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Healthy Living, Less Judgment

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    • 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
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    • Guide to Natural Parenting & Pregnancy
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  • 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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  • Eco Beauty & Fashion

    How To Sell Used Clothes

    April 4, 2016 /

    We all know to avoid the fast fashion habitrail of buying a five-dollar t-shirt because it was on sale, only to have it sit at the back of your closet for decades. And now that so many people are jumping on the Konmari bandwagon—finding joy, everyone?—there’s a lot of closet clean out going on. But what do you do with those clothes you’ve rejected? People, listen up: Here’s how to sell used clothes.

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    Mommy Greenest Guide to Eco Friendly Fashion

    October 6, 2015 /

    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 world’s insecticides and is 94% Genetically Modified. And that the textile industry is the world’s second largest water polluter, after agriculture. But with that in mind, sometimes you just have to shop, right? Which is why it makes sense now to figure out what matters to you when it comes to the clothes and accessories that you buy–especially if you’re concerned about your impact on the Earth. (For more on that, check out the Mommy Greenest Guide to Going Green.)…

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    Eco Fashion Solution: Shop Drop Challenge 2016

    August 26, 2015 /

    Can you give up clothes shopping for 30 days? I did. What if I told you that taking a month-long shopping pause could help save $10 billion and a billion pounds of textile waste? That’s why! We’re gearing up for the annual Shop Drop Challenge, which takes place each January to raise awareness about the fashion’s environmental problems and an easy eco fashion solution. Sign up for this year’s Shop Drop Challenge, and you could win a $250 shopping spree from thredUP.com!

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    Help me #RaiseAHand with @ThredUP for Teachers We Love!

    July 15, 2015 /

    I have a little bit of a thredUP habit. Ever since I discovered the site last year, I’ve been just a wee bit obsessed. In fact, so many polka-dotted bags move back and forth across my doorstep that my neighbors probably think I’m working for the company. No, I just love the idea of saving 90% and recycling clothing! So when I heard about thredUP’s new Raise a Hand for Teachers program, I knew I had to get involved. Helping teachers with the click of a button? Sign me up!

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  • Eco Beauty & Fashion

    A Conscious Mother’s Day Gift Guide

    May 1, 2015 /

    With three kids, Mother’s Day is a big day for DIY in our home. I’ve received everything from heartfelt homemade cards to a rock song written in my honor. But when it comes to buying gifts, I look for fair trade and sustainably made products. I discovered these gorgeous gifts on Earth911’s YouChange marketplace. Because a celebration of love for your mother should include a nod to Mother Earth!

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    thredUP Ultimate Eco Fashion Haul

    January 22, 2015 /

    I admit it, I’m a hauler. That might sound strange coming from someone whose entire online identity depends on the idea of reducing consumption—especially given my focus on thrifting and swapping for clothes, most recently with the Shop Drop Challenge. But hauling—a 21st century phenom in which women and girls use social media and YouTube to display and rate massive amounts of beauty and fashion purchases—is exactly what I’ve been doing. Because today through Monday January 26th, the thredUP 99 Cent Event is putting gently loved style on sale at massive savings: Just 99 cents per piece! Seriously, this five-day sale will go down in history—so don’t miss out! Through the thredUP…

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  • Mommy Greenest Approved

    Mommy Greenest Approved: UKonserve Waste Free Food Storage

    January 19, 2015 /

    You’ve heard it so many times: Don’t heat or store food or drinks in plastic. But did you ever stop to think about why? It’s pretty simple: Most plastics contain phthalates like BPA, which mess up our hormones and are suspected to cause cancer. Especially when they’re warmed—whether it’s in the microwave or because of hot food inside—plastic containers leach these phthalates into food. Not good! Still, you need to be able heat and store food and drinks safely—even on the go. So what’s the solution? Enter UKonserve, an amazing new line of durable, waste free silicone-enhanced glass storage boxes and water bottles—perfect for the fridge or lunchbox!

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 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

Celebrations started on Friday with mind-blowing m Celebrations started on Friday with mind-blowing magic and concluded today at lunch with the family (missing two, but they were there in spirit) plus a bonus bike ride on the beach with my baby. I believe in doing on my birthday what I want to be doing all year so I started with yoga, did some writing, spent time with friends, loved on my family (missing the aforementioned), drank top-shelf tequila and ate good food (and cupcakes), stood on a corner and made some wishes, and sang a lot of Prince. Now that my birthdays have tipped past the halfway mark, the overwhelming feeling is gratitude. That I am surrounded by family and friends and community. That I have purpose and inspiration. That my body and mind can move without pain. I no longer take these things for granted. Thanks for all the birthday love — virtual and IRL, I felt it all. 
#birthday #birthdaygirl
These photos were taken 30 years apart. One is of These photos were taken 30 years apart. One is of me, one of my daughter. Who’s who? You decide. #mother #mothersanddaughters #minime #mom #momlife
I’m obsessed with the poetry of @katejbaer and n I’m obsessed with the poetry of @katejbaer and now I get to wear it. Here’s why:
“You can be a mother and a poet. A wife and a lover. You can dance on the graves you dug on Tuesday, pulling out the bones of yourself you began to miss.”
Right? And:
“You are not a ‘good girl.’ You are not 
somebody’s otherness. This is not a dress rehearsal before a better kind of life. Pick up your heavy burdens and leave them at the gate. I will hold the door for you.”
I will hold the door for you. I love everything about this idea. I may tattoo that on my body. And, finally:
“Let your life rest on what is already good.”
Yes, this. Already good. Thanks @polishedprints! (Not sponsored.)
#feminist #poetry #katebaer #alreadygood #amreading #amwriting #inspired #polishedprints #smallbusiness #womenowned #womenownedbusiness
It’s a complicated day for me and so many others It’s a complicated day for me and so many others. But this part is clear: “Oh, you love them like you never thought you could/Oh, you love them like the moon does love the Earth.” Happy Mother’s Day everyone. Lyrics (sort of) from @obadiah11 “Hey Little Mama” and always make me cry in the best way. #mothersday #motherhood #mother #mom
Start ‘em young. #morrisday #prince #dmsr Start ‘em young. #morrisday #prince #dmsr
This is my bff’s place and yes it’s every bit This is my bff’s place and yes it’s every bit as gorgeous as these photos! Message @foxhaven_lakearrowhead if you want to book for summer.  I can’t wait to go back! #arrowhead #lakearrowhead #retreat #weekend #family #girlsweekend #getaway #airbnb
I also feel this good after a bath. #dogsofinstagr I also feel this good after a bath. #dogsofinstagram #dogoftheday #doglife #doglover #dog
Great day celebrating the installation of UCBS’s Great day celebrating the installation of UCBS’s first book sharing library, which is the @ucsb_eli project of my fabulous mentee, Shoshana, aka @ucsb_littlefreelibrary! Students at San Nicholas residence hall can now swap and donate books thanks to her commitment and tenacity — and the generosity of @littlefreelibrary! (Also hoping we’ll get another Gaucho in the family.) #UCSB #EnvironmentalLeadershipIncubator #ELI #Gauchos
I love my book club. #AmWriting #WritingCommunit I love my book club. 
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #AmWriting #AmQuerying #Fiction #WomensFiction #UpmarketFiction #AmReading #Book #Bookish #BookClub #BookClubSelection #BookClubReads #AloneWithYouInTheEther
I read this book in high school, when I was sixtee I read this book in high school, when I was sixteen. Devoured it in days — gulped it down without chewing, belly full of words. As a girl without a mother, the passionate and painful relationship it depicted was everything that I imagined I was missing. That was when I began trying to write about my own family in order to make sense of it. Last night I had the privilege of hearing Mona Simpson read from her new book, Committed, and then she signed my battered old copy of Anywhere But Here. I didn’t tell her that she had inspired me to become a writer. But I think she knew. 
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #AmWriting #AmQuerying #Fiction #WomensFiction #UpmarketFiction #AmReading #Book #Bookish #BookClub #BookClubSelection #BookClubReads #MonaSimpson #Committed
My story is up on Bluedot! LA’s Westside Thrift My story is up on Bluedot! LA’s Westside Thrift Store Hotspots. What’s your favorite? Tell me about it in comments, please — round two coming soon! Photo: Bluedot, link in bio. Whee!
#Fashion #SlowFashion #FashionRevolution #Recommerce #Style #Motivation #MommyGreenest #thrift #thrifting #thriftstorefinds #poppintags
This is EXACTLY how refill could work. I went to @ This is EXACTLY how refill could work. I went to @petco to pick up dog food, asked the extremely helpful manager what was the least expensive, and she directed me to the refill machine. No hard environmental sell, purely economic. The bag is free, there are two flavors of nutritious food to choose from (Lula appreciates variety), the handles make it easy to carry, and then once it’s empty you bring it back and start all over again. This post is not sponsored, nor did I get free product from anyone. But of course I was so excited I documented the whole thing. Don’t you hate those giant, non-recyclable plastic bags of kibble? Or the humongous box (and associated ghgs) when you have food shipped to your house? Me, too. Now there’s a solution. Genius! #refillrevolution #refill #reuse #reuserevolution #reuserecycle #plasticfree #zerowaste #breakfreefromplastic #dogsofinstagram #dog #doglover #doglife #canidaecrew
On the first Earth Day in 1970, the voices of twen On the first Earth Day in 1970, the voices of twenty million Americans were heard. As a result, the U.S. created the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. The occasion is now celebrated in 192 countries, where people plant trees and pick up trash and ride bikes to raise awareness about how we can tread more lightly on this earth. But do you know what makes the biggest impact? Voting for legislators that believe environmental protection. There are so many organizations doing great work on identifying these good legislators, including @sister_district and @environmentalvoter. Meanwhile, let’s all take care of our little corners with gratitude for all the earth gives us, even as we have taken so much from her. #earthday #earthdayeveryday #earthday🌎
I have a recurring dream, in which I float level w I have a recurring dream, in which I float level with the second story of my childhood home, high in the canyon above Los Angeles.
I can’t see myself, in the dream. I don’t know what my limbs look like. But I feel the muscles of my shoulders stretch as I soar, growing bigger, more powerful, expanding with flight. And then suddenly, I fall. 
And as I hurtle towards the earth, instead of being frightened, I’m calm. Like an inverted fishbowl, the sides of the yard rise up around me, thick layers of green plants shimmering, heavy with dew. I touch down and each blade of grass is in focus and I can see through to the root. Then, pure joy buoys me back up and into the warm rose glow of the sky. 
My father is an adopted member of the Lakota tribe. For four decades, he was a professor who wrote books about Native American literature and poetry. Throughout my childhood, he taught me to see significance in the natural world. Hawks, especially, are good luck — an indication of better things to come. 
Together, we watch two red-tailed hawks swoop and dive.
“Dad, I have to leave,” I say. “Just for a little while.” 
“That’s fine, Rachel. Take your time.” He smiles, beatific. “We’re like those two hawks, you know. We’re connected. I feel your love all around me.” 
“I love you too, Dad. I’ll be back soon.”
As I walk the mute and empty hospital hall, away from his room, I think again about the dream and my rust-tinged tail feathers, signaling good fortune to those who know how to look for the signs. 
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writer #AmWriting #EarthDay #Hawk #Signs #HawkOutsideMyBedroomWindow #EarthDayEveryday
Once the love story catches hold oh this book is s Once the love story catches hold oh this book is so beautiful and the prose is stunning. One protagonist is a bipolar woman who refuses meditation and processes her mania through creativity — for me, this was especially fascinating as I have experienced this with family members. It really allowed me to go inside of this in a completely different way and exploded my misconceptions. Who has read this book — and what did you think? Can’t wait to discuss in #BookClub this weekend! 
#Fiction #WomensFiction #AmReading #Book #Bookish #BookClubSelection #BookClubReads #MentalIllness #Bipolar #Mania
Oh, aging. For a while there, it was like my skin Oh, aging. For a while there, it was like my skin was perpetually in Palm Springs — dry and desiccated no matter what I put on it. But I recently developed a quick-and-easy, Trader Joe's sustainable skincare, anti-aging night hydration routine that really does work wonders — and together, these three products cost less than $25! Link in bio to the new story up on Mommy Greenest. This post is not sponsored, nor did I receive free products from Trader Joe’s. 
#Beauty #Style #Motivation #Health #Wellness #HealthyLifestyle #MommyGreenest
After two years, feels like I should be further al After two years, feels like I should be further along than 12 songs. Sigh. Just got a new strap that’s not made for a man’s shoulders so that should help. New resolution is to practice standing up instead of sitting on the floor. Will that one day include playing in front of someone other than my dog? Who knows. Meanwhile, I keep chipping away at it, one song at a time. Anyone else still trying to master their pandemic instrument of choice? #music #songwriting #americana
Back in the high life again. #yoga #yogalife #yoga Back in the high life again. #yoga #yogalife #yogainspiration #yogapractice #yogalove #namaste
What a joy to celebrate the amazing @laura.tremain What a joy to celebrate the amazing @laura.tremaine and her timely new book #TheLifeCouncil last night. I first met Laura when we were both newbie bloggers and she is a force!!! For this, her second book, she interviewed hundreds of people and although she will be the first to tell you she’s not a therapist, it really seems to be a game changer for friendship in the digital age — check out all those five star reviews from people saying they’re passing the book on to friends and using it to re-evaluate their relationships. Last night was the first stop on her book tour and the conversation between Laura and the super sweet and stylish @ohjoy took place @zibbysbookshop — the gorgeous and friendly new destination that’s bringing bookstores back to LA’s westside FINALLY WHOOHOO! What comes through with all of Laura’s writing is true honesty and vulnerability and refreshing practicality— I can’t wait to read this book!  #AmReading #Book #Bookish #BookClub #BookClubSelection #BookClubReads
This is it. All 270+ pages. I’ve been waking up This is it. All 270+ pages. I’ve been waking up at 5 am every morning to whittle away at it paragraph by paragraph, page by page, for nearly a year. And for the past 24 hours, I’ve held it in my hands, reading each sentence aloud and marking the whole thing up with a red pen. It’s a victorious feeling, to close a physical book on that last page, let me tell you. Now I just have to work in those edits, plus feedback from two amazing beta readers, and then it’s ready to head out into the world. Can’t wait! #amwriting #amediting #amquerying #fiction #womensfiction #upmarketfiction #writing #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #writer #omg
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