3 People Who Act to Make Their World More Livable : Ecology: Recycling newspapers to wipe windows, prodding a city to collect plastic foam--in these ways concern becomes a way of life.

Suddenly, environmental issues--ranging from water quality and air pollution to trash disposal and recycling--are coming to the forefront of public consciousness.

But how do environmental activists demonstrate their concern in their daily lives? The Times talked with three San Fernando Valley residents.

As an attorney in Seattle 31-year-old Kim Abel had learned over time that not everything one hears is true.

So when she learned two years ago that her husband had gotten a job as an aerospace engineer in Canoga Park, Abel set aside any negative comments she had heard about Los Angeles and decided to arrive at their Woodland Hills apartment with an open mind.

What she wasn’t prepared for, however, was that much of what she had heard was correct.

“I couldn’t believe that the air really was as bad as people had said it was,” she said. “Instead of just accepting it, though, right away I thought, ‘I live here now. I’m going to find out more about this.’ ”

Through the Sierra Club’s San Fernando Valley group, Abel learned enough about air pollution to be named chairman of the Sierra Club’s air quality subcommittee, which ensures that the club’s voice is heard on planning issues. Since then, she also has become involved in several other environmental issues, including toxic waste disposal and the protection of coastal waters.

And, in subtle ways, her concern for the environment shows in the Abels’ two-bedroom apartment.

Lots of things are missing. Take paper towels and paper napkins, which Abel says are a waste of natural resources. The only paper in her kitchen is in the form of stacked newspapers, which she uses to clean windows.

“A long time ago I read that there was something in the paper that makes windows really clean,” she said. “It’s surprising, but it actually works a lot better than cloth.”

And there are no packages of disposable diapers, which Abel, the mother of a 22-month-old son, steadfastly refuses to buy.

“I got really concerned about what is happening to the landfills,” she said. “Most people don’t separate the plastic from the used diaper the way they should, and so all of it ends up in the dump. For about $2 more each week, I use a diaper service.”

Although she concedes that she “could be a lot better” about buying nontoxic cleaning products, she stays away from anything in an aerosol can and recycles glass, plastic and aluminum. A plastic bottle filled with water has been placed in the toilet tanks to conserve water. And, when buying items such as margarine or detergent, which come in paper or plastic, she chooses the paper.

“Basically, my philosophy around the house is pretty simple,” she said. “Anything that I don’t have to throw away, I don’t, and anything I can reuse, I do.”

Since 1961, when he joined the Sierra Club’s San Fernando Valley group, Woodland Hills resident Arthur Rich has been outspoken about the problems of air pollution and traffic congestion.

In recent years, Rich, 65, a retired civil engineer with the city of Los Angeles, has openly supported a Metro Rail project in the Valley. Without it, he says, “the air here is just going to keep getting worse.”

To help ensure that the project becomes a reality, Rich has been circulating petitions among his friends that support the statewide rail bond initiative appearing on this June’s ballot.

He also makes a statement through his own form of transportation.

“People don’t realize that you can ride long distances in traffic on a bicycle,” said Rich, who frequently can be seen pedaling with a bag of groceries strapped on the back of his 18-speed touring bike. “I ride the bike for exercise, but I also use it to go visiting and shopping. I can carry back quite a load.”

Bicycling is nothing new for Rich, who belongs to the Human Powered Transit Assn., a Reseda-based group that encourages people to commute by bike to work. Until he retired six years ago, Rich said, he regularly left his car in his garage and rode to his job in downtown Los Angeles.

In all the years of his two-wheeled commuting, he said, “I never had an accident with a car, and I always took streets that weren’t too congested. I’d come walking into my office with my helmet.”

In a city where the car is king, “there have always been comments, and I guess a lot of people did think I was different,” he said with a chuckle. “But now, people come up to me and say they think it is a great idea, or that they’re amazed that I do it.

“It’s not that amazing, though,” he said. “I live in the Valley, and I’ve been an advocate for clean air. I couldn’t very well feel that way and then not do something about it.”

Doug Rogers has been an active member of ecological organizations such as Heal the Bay, and has worked to preserve wetlands. But the issue that is probably closest to his heart is neither water nor wildlife.

It is polystyrene foam.

“Most people don’t know that polystyrene can be recycled into things like a cartridge case for VCR tapes. They drink coffee out of a foam cup or eat a hamburger out of a foam container, and then just toss it,” said Rogers, a resident of Burbank and also a newly elected executive committee member of the Sierra Club’s 58,000-member Los Angeles chapter.

“Right now, public opinion of polystyrene is low because people say it is spoiling the environment,” he said. “But what’s really needed is public awareness.”

Rogers, 33, has personal reasons for caring about the issue. He and his father own and operate Tempo Plastics Inc., a Burbank-based company that, he said, produces nearly 500,000 pounds of plastic each year for the medical device industry.

“Our product can be recycled, but it’s not being done on a mass scale,” he said. “What’s missing is the infrastructure that makes it easy for people to recycle it.”

Feeling obligated to become more involved in the disposal of plastic and polystyrene products, Rogers said, he approached the city of Burbank last spring about launching a campaign that would get people to take polystyrene--including old picnic chests, the packaging around stereos and foam food containers--to recycling centers. Since June, he said, his company has collected those recyclables and taken them to one of two plastic recyclers in Los Angeles County.

“There are a lot of other issues that have higher visibility and a lot more glamour,” he said. “But there’s also a sense of gratification when I remember that there are a lot of other companies like mine.

“If we all care about it,” he said, “I believe we can really make a difference.”