Personally, I think it's a great idea and it's a great shame it's not taken off more. It is arguably consumerism / materialism that's doing the most damage to the planet, is it not? A response to a recurring set of ancient human challenges? What would they be then? Finding ways to occupy our free time? A primeval need for 'nice things'? A quasi-suicidal need to harm the planet that sustains us (and wrap it up as 'progress')? I'd love to know.
I too think it is a great shame. However, that doesn't detract from the fact that powerful reward pathways have evolved alongside 'consumption' in humans. So, in a way, yes I would say that we have a primeval need for 'nice things'. However, I don't think people have an inherent need to harm the planet. We harm the planet because we have the aforementioned evolved urges and we are still coming to terms with the implications of them on a global scale.