The 38-year-old supermodel, who is a spokesperson for Ariel's Do a Good Turn campaign, insists everyone should play a part in helping to conserve energy.

Helena said: "Thinking about the environment gets me down. We've messed up the planet. But it takes no effort to turn your washing machine down to 30 degrees Celsius.

"An average household saves £300 a year by adopting energy saving measures. As a London taxi driver said to me recently, ‘That is a lot of cups of tea!' "

The Ariel detergent campaign was launched in 2007 to raise awareness about energy conservation by encouraging people to wash their clothes at lower temperatures.

Helena is set to visit UK shopping centres to provide free "green" advice and home energy audits. The star has also launched a range of T-shirts for the Environmental Investigation Agency's ‘Forests of the World' campaign.