www.guardian.co.uk
What is your biggest guilty green secret?
I have to travel for my work - that's just the way it is. But I try to keep this to a minimum by doing only really important assignments and by doing something good for the environment in return.
Do you know your carbon footprint?
No. It's impossible to calculate. But I do try to offset my carbon emissions. I hardly use any electricity, which suits my old-fashioned lifestyle very well, and I take showers that are almost cold.
What is your most regular green habit?
Walking almost anywhere, recycling everything I can and eating organic food, plus half my wardrobe is second-hand and vintage clothing and 90% of my furniture is antique, as is everything in my shop in New York.
What was the last green thing you did?
I learned to wash my clothes at 30 degrees instead of the usual 40 degrees or 60 degrees. It's so simple and you can save 40% of the energy by doing this. That was a very cool and simple discovery to make.
What green gadget would you buy?
I would love to fit solar panels on to my wooden cottage in upstate New York. It's a real suntrap there and I like the idea of harnessing the sun's rays to create energy for my home.
What wakes you up in a sweat in the middle of the night?
What doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night would be an easier way to put it! Some crazy lunatic having a bad day and finally pushing that damn button somewhere, giant meteors hitting the earth, a deadly virus spreading worldwide, earthquakes, tsunamis, the future for my child in this world.
What skill do you have for a post-oil world?
I would design and make clothes from organic materials.
What would you save come the floods, apart from friends and family?
My mobile phone, computer, cameras, photographs, water, my son's Pokémon collection - imagine we left without that one, then all hell would really break loose!
· Helena Christensen is fronting Ariel's "Do a good turn" campaign (
doagoodturn.co.uk)