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I often like to say that I was drinking plant-based milks before it was cool. I've had a dairy allergy my entire life, but it used to be pretty hard to find dairy-free alternatives – the only option I had for my morning cereal was a particular brand of soya milk – a thick and slightly sweet grey liquid. It didn't bother me because I never knew any different. But how times have changed! The choice of plant milks is now intimidatingly large. Along with their popularity has come controversy too, including an EU-wide ban on giving products dairy-like names. This popularity is partly driven by consumers' growing preference for more sustainable food and drink choices. "They're attractive to people who are concerned about climate change and want to lower the carbon footprint of their diets," says Aviva Musicus, adjunct assistant professor of nutrition at Harvard's T H Chan School of Public Health. Producing a glass of dairy milk results in almost three times more greenhouse gas emissions than any plant-based milk and it uses nine times more land, a 2018 study found. Despite their explosion in popularity, they remain substantially more costly compared to dairy milk. Coffee shops often still charge extra money for dairy-free cappuccinos, and in US supermarkets plant-based milk costs an average of $7.27 (£5.73) a gallon compared to $4.21 (£3.32) a gallon for cow's milk. (This is in part due to dairy farms having an exceptionally efficient supply chain simply because they've been around for so long). And just because they don't come from a cow doesn't mean plant-based milks have a low impact on the environment. "Not all plant-based diets conferred the same health and environmental benefits," says Musicus, who conducted research on the impacts of plant-based diets. Almond milk, which is the favourite dairy-free option in the US, has a particularly bad rep. California produces 80% of the world's almonds and one single almond grown in the state uses 4.6 litres (one gallon) of water. The way almonds are conventionally farmed is also bad for bees. There are also problems when it comes to rice and coconut milk. Rice is a water-guzzling crop, and there can be ethical problems in the coconut supply chain. So it's over to oat, hemp and soy, which are all more environmentally friendly options. But our dietary choices are partly influenced by cost, and if plant-based milks cost more because of the process and packaging involved, then could the problem be solved by just making it ourselves? I set myself this sustainability challenge and was surprised to find that evenwhen making milk at home worked out to be more expensive than buying milk in store, I actually really enjoyed doing it – and it was incredibly easy. I enjoy being in control of where my food comes from and what goes into it – and this felt like one step closer to that.