Let’s just say that it’s not up there with a bracing winter walk as a responsible winter activity. You jump on a plane to get to an overcrowded mountain top, which has been levelled out by industrial machines. There you stay in a purpose-built hotel or chalet, one of many to join the sprawl of alpine development. You spend your time trundling up and down the slopes on energy-gobbling ski lifts. Should there be no snow, well then you whoosh through artificial stuff without a thought for the vegetation and bio-diversity levels that it trashes (OK, so no ones cares about small mountain shrubs, but still . . .) More than 10 per cent of Swiss ski areas rely on snow cannons; in lower-lying resorts in Austria and Italy, more than 40 per cent do. Before 1990 they were unheard of.

Sorry to melt your vision of a snowy wonderland but until people wake up to the industry’s responsibilities, the chances that future generations will sample the sport grow even slimmer (for more info: saveoursnow.com). According to the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, alpine areas are now receiving 20 per cent less snow. “Within 50 years all ski resorts below 1,200m (4,000ft) will go out of business,” says the conservation society Cipra; a bleak proposition for Austria, where 75 per cent of its ski lifts are lower than 1,000m.

So, ideally, yes, it’s time to hang up your skis. But mountain lovers can be forgiven if they green up their style. First find a green resort on skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/resorts/greenresorts; it tells you which ones recycle, use renewable energy and have a green building policy. Then go by train (eurostar.com/ski). When you get there, instead of plain old skiing, why not give snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing a whirl, neither of which need maintained pistes or lifts.

I’m doing up my kitchen. Do you have any green tips?

I suspect that “stick with your old one” is not what you want to hear. Not now that you’re dreaming of walls in just the right shade of buttermilk. But before we go any farther, what are you doing with your leftovers — even that ancient oven and leaky fridge have to go somewhere? If they are in working order, you might try selling them on whatdoIdowiththis.com. This online buying and selling forum was set up to encourage the building trade not to chuck out surplus materials. Here you can find everything from individual tiles to fully equipped kitchens. I spotted a stylish Spanish oak kitchen, including a hob and an oven, for £1,175. But enough of my home improvement ambitions, back to yours. Once you’ve sold or recycled your remnants, what about bringing in a green builder or consultant from the Association for Environmentally Conscious Building (aecb.net; its website is good for research if nothing else)? Recycled and sustainable are the buzzwords when it comes to materials. For worktops, wood comes out top of all renewable materials, according to greenconsumerguide.com. For a guarantee that the timber has been well-managed, look for certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (fsc-uk.org has a product search engine that directs you to retailers selling certified wood). I found cabinets from B&Q (diy.com) and kitchen units from a Shropshire-based company called Precious Earth (preciousearth.co.uk) that specialises in natural and renewable materials. All of which sound just your cup of tea.

Which reminds me, don’t forget to stock up on Fairtrade tea and biscuits before the green builder arrives.

If you want to ring the changes at home but don’t know where to start, call a carbon coach

Along with those half-hearted pledges to drink less, exercise more and to sort out your tax returns, I trust you’ve thrown in some green resolutions this year. You know the sort of thing; get the compost bin up and running and swap to a renewable energy supplier, to keep your carbon karma in balance, if nothing else. Should you require more than a new year to spark environmentally friendly measures, you could call in the green police.

Not long ago, it would have been more accurate to say the green policeman since there was just one hardened eco-activist doing the rounds as an eco-auditor. Two years ago Donnachadh McCarthy realised that he could make a living from charging £160 for a home visit, giving advice on how people can minimise their carbon footprint (3acorns.co.uk).

Now you can take your pick from a number of green inspectors who will rock up at your home, gasp at your dirty, planet-trashing habits and sort you out with a squeaky-green routine.

Or what about the Carbon Coach, Dave Hampton (carboncoach.com), who promises to wean you off your carbon sins within weeks? Like forking out for a personal trainer to get you running around the local park, there will always be those who suspect that you can’t

do it alone. How hard can it be to read McCarthy’s book Saving the Planet Without Costing the Earth (Vision Paperbacks) and do a DIY green audit? According to Melanie Grech, of Beyond Green, a company that launches an auditing service providing guidance and green suppliers next month (beyond-green.co.uk), a coach provides expert information specific to your lifestyle, giving you someone to report back to and inspire you. And once you’ve coughed up a couple of hundred quid for advice on how to green your house, there’s a reason to jump to it.

Hiring a green lifestyle coach also fits with our peculiar tendency to seek exposure for our bad habits. Whether it’s foul-mouthed children, filthy kitchens or disobedient pets, we crave an outsider — even better a national audience — to force us to change.

Whatever the theory, if it turns your home into a paragon of green living, what’s not to like? I should be grateful for the lucrative career path it opens up for eco-heads. Who knows, there may come a time when providing face-to-face green advice pays my (renewable energy) bills. I’ve always enjoyed snooping around other people’s homes.

ECO-BLOGWATCH: RE-GIFTING

Most of us have dabbled in re-gifting (passing on unwanted presents) at some stage. But when I suggested that this was an acceptable green activity there was protest. “It is always transparent,” wrote Ian James. “You can guess immediately when you’ve been passed a tatty box of After Eights.” Several of you said it would be better to use a local Freecycle network where you can offer unwanted loot and get what you wanted back — free.

“The best way not to get cruddy presents is to agree to not buy them for friends and relatives,” says Nat. “In my family it has to be something that we have bought from a charity shop or made ourselves.”