Environmentalism Gets Down to Business : The Eco Expo proves that what was once considered a funky movement is making both dollars and sense.

Some Ventura County entrepreneurs offering goods and services at Eco Expo are avery down-to-earth bunch.

Just look at the news releases they will be handing out at the Los Angeles Convention Center this weekend:

“Contaminated Petroleum Storage Sites--Legacy of the 20th Century,” Westlake Energy Consultants Inc.

“The Planet Needs You! For greenhouse, nursery and field inoculation of plants and trees,” Earth Man Organic Enhancement, Camarillo.

“From African Deserts to Himalayan Peaks--PV delivers dependable portable power,” Siemens Solar Industries, Camarillo.

“Make the Ultimate Home Improvement!--After the decision to have children, the choices we make about our homes have the second largest impact on the planet,” Home Depot, Thousand Oaks and Oxnard.

Gone are the days, it seems, of environmentalists selling T-shirts imprinted with a watery globe or suspenders made from recycled inner tubes. Now, it’s business with a capital B .

But saving the Earth is not for sissies these days. This time around we’re talking investment funds, boosted agricultural productivity, electrical energy generation and hardware retailing.

These county enterprises will be represented at Eco Expo, but you can also contact them locally.

Michael C. Brock, proprietor of Earth Man, hopes to do for natural plant food what Stokley Van Camp did for Gatorade: Take a product developed in a state university lab and bring it to the mass market.

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Brock’s product isn’t for athletes--as was the green thirst-quencher developed at the University of Florida--but is rather a plant-growth enhancer that can be spooned into a home flowerpot or spread over farm acreage. It’s not a petroleum-based fertilizer or anything like that: It’s an organic compound containing endomycorrhizal spores. When applied to grape crops, Brock says, it can increase yield more than 50%.

“It re-established the microorganisms in the soil which years of artificial fertilizing has killed,” said Brock, who sells potting soil and soil enhancement products at his Camarillo store.

Siemens Solar has been making photovoltaic rigs for home and industry at its Camarillo factory for years. Generating electricity from the sun, the company’s little gunmetal-blue tiles now festoon roofs and whole hillsides in dozens of countries and California counties. Sacramento’s electric company has installed rigs that are sufficient to provide all the power a home needs.

At Eco Expo, you can see the latest compact versions of Siemens’ wares at the booth of Real Goods, the environmental movement’s answer to Sears, Roebuck & Co. They’ll have my favorite item, the Pathmarker, which lights up your garden path at night having soaked up the requisite solar-electric energy during the day.

Home Depot provides a useful newsletter to customers who want to apply their shopping dollars to a “green” lifestyle. These green products have been incorporated into a full-sized, environmentally terrific model home designed and installed at Eco Expo by L.A. architect Walter Scott Perry.

* Richard Kahlenberg, who writes the weekly Earthwatch column, has been reporting on the environment since Earth Day I. Nowadays, he recycles everything. You can write to him at 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura 93003, or send faxes to 658-5576.

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DETAILS * WHAT: Eco Expo

* WHEN: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

* WHERE: Los Angeles Convention Center

* HOW MUCH: $7 ($5 with coupon printed in The Times)

* CALL: Westlake Energy Consultants, 495-4001; Earth Man, 388-0910; Siemens Solar Industries, 482-6800; Home Depot, Thousand Oaks, 498-2278, and Oxnard, 988-1911.