What is it worth to you to buy a product that you know is green? How much would you pay for something that was made in a socially responsible way? For example, would you buy a $1000 sweater rather than a $100 sweater? Christina Binkley poses that exactly that question in an article in today’s Wall Street .

She makes that the case that the more expensive sweater has a better pedigree - if you care about fairly treated workers and green production processes. Many consumers do express a willingness to pay more if they knew the product was really clean and green, but that is easier said than done.

Price is no indicator. For example, many luxury brands do not fare well when evaluated on their environmental and social performance. WWF-UK analyzed and ranked the 10 largest publicly-traded luxury brand-owners on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. The highest grade - a C+ - goes to L’Oreal. (Forget about LVMH, Coach, Tiffany + Company.) Certifications could work, although disagreement about which certification is more valid dilutes the efforts. Some consumers opt to let a trusted buyer make the call, a la Whole Foods. A Consumer Reports rankings for environmentally and socially responsible products would help - if it existed. No wonder we find ourselves asking, what is it worth to us and find no easy answer in sight.