About
Assistant Professor of Instruction, School of Advertising and PR, University of Texas at Austin; Cofounder, WasteLessWednesday, The Nonprofit Organization; Consultant, MVP Collective; Author of upcoming book, Green-ish: How To Protect the Environment Without Hugging A Tree. Former magazine editor, Huffington Post contributor, and environmental and public health ad/PR agency owner with 35+ years of experience.
I’ve spent my career breaking down complex environmental issues into fun, profound campaigns that sometimes win awards but always take creative risks and get results.
Whether sounding a warning to greenwashers on NBC’s TODAY show, being interviewed by The Guardian about which eco-labels to believe, or spending all day in a landfill to spotlight the flagging state of U.S. recycling efforts, I speak out about injecting ethics, transparency, and authenticity into corporate responsibility programs. I’m also a public health advocate, with two decades of tobacco prevention experience.
After I co-founded EnviroMedia in 1997, our agency helped start America Recycles Day, which today is administered by Keep America Beautiful. EnviroMedia led the Don’t Mess with Texas litter prevention campaign to victory in the America’s Favorite Slogan Competition, beating Nike’s “Just Do It” and “Got Milk?" Corporate brands I’ve worked with include Green Mountain Energy, Dell, Microsoft, Google, Intel, HP, Daimler, LafargeHolcim, AMD, Tetrapak, Proterra, Vital Farms and HEB Grocery.
Since closing EnviroMedia in 2018, I’ve been synthesizing my decades of environmental communications experience into my book, Green-ish: How To Protect the Environment Without Hugging A Tree. When I'm not working on Green-ish (which I’m writing entirely outdoors in places like Yucatán, Mexico; Big Bend National Park, Texas; Echo Park, Colorado; and my own screened-in porch at my “enviro-hacienda” south of Austin, Texas), I'm writing and consulting via Salinas-Davis LLC. I’m also a cofounding director of WasteLessWednesday, which we launched in early 2021 as a nonprofit organization. I began lecturing at the University of Texas in Fall 2020 with Integrated Communication Management classes, and in Spring 2021 created a new class called Environmental Communication.
For Huffington Post and many print publications, I’ve written about social issues and business change, reporting from Standing Rock, the first Women's March in DC, the steps of the Texas Capitol as the bathroom bill was being debated, the FTC as new "Green Guides" and health marketing claims were being reviewed, the Rio+20 United Nations Sustainable Development Conference, and five UN Climate Change conferences (Bali, Indonesia; Poznań, Poland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Cancún, Mexico; and Durbin, South Africa).
I’m a speaker at water, energy, solid waste, health, and advertising conferences, and am teaching in the School of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Texas at Austin. I’m a Board Member of the Texas Water Foundation and the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and a former board member of Austin Habitat for Humanity.
Winner of the American Advertising Federation-Austin Silver Medal Award for outstanding contributions to advertising and furthering the industry's standards, creative excellence, and responsibility in areas of social concern.
Recognized for Professional Achievement and Supporting the Economic Advancement of Women with a Blazing Star Award from the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Texas.
Bachelor of Journalism in Public Relations from the University of Texas at Austin.
Member, Society of Environmental Journalists. Freelance writing samples here.
Judge, South By Southwest Interactive Innovations Awards, 2019-23.
Read recent profile here: Social Impact Heroes Helping the Planet