In 1991, Random House published a picture book called “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: ABC’s for a Better Planet,” in which the masked cartoon turtles trade in their signature nunchucks for signs bearing environmental slogans.

For “A,” the turtles explain the sources of acid rain. Under “B,” the concept of biodegradability. 

“Don’t Pollute Dudes!” the turtles exhort under “D.” They designate the letter G for “Green Power!”

“A lot of the world’s cereal crop is fed to cattle, when it could be used to feed to starving people instead,” the book says. “And cattle expel methane, a gas that makes the greenhouse effect worse.” Underneath is a drawing of one of the turtles, Donatello, eating a salad. 

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“What can you do?” Donatello says, instructively. “How about not eating so much meat in the first place?”

This message and its potential to harness the power of early-’90s “Turtlemania” did not sit well with the meat industry.

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