April 22, 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, so it was fitting that it was also the day that the environmentalist documentary “Climate of Change” had its North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Narrated by Tilda Swinton, “Climate of Change” features interviews with several people around the world who voice their thoughts on how the environment is affecting them and what they think should be done to improve their environment.

After the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of “Climate of Change” (the event was held at the SVA Theater in New York City), Jessica Alba participated in a question-and-answer session as part of the festival’s “Tribeca Talks: After the Movie” discussions. Alba does not appear in “Climate of Change,” but she is a high-profile advocate of environmentalism, and she is an honorary U.S. co-chair of the global education campaign 1GOAL. (Alba’s film “The Killer Inside Me” makes its New York premiere at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.) Here is what Alba had to say at the “Climate of Change” Q&A session.

You were on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., yesterday [April 21, 2010] talking about 1GOAL. Can you tell us more about 1GOAL?

I was invited by Queen Rania of Jordan to participate in this campaign to basically put pressure on world leaders to make sure every child has access to education … It’s the most sustainable, real way to fight poverty for a child: to have a primary-school education. There are all these insane stats …

[It’s about] people lending their voice. Government won’t choose to make a change or make a difference unless people stand up for something, and so our campaign is to sign up and put pressure on the world leaders and force them to make a change. And so, along those lines, what we’re trying to do is educate the public.

How was it being on Capitol Hill?

Intense. Politicians are grinding.

How do you use social media to encourage people to get involved in the causes that you advocate?

Well, I was on Capitol Hill yesterday, and I tweet. I tweeted out that I was there and what I was advocating, and asked people to sign up and get behind [1GOAL] so they’ll have followers. It’s really amazing the access that you have. We really are a global citizen now — and I feel like it’s real now more than ever — and using this film [“Climate of Change”] as one area, one entry point, but following it up with … a shorter, condensed version. What can you tweet out to get people engaged in 150 characters or less?

Like they said in the movie [“Climate of Change”]: “We’re the future; we’re the ones who are going to make a difference.” [It’s about] engaging them and getting them excited behind their power, and knowing they can be a part of that and use in it in an amazing way to make sure that we stop global warming. We now have the consciousness and have we have access to all this information. It’s about engaging them on their level.

What do you do to make your daughter more educated and aware of being environmentally responsible?

I’m sort of obsessed with it, personally. I always have non-toxic cleaning products in my house. The only plastic she has is [from] my mom … I try to talk to my family about it. It’s tough for people to imagine that big companies and big corporations will produce things that are poisonous not only to their children but to the environment. And they feel like there’s nothing they can do, but actually you can read the label … and get behind companies that are doing the right thing. So that’s the way we live our life.

Source: Examiner.com