I think most of the USSR environmental destruction was caused by military activities and trying to meet industrial "plans". Not from private consumption.

You are forgetting one thing that held the USSR people back from being as consumerist as Americans; There were no ads, so manipulation to constantly spur people into wanting things that they didn't need. And of course, I am aware that there were shortages but that's a different problem.

There were severe restrictions on that when I grew up in Sweden and no ads on TV and radio + the ads in papers had to be quite discreet. MUCH, MUCH nicer than now! You could actually enjoy the content without constant distraction. You could turn on the TV or radio or take a trip on public transport without being bombarded with ads.

And you didn't have to feel quite as pressured into having the latest of everything and constantly consuming. Not sure about the USSR, but our media was perfectly adequate without ads - plus there was content from across Europe, not just the English speaking world and local.

After 1-2 years with commercially sponsored TV and radio the novelty was gone and at least to me, it was clear that very little content had been added that wasn't already available before, and that new content had come at the price of constant bombardment with these ridiculous junk messages. Plus the content was dumbed down a lot.

If a product or service can't stand up on it's own merit, without untruthful marketing, then it probably isn't needed!