It’s not easy being green.

You may have a toothbrush made of bamboo, a reusable water bottle or coffee cup and cycle to work, but are those efforts all in vain if you don’t also recycle soft plastics at your local supermarket?

All the evidence suggests more of us want to play our part to live cleaner, greener lives. From the cars we drive to the food we eat, we’re constantly striving to do more to reduce their carbon footprint.

Knowing what, and from where, to buy – and what actions are going to make the most difference – is tricky.

While it’s encouraging that many companies are taking sustainability more seriously, consumers can feel inundated with information parading eco credentials that aren’t always entirely accurate or reliable.

This matters even more when the cost of living is soaring, and many families simply can’t afford to throw money away on items that won’t last and aren’t environmentally friendly.

To combat this ‘greenwashing’, Which? believes companies should do more to help consumers. In the same way that labels give consumers information about the energy efficiency of some products, information should be added on product’s durability, repairability and recyclability to help consumers make more informed decisions.

Similarly, consumers tell us they want food retailers and businesses to provide more information on their packaging to make it easier to buy eco-friendly groceries, and for the government to put tighter controls on the claims that can be made on foods.

The Competition and Markets Authority recently published new guidance on ‘green claims’ but there’s a lot more to be done to gain trust.

Another barrier to buying greener products is price. Take heating your home. While there are government grants to put towards installing low-carbon heat pumps, unease remains about costs.

If only wealthy households can actually afford to become more environmentally friendly, this won’t be viable long term.

One way of helping consumers would be to phase out the availability of ‘bad choices’ so markets have time to develop low-carbon alternatives.

We’re already seeing this with the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by the end of the decade, but the poorest performers in all markets should be weeded out.

Companies should no longer put high-carbon products on the market and expect society to pay for the costs associated with their production, use and disposal.

Underpinning this should be consumer protections fit for the future. Customers should know that when they buy new products and services, they are safe, repairable and properly sustainable, and that the option of effective redress should things go wrong is readily available.

So how can you know whether the item you’re paying for is as eco-friendly as it says? For a start, Which? has loads of free information. When we test products, we look for Eco Buys in the same way that we do for Best Buys: through rigorous and impartial analysis.

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Eco Buys have to be more than just green, they also have to perform well, ensuring that you’ll save money in the long run.

Making the transition to net zero will be difficult. To make a difference, there will have to be changes that are fundamental to all of our lives, from how we heat our homes, to the food we eat, cars we drive and a range of everyday products we all use.

Crucially, however, there’s a willingness among arguably the most important drivers of this: consumers. The government and business should ensure they are properly supporting them to make the switch.

Ele Clark is senior money editor at Which?; For more free money-saving tips and consumer rights advice, visit Which?.

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