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Healthy Living, Less Judgment

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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
  • Newsletter Archives
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    • Standards & Disclosure
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  • natural parent couple with small baby on beach
    Guides,  Natural Parenting

    Mommy Greenest Guide to Natural Parenting & Pregnancy

    October 16, 2015 /

    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 know how to plant a garden for a new eater so that the little veggies would come up at the same time as the child’s budding incisors. And here’s what I thought: What the f*ck?!? Has this woman even had a child?

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    Rachel Sarnoff 8 Comments

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    woman wearing glasses, holding toy globe in her hands

    Mommy Greenest Guide to Going Green

    September 10, 2015
    eco friendly fashion model in black high heels against blue walls

    Mommy Greenest Guide to Eco Friendly Fashion

    October 6, 2015
    natural sex guide

    Mommy Greenest Guide to Natural Sex

    February 3, 2016
  • Latest Buzz

    MG #Pregnancy Tips @MindBodyGreen

    May 28, 2015 /

    “The irony of pregnancy is that the actual 40 weeks is referred to as “nine months.” This is an especially bitter pill to swallow in the last few weeks, when you may be inclined to remind friends, family and even strangers that, technically, you have been pregnant for 10 whole months. But the reality is that the first few weeks, which doctors count as part of the 40, actually take place before you’re even pregnant. Since what goes into your body is crucial to the healthy development of your baby, it’s super important to eat healthy (and follow certain other pieces of health protocol) even before you’re pregnant. These seven steps are…

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    Rachel Sarnoff 0 Comments

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    Spring Equinox Newsletter

    March 22, 2022
    holiday traditions

    MG in Green Child Magazine

    November 19, 2013
    press clip from eco friendly wedding tips from mommy greenest on simply bridal

    MG Eco-Friendly Party Tips on Simply Bridal

    October 1, 2014
  • Latest Buzz

    MG Healthy Pregnancy Tips on Elephant Journal

    May 26, 2015 /

    “There was a time when doctors told pregnant mothers it was okay to smoke and drink alcohol because their babies were protected by the placenta. Obviously, now we know that a Mad Men style pregnancy is not the way to go. But we’re still learning about how to protect our babies in utero.” Thanks for featuring my healthy pregnancy tips, Elephant Journal!

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    Rachel Sarnoff 0 Comments

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    The Big List Book Review on Carpool Goddess

    February 3, 2014
    Mommy Greenest on SD Living TV

    MG on “San Diego Living”

    January 4, 2014
    Mommy Greenest in Ecouterre

    Ecouterre Signs Up 2 Drop Shop

    December 12, 2013
  • Natural Parenting

    Mommy Greenest Pregnancy Book (Video)

    May 20, 2015 /

    Eight years ago, I sat down with my infant daughter* in one hand and a pen in the other, and wrote a note designed to be read by my three children when they were old enough to become parents. That barely-decipherable scribble became a book full of notes about pregnancy and parenting. Eventually, those notes became a manuscript. And now, that manuscript has become a pregnancy book: The Mommy Greenest Guide to Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond. You can click here to read it for free or order a hard copy!

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    Rachel Sarnoff 3 Comments

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    3 Tips to Ditch Dangerous Sunscreen

    April 16, 2013
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    Is EMF Safe for Kids?

    March 9, 2015
    three kids in costumes sticking orange balloons on a blue wall in the form of a pumpkin.

    Easy Upcycled Halloween Crafts

    October 14, 2013
  • Mommy Greenest Approved

    Mommy Greenest Approved: Kabrita Gentle Goat Milk Foods

    August 18, 2014 /

    I talk with many parents concerned about cow milk intolerance. Usually the diagnosis is a process of elimination: A colicky baby seems better after her breastfeeding mother stops drinking milk. But for formula-fed children, getting the balance right can be frustrating. Most alternative formulas are soy-based, which can also lead to congestion, rashes and digestive discomfort. That’s why I was so excited to discover Kabrita, a new line of GMO-free, goat milk based toddler formula and three toddler-approved flavors of Goat Milk Yogurt and Fruit that are naturally easy to digest—especially for children with cow milk intolerance. Want to try? Kabrita is offering free shipping through the month of August!

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    Rachel Sarnoff 8 Comments

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    Mommy Greenest Approved: Purely Posh

    July 5, 2013
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    Mommy Greenest Approved: PACT Hot Yoga Gear

    July 7, 2014
    products that fight breast cancer without toxic chemicals on white background

    Mommy Greenest Approved: Pristine Beauty Breast Cancer Kiss Off

    October 5, 2015
  • doctor puts stethoscope on pregnant belly
    Natural Parenting

    3 Questions to Ask if You’re Pregnant

    April 4, 2014 /

    Pregnant? Get ready for the god complex. Every mom I know talks about the saint that delivered her baby. The doctor’s word is taken as law, and heaven forbid your birth partner suggest otherwise. But are you and your doctor truly in sync? In 2012, a University of San Francisco study of more than 2,000 obstetricians and gynecologists nationwide found that although they routinely discuss smoking, alcohol, diet and weight gain, most doctors do not warn their patients about environmental hazards as related to pregnancy.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 12 Comments

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    4 Steps to Keep Your Family Safe From Cell Phone Radiation

    April 16, 2013
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    3 Steps to Avoid Flame Retardants

    May 1, 2013
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    3 Steps to Safe Baby Decor

    July 8, 2013
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    Natural Parenting

    2 Techniques to Combat Colic

    March 10, 2014 /

    Thankfully, my kids didn’t have colic, defined as a healthy baby who cries for more than three hours each day, more than three days a week for at least three weeks. But we all know someone who has lived with a colicky baby. And we feel for them. Because it’s one thing to comfort a crying infant. It’s another thing to comfort an infant who cries for three hours straight.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 5 Comments

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    What is BPA? 6 Ways to Ditch It for Good

    April 17, 2013
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    3 Steps to Safe Baby Decor

    July 8, 2013
    teenaged boy wearing jeans with bare feet up on couch

    Mommy Greenest Eco Rules

    May 29, 2014
  • breastfeeding infant at mother's breast
    Natural Parenting

    Breastfeeding, By The Numbers

    February 13, 2014 /

    I’m working on an infographic-driven “by the numbers” series this month, and this information really spoke to me. Although there are challenges, there is also such an obvious benefit to breastfeeding. This information really focuses on the first six months, but the American Academy of Pediatrics actually recommends we continue to breastfeed for a full year, while supplementing with food. I breastfed my son for more than a year, my daughter for nine months, and my youngest for six. It was difficult while working, but worth it. I hope we can share more information like this to encourage the new mamas among us to give it a try for at…

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    Rachel Sarnoff 15 Comments

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    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
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    2 Tricks to Ditch Dangerous Pesticides

    April 14, 2013
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    Early Puberty? 6 Steps to Protect Your Kids

    June 17, 2013
 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, 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

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 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
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