where regulations require such a warning label, forcing European companies to substitute natural…

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    Rachel Sarnoff 16 Comments

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    2 Techniques to Combat Colic

    March 10, 2014
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    Breastfeeding, By The Numbers

    February 13, 2014
    three kids in costumes sticking orange balloons on a blue wall in the form of a pumpkin.

    Easy Upcycled Halloween Crafts

    October 14, 2013
  • little girl listening to her mom's natural pregnancy belly
    Natural Parenting

    Want a Natural Pregnancy? 12 Tips to Protect Your Baby for Life

    April 17, 2013 /

    Getting ready for baby—or pregnancy? Congratulations! Going green for your growing belly—or for when you bring that baby home—sounds good on paper, but is a natural pregnancy doable in reality? Yes! Here’s how: 1. Eat organic: The dangers of common pesticide exposure are equal to those of smoking during pregnancy: low birth weight and early labor. Studies have shown that eating organic for just five days can eliminate many of the pesticides—linked to cancer, among other health problems—in our bodies. Following the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen lists can reduce your family’s exposure by 80 percent.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 18 Comments

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    Jane Goodall Exclusive MG Interview

    August 29, 2013
    boy drinking from plastic water bottle

    3 Reasons to Keep Safe Drinking Water On the Go

    April 13, 2013
    Neurotoxic lead is virtually impossible to detect, without testing. Here are a few important things you can do to protect your family from lead poisoning.

    7 Steps to Avoid Lead Poisoning

    August 9, 2013
  • young brunette girl holding blonde doll
    Healthy Living

    When to Toss An Off Gassing Toy

    April 17, 2013 /

    Yes, I admit it. I killed Baby Ava. Now of course we’re not talking homicide—I’m a mother of three myself. No, this was far more insidious. Baby Ava was a doll. A Christmas doll that my daughter had grabbed from under the tree and didn’t let go. My daughter adored Baby Ava with a love bordering on obsession. Wanted to hold her in her arms during the day and sleep with her at night. Never let the doll out of her sight. The innocent little blue-eyed plastic wonder was a gift from my dad, who doesn’t think about potentially lethal lead poisoning or organic cotton options. Like most grandfathers, he just…

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    Rachel Sarnoff 4 Comments

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    How To Make A Holiday Organic Cocktail

    December 23, 2015

    Giving Tuesday: Nonprofits That Matter

    November 15, 2021
    back of woman wearing pink bra with one strap removed

    2 Breast Cancer Pink Ribbon Rules to Live By

    October 9, 2014
  • Eco Beauty & Fashion

    1 Minute + 3 Ingredients = How to Make Perfume, Naturally

    April 16, 2013 /

    There’s nothing like meeting your future mother-in-law only to realize that you wear the same perfume. Not only does this mean that your fantastically expensive bottle of sweet nothings must go straight to the recycling bin, but it also brings to mind a whole host of questions. Does he not know and has some some sort of olfactory problem? Does he just not care and would love you even if you smelled like you hadn’t showered for a week? Or maybe he likes the fact that you and his mom would be indistinguishable in a blindfolded sniff test—and in that case, you’re in a whole lotta trouble, sister.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 97 Comments

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    Eco Fashion Solution: Shop Drop Challenge 2016

    August 26, 2015
    woman wearing black pants, gray patterned shirt and black cardigan against wood background

    3 Things to NEVER Buy at a Thrift Store

    January 10, 2014
    mommy greenest gets natural hair color henna

    Henna How To: A Guide to Truly Natural Hair Color

    May 18, 2015
  • vinegar and sponges next to a red bucket
    Natural Parenting

    Green Cleaning in 3 Easy Steps

    April 14, 2013 /

    When I was a kid, I knew the house was clean because it smelled like fake lemons and pine. But it may not have been as clean as my family thought: The EPA estimates that the air inside our homes can be as more polluted than the air outside, in part because of chemical cleaning products. Indoor air pollution can lead to serious health problems like allergies and asthma; childhood asthma rates are now at epidemic levels, with more than seven million children affected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s one in 10 kids. So I’ve spent the last few years replacing those  familiar from childhood with green cleaning…

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    Rachel Sarnoff 28 Comments

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    Finding Philanthropy: Giving Tuesday

    November 1, 2013
    Breastfed infants have lower rates of SIDS; breastfeeding moms show lower rates of postpartum depression. These three steps can help breastfeeding success!

    3 Steps to Breastfeed: Reduce Risks for Mom & Baby

    June 20, 2013
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    4 Steps to Keep Your Family Safe From Cell Phone Radiation

    April 16, 2013
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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

https://youtu.be/sOol1MIgois

rachellincolnsarnoff

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 If I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates, who needs a key? Try hot pink with blue and yellow racing stripes and rainbows criss-crossing up your ankles as a time travel device. Back in the day, my wheels sparkled like Bonne Bell Lip Smackers Bubble Gum gloss and I had a fat wad of Barbie-pink Big Chew contraband to match. I shuddered along faint fault lines magnified into crevices by four rounds of plastic that registered the tectonic palm slap of continents with each revolution. Hurtled down the sidewalk, my braids catching the breeze, bangs adhered with sweat, lips stretched wide up and over and around the metal wires winched onto my teeth, and not even braces could contain my smile. Now, it’s just like riding a bike.
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #FlashFiction #RollerSkates #Secondhand #Preloved #Thrift #SecondhandSeptember
If you’re in LA, please go see this play. It’s If you’re in LA, please go see this play. It’s a story and a communal experience and a reminder of practicing gratitude all rolled into one amazing immersive experience phenomenally acted by @danielkisaac and beautifully designed @geffenplayhouse. We went on a whim and knew nothing about the production and that was perfect so I won’t ruin it for you. Just go. #everybrilliantthing #theater #livetheatre #immersivetheatre #geffenplayhouse
If you need some water or a poop bag, Lula’s got If you need some water or a poop bag, Lula’s got you. #dogsofinstagram #dog #doglife #hiking #hike #ilovela
From the time I had a fake ID (obtained through a From the time I had a fake ID (obtained through a coin-operated vending machine in Times Square when I was 16 and yes it worked) I’ve been going to shows. Even in the cheapest seats, experiencing live music is an amazing communal experience, both with the performers and with everyone else in the space. And one of the greatest things about living in Los Angeles is that EVERY band rolls through (although usually on a Tuesday). Lucky for us, @noconamusic actually lives here, too. If you like #Americana and #Country and #Punk and/or were as obsessed as I was with the alchemy of #JohnDoe + #ExeneCervenka in X back in the day, go see #Nocona this month in LA or Nashville. See you there!
#Music #LiveMusic #LosAngeles #Angeleno #Singer #Songwriter #Songs #Motivation
Inspired by this message from Patagonia and this r Inspired by this message from Patagonia and this random sign from the universe. Did you read it right? 
#Sustainability #Climate #ClimateJustice #Renewables #RenewableEnergy #KeepItInTheGround #CleanEnergy #Motivation #MommyGreenest
Who’s used a take-back bag from @for___days? I o Who’s used a take-back bag from @for___days? I only buy #preloved and have good options for #resale and donation, but need a place to send my skivvies. Has anyone done this and what did you think?
#Sustainability #Fashion #SwapDontShop #SlowFashion #FashionRevolution #Preloved #Thrift #Recommerce #Style #Motivation #MommyGreenest
My two TEDx talks were all about individual action My two TEDx talks were all about individual action in the context of systemic change — and that takes major political shifts. We need EVERYONE who is worried about plastic pollution to contact your senator and representative with one simple ask: Cosponsor the Break Free From Plastic Act. How do that? One form. 10 seconds. That’s it. Let’s do this! (Link in bio) 
#Sustainability #Plastic #Microplastic #CircularEconomy #ZeroWaste #Reuse #Recycling #EPR #Motivation #MommyGreenest
What do these keys have to do with love? Inspired What do these keys have to do with love? Inspired by @thegoodtrade call for essays on “joy, bliss, lightheartedness, and wonder,” I wrote the story of how my husband and I got engaged within ten days of meeting each other. Fun fact? He hadn’t read this before it published. And, as he reminded me, I was actually blond at the time. Whoops. Link in bio!
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #AmQuerying #Fiction #WomensFiction #UpmarketFiction #CommercialFiction
Years ago, I worked with Patagonia — among other Years ago, I worked with Patagonia — among other stakeholders — on legislation that would mandate washing machines include microfiber filters (just like dryers do). Looks like Samsung now leads on the technological solutions side with a new after-market filter that captures 98% of fibers and will soon be introduced in the EU. While we wait for implementation in the U.S., please remember that washing synthetics  by hand or in cold/gentle significantly reduces shedding and gets clothes just as clean. Typically, I choose natural fibers, but I couldn’t resist this pretty blouse at the thrift store yesterday — today my tub does double duty as a drying rack. 
#Sustainability #Fashion #SlowFashion #FashionRevolution #Recommerce #Style #Motivation #Sustainability #Plastic #Microplastics #CircularEconomy #ZeroWaste #Reuse #Recycling #EPR #Motivation #MommyGreenest
In my favorite place, with one of my two favorite In my favorite place, with one of my two favorite girls. She flies the nest tomorrow and I couldn’t be happier for her, but there will be a giant hole in our lives when she’s gone. #mother #daughter #family #hiking #losangeles #ilovela
I wish I had read #Kaleidoscope before I heard @he I wish I had read #Kaleidoscope before I heard @hellocecilywong’s inspirational craft talk at the @pacificmfa residency earlier this year. Wong shared that her life as a reader turned her into a writer, compelled by the “infinite acrobatics of words” to explore how the “same sentence can be arranged in a million different ways to different effects.” But listening to her then, I didn’t know about the resulting mastery of language that is so very apparent in this book. Kaleidoscope examines self and family and sisterhood and love and slaps it all against incredibly rendered, effortlessly exotic backdrops: the island of Goa, the city of Udaipur, plus temples and raves and one seriously bad acid trip of a train ride. The story begins in New York, but after shifting into travel mode in the second half the descriptions speed up and compress, which seems to be a deliberate, stylistic commentary on the grieving narrator’s experience of time as elastic: “a rubber band…an hour stretched to the ribs before time snaps back.” This is Wong’s second book — I’m now dying to read #Diamondhead — and in the talk she shared that both began with “real people that I scramble to make unrecognizable” in order to create characters that are capable of surprising her as a writer. But how much of Kaleidoscope comes from her own experiences — how far and long did she travel in order to collect them? The only hint comes in the acknowledgment to her parents, “for their patience and encouragement as I roamed far from home.” Had I known all of this then, I would have raised my hand and asked — although she probably wouldn’t have told me, anyway. In the talk she said that, “Perspective is gained through lived experience…The truth lies in the fluid nature of these experiences – memory shifts endlessly…fiction shows the ever shifting nature of life…and everything will likely take on a different meaning by the end.” Yes, this.
#AmReading #Book #Bookish #BookClub #BookClubSelection #BookClubReads #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #AmQuerying #Fiction #WomensFiction #UpmarketFiction #CommercialFiction #Sustainability #ClimateFiction
Three decades of friendship and it never gets old. Three decades of friendship and it never gets old. Spent the weekend at this beautiful lake but honestly we could be anywhere and have a blast. (Although the @foxhaven_lakearrowhead cabin is pretty extraordinary!) We laughed and cried and celebrated a birthday and it was (as always) the best weekend ever. #bestfriends #rideordie #lakearrowhead
It’s a really nice ceiling but I hope I get to s It’s a really nice ceiling but I hope I get to see more of Arrowhead than this. #arrowhead #arrowheadlake #lakearrowhead #backpain
Am I the only one who loved Barbie until the end f Am I the only one who loved Barbie until the end felt like a cheap joke? Trying not to spoil it for anyone who has been under a rock for the past few weeks, but I feel like Barbie’s new life could have involved a job interview or college. Anything but that final gag that reduces her to a pretty face and a new vagina — immediately transforming the world into another plastic box where she is disempowered. Don’t get me wrong, I laughed/cried/craughed  and it was BRILLIANT and I agree with all the accolades. It’s just the end that made me mad. Thoughts? #barbie #barbiemovie #barbiegram
How are the last days of summer here already? Whe How are the last days of summer here  already? Where did the season go? Anyone else feeling just flattened by time rn? #summer #summervibes #beach #beachlife #socal #losangeles #angeleno
Only in the UK are these the options on a drop dow Only in the UK are these the options on a drop down. Last photo dump, I promise! #london #travel
I had forgotten how much I love this city! Everyth I had forgotten how much I love this city! Everything walkable, navigable, friendly. Effortlessly blending the old and the new. Every corner turned yields something beautiful to discover. My @lockehotels is like an awesome work + home stay, with a yoga mat and kitchenette in every room, and you already know how I feel about #refill and @whogivesacraptp toilet paper (is the best, ask me how #notsponsored). If only the cafe was #zerowaste hmmm… at least I brought my own cup! Today’s conversations were beyond inspirational. So far, it’s a week of work that feels like play. #london #londonlife
My dad grew up in a Nebraska town so small you cou My dad grew up in a Nebraska town so small you could bike from one end to the other in less than 10 minutes. He read the Bible from cover to cover when he was seventeen years old, not because he was that religious, but because nobody he knew had ever done it – not even the pastor. He left for California, lived in Europe, and traveled through China and South America — all the while raising me as a single dad, writing a shelf full of books, and influencing thousands of students. Until recently, my father could play a piano concerto and then pick up a guitar and sing a song that would bring you to tears. He could fix an engine with duct tape and recite Yeats from memory. For most of my life, I believed that he was the source of a solution to any problem, the keeper of answers to all questions. Now, we are older — and his life is smaller. But this weekend, I was reminded of its guiding principle: To choose joy. My challenge now is to respect his choices, even though there are so many that I don’t understand. I’m so grateful for the friends and family who gathered this weekend to celebrate Grumpy’s 80th birthday - Carhenge cake and all. 
#AmWriting #Writer #Writing #Memoir
Thinking about laundry and work. You don’t strip Thinking about laundry and work. You don’t strip down to do laundry, right? Which means you are actively making dirty clothes at the same time that you are washing them. There’s never a time when all the laundry is done — same thing with work. I’m trying to fold what I can and not stress the things that can’t get done until next week. #work #wfh
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