Postcards for the Planet : Environment: Committed to recycling and frustrated by the problems? Want to tell someone about it--fast? ‘EarthCards’ may help.

So your household made an Earth Day pledge to start recycling, and it turns out to be something of a hassle--separating sticky bottles and cans, sorting out the good plastic from the bad and lugging around bundles of newspapers--but you’re willing to do your part to save the planet, or at least a few trees.

Grocery shopping, however, is beginning to get very irritating--pushing that cart along the supermarket aisles past an infinity of paper towels, paper napkins, paper plates, paper cups, wax paper, paper filters, paper tissues--and only seeing an occasional “recycled” symbol.

You’re doing your part; why aren’t they? The frustration makes you want to write a letter to someone.

At least that’s what the people at the Write for Action Group are counting on--consumer discontent. And they are ready with “EarthCards,” a cheery paperback. Its unusual contents: 32 postcards on perforated pages, each dealing succinctly with an environmental crisis and addressed to the corporate executive or politician who has the power to change it.

“Just sign ‘em, stamp ‘em and send ‘em,” chirps the book.

“EarthCards” ($6.95 from Conari Press) is the latest entry in the trendy wave of do-it-yourself environmental books.

It assumes that the many Americans who have modified their personal habits, and started recycling newspapers or saving water or driving an energy-efficient car, now expect to see some similar reforms by business and government.

It understands that a flood of consumer mail on one subject gets attention in any corporate office. (Starkist Tuna, the book notes, halted the netting practices that had killed more than 6 million dolphins after receiving fewer than 8,000 letters on the subject). And it uses an irresistible consumer offer:

“Where else can you hope to change the world for less than a quarter and a few minutes’ time?”

Despite the book’s zippy tone, it comes with solid credentials. It was originated by David Harp, an eclectic writer-publisher in the Berkeley area who has written and published a series of books on musical instruction and on meditation.

Harp is also an environmentalist. “I’d written a little song for President Bush about his speedboat,” he explained, in a telephone interview.

“His speedboat was bothering me because of the conspicuous fuel consumption--with those two enormous engines it obviously takes a huge quantity of gas. I thought a windsurfer or a sailboat would be a better symbolic gesture, so I dreamed up a song about it.”

(Harp isn’t alone in his criticism of Bush’s speedboat. In response to critics, the President has defended himself by saying energy conservation doesn’t mean that “life screeches to a halt.”

But he didn’t get around to writing the letter. “I didn’t have time, then I thought I would get my assistant to write it and sign my name, but that didn’t seem right. I wished someone would write it for me.”

Then it occurred to him that lots of people probably feel the same way, so he brought the idea for a book to Conari Press, then he founded the Write for Action Group, an assortment of leading environmental experts and organizations (more than 60 are listed) who helped shape the book’s contents.

“I had help from a tremendous number of experts,” said Harp, who coordinated the work. “We did a lot of research, faxing letters back and forth about where an effective action could be done and getting a general consensus that this was a good thing to do. They were unbelievably forthcoming with their time and information.”

The result: An EarthCard suggests that McDonald’s could offer a meatless “McVeggieBurger,” that Eveready Battery Co. could use mercury-free battery technology, that Scott Paper Co. could manufacture a line of recycled products, and that the three major U.S. auto makers should stop turning out “muscle cars” and use such existing technology as the “lean-burn” engine to produce 50-miles-per-gallon cars. The messages also give credit to companies for steps already taken such as introducing recycling, or reducing use of polystyrene. And each card closes with the pocketbook reminder to the manufacturer that “My ecological concerns have a strong effect on my behavior as a consumer.”

The book is printed on recycled paper, which is becoming increasingly available, Harp noted, but finding recycled card stock for the postcards was a “real pain . . . it almost scuttled the project before we found a large enough supply.”

In addition to the action cards, “EarthCards” offers a sampling of generic environmental cards for local supermarkets and public works companies, and some general tips on the power of letter-writing.

Said Harp: “To me the important point of the book is that it IS interactive--it asks people to make the personal commitment to pressure corporate entities to take responsibility for the environment.” The new paperback is getting good response, says Julie Bennett, director of marketing at Conari Press in Berkeley. “On the basis of advance bookstore interest, we printed 30,000 for national distribution--that’s a fairly large number for us.”

Conari hopes to keep the book in print, updating every version, Bennett said.

“We think it has the potential to make tremendous change. Just the sheer act of doing something is empowering in itself, but then six months later to hear that companies have made a change, is really empowering.” A book that disappears as you use it is a new concept, she acknowledged. “It’s an action book and at first people don’t know what to do with it. But when they get their hands on it, the response is good. We’re hearing from a lot of people who want to buy 100 copies to send as Christmas cards, or to use as a group activity.”

David Cosby of Key Largo, Fla., for example, bought 10 books and is planning an “EarthCards” party. He says the book was just what he was looking for.

“The environment is deteriorating every day. We can’t afford to sit around and wait for other people to take action--it’s up to us,” said Cosby, an outdoorsman who runs a charter boat service.

He had feared it might be hard to get people involved, but it hasn’t been, he said. “I think everybody is looking for something to do, but it’s very bewildering, and you tend to think ‘My little letter won’t make a difference.’

“I think this is the greatest book out, because they have done the homework for us.”