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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
  • About
    • Standards & Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Woman on water wearing big hat and sunglasses holding her hand out to the camera
    Healthy Living

    Why I Only Wear Reef Safe Sunscreen (and You Should, Too)

    May 23, 2022 /

    May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, which is great for people but often fails to keep in mind the planet: Many awareness campaigns from sunscreen companies don’t disclose that the chemicals in their products can damage ecosystems — especially in the ocean. Are you using reef safe sunscreen? Here’s how to find out.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 0 Comments

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  • Eco Beauty & Fashion

    How to Wear Mineral Sunscreen Under Makeup (Video)

    June 10, 2015 /

    Do you eschew sunscreen because you’re worried about it affecting your makeup? Are you wearing chemical blockers because you’re scared you’ll turn white as a ghost? STOP! This quick video tutorial breaks it all down, and features some of my favorite mineral sunscreen brands: ThinkSport (featured in my Father’s Day Gift Guide), Babo Botanicals and Goddess Garden Organics.

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    Mommy Greenest Approved Babo Botanicals Allergy Safe Sunscreens

    June 8, 2015 /

    I never really thought much about food allergies. My children don’t have them, so my only real shift was to sunflower seed from peanut butter when packing lunches, so as not to cause problems for the kids that do. But I feel so badly for those families who struggle to make everyday foods and products safe for themselves and their kids. For them, life is a constant assessment of potential dangers, adding an additional level of stress to the daily decisions of parenting. So when I discovered that Babo Botanicals truly natural, allergy safe sunscreens are free of nut oils, soy and dairy, I had to share. Ultra sheer and lightweight, yet packing…

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    Rachel Sarnoff 64 Comments

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    Mommy Greenest Approved: Goddess Garden Organics Reef-Safe Sunscreen

    May 25, 2015 /

    For several years I’ve celebrated May Skin Cancer Awareness month by pointing out the ineffectiveness of hormone disrupting toxic sunscreen chemicals like oxybenzone (also known as Parsol 1789) and benzophenone-2 (or BP-2), while encouraging everyone to up on sunscreens with non-nano physical blockers like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide that block UVA/UVB rays. So that’s the story on sunscreens and you. But did you ever think about what toxic chemical sunscreens can do to the ocean? I didn’t either, until I connected with Goddess Garden Organics, which has been formulating reef-safe sunscreens for more than a decade. They gave me the deets on how to preserve our oceans—and the go-ahead to hook up SIX Mommy…

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    Rachel Sarnoff 68 Comments

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    Mommy Greenest Approved: Goddess Garden Organic Sunscreen

    May 12, 2014 /

    It’s Skin Cancer Awareness month. Can we talk about organic sunscreen? If you’re still using chemicals because you hate the chalky white residue natural sunscreens leave behind, I’ve got the perfect solution for you: A new non-toxic, non-aerosol spray from Goddess Garden Organics sunscreens that’s essential for beach days, plus face-and-body blockers with a light consistency that leave none of the telltale white behind. Want to try? I scored you 25% off, plus a chance to win some for free!

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    Natural Parenting

    3 Tips to Ditch Dangerous Sunscreen

    April 16, 2013 /

    It’s sunscreen season—there are aisles devoted to it in drugstores and stacks at supermarket checkout stands. A new study published in Pediatrics shows that melanoma rates have increased among children and teens at two percent a year from 1973 to 2009—the American Cancer Society predicts that the condition will affect nearly 80,000 people in 2013. Yes you know that UVA fights aging and UVB combats burning. But do you know what’s safe—and what works? You could get a degree in toxicology and try to decipher the ingredient list on the back of the bottle, or you could take the lazy mom’s way out.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 11 Comments

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    Eco Beauty & Fashion

    3 Steps to Natural Beauty

    April 14, 2013 /

    Got a minute? Take a look at your bathroom shelves. If you’re like most women, you’re using about 12 different beauty products each day. Now flip to the ingredients panel of your favorite product—a lotion, perhaps, or sunscreen—and settle in for a good read. Do the ingredients number a dozen or more? Probably. Can you pronounce them? Probably not. Yet those 12 beauty products deliver an average 168 potentially toxic ingredients to your body each and every day. 

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    Shortcut to Natural Beauty: 7 Ingredients to Avoid

    April 13, 2013 /

    I love natural beauty, but it’s not like I’m some crazy Birkenstock wearing woman with stinky underarms. I wear lipstick as much as the next girl—I just like to know mine’s lead-free. Think I’m kidding? Studies have shown that two-thirds of lipsticks contain lead, which is a neurotoxin. And that we women eat about nine pounds of the stuff over our lifetimes. All gag reflex aside, it’s super important to know what’s in our health and beauty products, because they’re designed to be put on our skin. And as we all know from high school health class, as much as 60% of what goes onto your skin goes into your…

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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 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

I’ve been a big fan of JUNOCO ever since I disco I’ve been a big fan of JUNOCO ever since I discovered their plant-based squalene, but their recent #ToBeHuman campaign made me a fan for life. Campaigns like these aren’t exactly new: In 2016, Dove released a study that found 50% of American women had low self-esteem and 85% of women stay home because they’re uncomfortable with the way they look. But these types of studies seem all to be commissioned by massive, multinational companies — Unilever owns Dove — that are contradictory. Case in point? Unilever’s Hourglass depends on highly photoshopped models touting products like “airbrush concealer” that will “vanish” imperfections. For me, these campaigns seem to be more about selling products than really making change.  But that’s not the case at JUNOCO, the minimalist beauty company that’s focused on producing superior, vegan skincare from a short list of sustainable ingredients, where are much as possible is dispensed in recyclable glass and any plastic used is highly recyclable PET. For #ToBeHuman, the company photographed a group of skin-positive thought leaders with different skin tones, backgrounds, and perspectives to prove that perfection doesn’t exist — but inclusive beauty does. There was no professional lighting, stylists, or retouching; the only caveat was that they had all used the JUNOCO Clean 10 Cleansing Balm for a month before the shoot. Btw I LOVE that cleansing balm! My skin drinks it up — fine lines, wrinkles, sunspots, and all. Link in bio to Mommy Greenest, where you can read all about it plus get 10% off. 
photo: JUNOCO
#Beauty #Style #Motivation #Health #Wellness #HealthyLifestyle #MommyGreenest #sponsored
Byeeee… Byeeee…
Summer. #capecod #mass #summer #sunflowers #bees # Summer. #capecod #mass #summer #sunflowers #bees #pollinatorgarden
Why I shop local. #preloved #thrift #thriftstorefi Why I shop local. #preloved #thrift #thriftstorefinds #swapdontshop
It’s official: @greek_theatre takes the crown fr It’s official: @greek_theatre takes the crown from @hollywoodbowl for best summer music venue. #angelolsen #julienbaker #sharonvanetten scorched that stage all the way to nosebleed. Amazing show! (And canned ranch water didn’t suck, either.) #wildheartstour #music #livemusic #showtime #summer
This big box makes me happy every time it appears This big box makes me happy every time it appears on my doorstep. Why? Because I know that I’m helping to prevent the ONE MILLION TREES — many in old growth forests that are climate defenders — that are cut down to DAILY, just to make toilet paper. Yes, really. New story up on Mommy Greenest, linktree in bio! (Not sponsored.)
#Climate #ClimateJustice #ProtectTrees #SaveForests #RecycledPaper #Motivation #MommyGreenest
These skies never disappoint. What do you see? I h These skies never disappoint. What do you see? I have some ideas…
This makes me so mad. Still claiming “#covid res This makes me so mad. Still claiming “#covid restrictions” @urthcaffe @flylaxairport refused to fill my #reusable cup with hot water — I offered to pay — and insisted on giving me a #plastic lined #paper cup, paper cuff, and plastic lid, which are now going straight to landfill after literally 10 seconds of use. (No #recycling bin.) How can people do the right thing when companies — even those claiming #sustainability as the heart of their brand — continue to perpetuate the wrong option? #breakfreefromplastic #reuse #reuserevolution
HUGE NEWS: #OceanConservancy just retracted their HUGE NEWS: #OceanConservancy just retracted their seminal "Stemming the Tide" report and admitted that it led to misinformation -- basically that plastic in the ocean was the "fault" of people in Asia -- because they did not include the context of waste exports from other countries, primarily the United States. There are so many other (racist) layers to this, but the gist for me is what I said in my first TEDx talk: "If you have a cup that's overflowing, do you blame the cup -- or the hand that continues to pour?" This is a picture of the plastic that was picked up in the once-pristine Hanauma Bay in Hawaii. When it comes to single-use plastic, we need to stop pouring.
#Plastic #CircularEconomy #BreakFreeFromPlastic #Motivation #Health #Wellness #MommyGreenest
Time erodes friendships — some strengthen and so Time erodes friendships — some strengthen and some dissolve. This essay is about the weird false intimacy that is perpetuated through social media, the historical context that often shadows it, and the words we can no longer say. I’m so proud to be published in @hippocampusmag and honored to be featured alongside so many incredible writers. Link in bio! (Photo is from Hippocampus of time eroding something, I guess…?)
#AmWriting #Memoir #Essay #Nonfiction #Fiction #WomensFiction #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity
Hearing a lot of complaints about how now that eve Hearing a lot of complaints about how now that everyone has discovered #thrifting, there are less golden eggs to discover in stores. (Looking at you, #newyorktimesmagazine.) I think that’s hogwash. Maybe if you #thrift for status — i.e. labels? But that’s never been my jam. I grew up #thrifting and have exclusively shopped #resale (or #swapped with friends) for nearly two decades and the plethora of online and brick-and-mortar stores makes it all so much more fun! Case in point: embellished boots, a 100-year-old #vintage petticoat, and an unbranded eyelet blouse that together are my new favorite just-over-here-floating-in-the-summer-breeze outfit. If you choose #preloved because it’s 1. better for the planet and 2. better for your bank account, then wouldn’t you agree the golden age is upon us?
#Fashion #SlowFashion #FashionRevolution #Style #Motivation #mommygreenest
How to #zerowaste a day at #Disneyland? It’s muc How to #zerowaste a day at #Disneyland? It’s much easier these days, until you take your eye off the ball. But as much as I sweat the small stuff, I know I have to let it go. It was a great day celebrating my daughters 21st, which culminated in a drink on another planet. As living out fantasies goes, that one is hard to beat. #zerowastedisneyland #breakfreefromplastic #noonecandoeverythingbuteveryonecandosomething
Remember when it was just the sweet sharp smell of Remember when it was just the sweet sharp smell of green grass giving way to fat dripping on the barbecue and berries carmelizing in the oven? The heavy air draped over your shoulders like an invisible cloak that you shook off pogoing over the banana seat and the wind you made dried the sweat from your hair. Then you dove over a dozen other kids and into the pool so thick with chlorine that after one tap on the bottom your eyes emerged red and raw. You floated on your back and watched the blue bowl of the sky and counted the seconds until the sun went down. Finally, the fireworks bloomed overhead and on the corner and at the bottom of your grandparents’ stoop the synthetic black snakes wiggled and splayed. You felt the burn on your fingertips and darted back just in time as fire shrieked past your ears and shot up up up and exploded into light so bright you still saw it behind your lashes. Someone was always singing. And there was no context or blame.
#FourthOfJuly #IndependenceDay #AmWriting #Fiction #WomensFiction #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity
Can anyone tell me how this is achieved? Last time Can anyone tell me how this is achieved? Last time I looked at a #Coke bottle it was “100% recyclable,” a claim that is simply #greenwashing, as the fact that something can be recycled doesn’t necessarily mean it is. This bottle says it’s made from #recycled material, and the QR code drives to a lot of fancy talk — including #BillNye — about the best way the purchaser can recycle it. But the American Beverage Association, which represents the company, still lobbies against #BottleBills that would incentivize the recovery of plastic. So how is #CocaCola getting enough #PCR to make this bottle and distribute it nationally — or is this just intended for the libs in California? #BreakFreeFromPlastic #ReuseRefuseRecycle
Say what you want about Apple, they have packaging Say what you want about Apple, they have packaging down. This #foamfree #recyclable paper origami-quality box with the tiniest amount of plastic transport led my #preloved #refurbished iMac. The best part? The box now has new life as a toy for the toddler across the street. #repair #righttorepair #ewaste #lovedmacslast
Just another sentence to blow your mind. #Inspirat Just another sentence to blow your mind. #Inspiration #1000wordsofsummer #AmWriting #Fiction #WomensFiction #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity
This ritual, every week. Sometimes alone but bette This ritual, every week. Sometimes alone but better with friends. You?
#Pandemic #Exercise #Bike #Biking #California
Fun fact: Stanley Gerald Thompson was my grandfath Fun fact: Stanley Gerald Thompson was my grandfather. And that’s not even half the story.
#AmWriting #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #1000wordsofsummer
Last year, I wrote about watching #StrangerThings Last year, I wrote about watching #StrangerThings with my daughter. I described how the series helped us connect during the pandemic. I was conflicted about whether or not to publish the piece, but finally felt that sharing what we went through might be helpful to other parents – and it was. I heard from so many people that they had also shifted habits, gotten more lenient with things like television watching and chores, all in the name of making things a little bit easier for our children, who were going through so much. Things are different now, thankfully — new MG post, link in bio. (And Season 4 is worth the wait.)
#Parenting #Pandemic #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity
Happy official start of summer, everyone! Now can Happy official start of summer, everyone! Now can we please talk about your sunscreen? Friends don’t let friends use oxybenzone. We’re friends, right? New #Sunscreen story up on Mommy Greenest, link in bio! https://www.mommygreenest.com/why-i-only-wear-reef-safe-sunscreen-and-you-should-too/ #ReefSafeSunscreen #NaturalSunscreen #Sunscreen 
#Health #Wellness #Toxics #Chemicals #HealthyLifestyle #MommyGreenest
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