[WalterBright]

All human societies produce pollution, going back to the very beginning. In fact, archaeologists love to study ancient trash heaps.

[eeZah7Ux]

The amount of pollution per person varies wildly. Some societies were perfectly sustainable.

Among the most capitalistic and consumerist societies (e.g. US) the pollution is staggering.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption