Green Gospel : The Environmental Speakers Bureau spreads the word through the power of the podium.

Earth-saving is not just for tree huggers and eco-warriors anymore. We all want information on the planet’s health and Earth-friendly tips to incorporate into our lives. One way to stay ahead of the headlines is to invite environmental speakers to clubs and schools.

PBS will be carrying a report next week by Dr. Michael Klaper--of “Diet for a New America” fame--about environmentally oriented eating. Clever Venturans checked out Klaper in person last month in Ojai, where he appeared under the auspices of a new organization called the Environmental Speakers Bureau.

The bureau represents 20 or so speakers, who are rather like the circuit-riding preachers of yore. Inspirational. And they charge a fee, which is often negotiable.

One of the speakers, Venturan John Roulac, was in Sacramento recently addressing a statewide gathering. I called him to ask about his presentation.

Roulac has just finished a book, due early next year, showing how to get rid of almost half the stuff that’s choking our landfills. He’s an expert on composting--the best use for the “green waste” that Southern California homes produce in prodigious amounts.

“The book is about back-yard composting,” he said. “Want to know my motto?”

I bit.

“Compost Happens.”

It seems that the county of Ventura is planning a major campaign to promote municipal and back-yard composting. I wonder what that motto is going to be.

Then I talked to the Rotary Club--yes, the Rotary Club has become quite interested in the connection between business and the environment. Plans are being made by the Ventura, Oxnard, Channel Islands, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley clubs to weave environmental speakers into their weekly meetings.

For the past two years, their national and international headquarters have been stressing this topic, under the motto “Preserve Planet Earth.”

I was impressed to read the following in their national magazine, The Rotarian:

“Supermarket Manager Eric Auty didn’t know a lot about the environment until a local environmental group approached his company about promoting ‘earth safe’ products and educating the public about them. Now he sounds like a seasoned eco-expert, explaining the need for biodegradable products, urging his customers to recycle, and reciting the ills of plastics and aerosol pesticides.”

George Chung, president of the Ventura Rotary, and Dale Miller, the Simi Valley president, told me they were putting together lists of speakers for the coming season.

Their groups are also going to get into tree planting, recycling and much else. There is, as you might suspect, an upswing in this sort of activity involving organizations all over the county.

Paulette Eisen, organizer of the Environmental Speakers Bureau, has her own theory of why this is happening.

“People have the opportunity to be leaders, not just someone who’s dragged along.”

* FYI

Here are some numbers to call if your club, school or organization wants to contact an environmental speaker:

* Environmental Coalition of Ventura County (local experts and activists), 640-0124. Presentations in Spanish available.

* Assn. of Environmental Professions (local professionals), call Ventura County representative Steve Svet at 644-5535.

* Environmental Speakers Bureau (national experts and authors), call Paulette Eisen at 644-5535 or (213) 318-8092.

* KCET Channel 28 will showcase a bureau speaker, Dr. Michael Klaper, on an environmentally oriented show, “Diet for a New America,” Sept. 16 at 9 p.m.

Note: Our mention of Environmental Careers magazine in last week’s column prompted requests for information. It can be reached at (303) 229-0029.