In reality, the West's environmental policy efforts in the last century were concentrated on "acute" problems – especially those that directly led to public illnesses – like air and water pollutions. Whereas the "delayed" problems such as the depletion of resources and greenhouse gas emissions continue to exert tremendous pressure on the Earth as western economies and consumerism swelled.
The depletion of resources is linked to active consumerism. In a well known report entitled, "There is Only One Earth", it was shown that if the United States maintained the ratio of one car for every two Americans, with an average lifespan of 65 years, each American would exhaust 10 tons of steel in a lifetime.
In the 1970s, cars in the US numbered 120 million; by 2004, the nation's population was slightly under 300 million but car ownerships had hit 240 million while the average lifespan had increased to 75 years. At present, each American on average consumes 330kg of steel yearly.

From the above example, it is clear that the trend of developed countries exhausting resources through excessive consumerism has persisted.

Since the 1970s, the West has cleansed itself of the cost of such consumption by transferring polluting industries elsewhere; by increasing its dependence on imported goods to satisfy its enlargening consumerism.

As the New Economic Foundation report points out, if the rest of the world were to consume like the Americans do, we would need the resources of 5.3 earths; if we were to consume like the French or British do, then 3.1 earths are needed; this figure is 3 for Spain; 2.5 for Germany; 2.4 for Japan, and 0.9 for China. 

China has accommodated polluting industries for economic growth and to satisfy the appetite of Western consumers, and in the process, China has also come under the spell of consumerism-driven production model itself.

Since the end of World War II, new technology has enhanced efficiency and productivity. As the scale of industries and productions expanded, the market too has grown. That has encouraged the rise of the consumerism-driven production model where industries rely on the consumers' spendthrift mentality – leave the old for the new – for survival.